In the New Product Development (NPD) process, the initial step where new product ideas are systematically searched for and generated is known as:

Explanation

* Idea Generation is the systematic search for new product ideas using internal (R&D, staff) and external (customers, competitors) sources.
* Screening filters good ideas from bad ones; Concept testing tests concepts with consumers; Business analysis reviews sales/profit projections.
* A strong NPD funnel starts with hundreds of generated ideas to yield a few successful commercial launches.