Time to market which is generally called as TTM in short form can be defined as a process of time taking from the starting concept formation of the product to the sale of the product in the market. In layman terms, "The length of time it takes to get a product from idea to Marketplace". The total time taken in these steps is called as Time to market (TTM).

This process should be very fast in the companies. The majority of this concept is used in the industries whose products are outmoded quickly. Hence there are no tools to measure TTM. This is because of the variation in the industries. Some industries define the starting time in a very different manner. Such as in automobile industry it is defined after the product concept is approved. And, in some other industry it starts when the engineering transfers to the manufacturing. If we leave this and to think of the end time in the market, companies define it when the product is in shipping, some may define it when the customer buys it; some look the endpoint as the sale of that month. Therefore TTM depends upon the Product and Organization which made it. How they have taken starting and end point matters to know TTM.

TTM quality depends upon the product development steps. Those who follow the steps and implement tools to shorten the steps can achieve the success rate of TTM. But there are some companies which skip the process to achieve TTM. By cutting decision making time and automated activities they can get better quality in TTM.

There are different kinds of TTM. Such as

• Bringing products to market as quickly as possible. ( FMCG Industries)
• Delivering on schedule time ( Applicable in six- sigma Industries)
• By minimizing resources and reaching market.
• Making changes at the time of product development based on customer feedback.

Hence, in these ways the TTM is calculated. The companies which are working on six sigma apply different tools to use it in a proper way. Therefore TTM does matter a lot in these types of Industries. TTM shows the effectiveness of company to the customer.

About Author / Additional Info:
An MBA from GITAM University,India.

Reference: Wikipedia, Investorwords.com