Key Success Factors for a Good Project, page-33

Point 4 Close relationship with customer - this was also covered somewhat in Jon Hykawy's article.

Traditionally end users/customers have tended to continue getting supply from the same source that gives them what they require. Reason for that has been the large amounts of time and money that is spent by the end user in the qualification process (I've read that cost can be anywhere between $100k - $1 mil) and also the customer has to tailor his production processes around that product/specification . Once the customer is satisfied a supplier can provide them with a consistent product, that meets their specification, at a price that's acceptable, and it's going to turn up on their doorstep when required, they rarely jump ship to another supplier. To do so means going through the whole lengthy and costly process again.

Point 4 - and the tester

Similar to above - lengthy and costly process described in the Hykawy article.

Prof Whittingham (and Shailesh Upreti) would be extremely helpful to management, not only on the technical front but also their ability to introduce MNS to the various players in battery world that could become an end user.

However, at the end of the day (as Slogger has mentioned) the product is the "star"- it either stacks up or not.