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I work for a company that manufactures and sells vehicles. When we talk about a product, we are talking about the vehicle itself; the physical object that the customer will own.

In order to sell these products, we have to produce a lot of other things, such as:

  • Tooling
  • Service & repair manuals
  • Marketing literature

I am looking for a general term or phrase that would describe all of those additional things which must be created for the product, but are not part of the product itself.

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  • 1
    Paraphernalia comes close
    – lauir
    Apr 5, 2016 at 4:37
  • 1
    If you were talking about your business itself, I would call that overhead. I'm not sure there is a term for what you describe though.
    – cobaltduck
    Apr 5, 2016 at 12:27

4 Answers 4

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ancillary products: ancillary, defined by The Free Dictionary :

Auxiliary or accessory: an ancillary pump.

Something that is subordinate or accessory to something else: a tripod, battery charger, and other camera ancillaries

Another possibility is supporting products or all items necessary for product support. I don't find a reference for supporting products, but product support is defined by Wikipedia

Product support is a service provided by many retailers of various products, primarily electronics, that provides the end-user with a resource for information regarding the product, and help if the product should malfunction. Product-support information can be found in most manuals for products via a phone number, web site address, or physical location

This definition stresses services, but it does mention a manual and maybe the sense could be stretched to cover the items the OP listed.

(Note that they are not by-products or co-products. By-product; co-product)

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You could call them accessories.

Accessory noun A thing which can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive: optional accessories include a battery charger and shoulder strap - ODO

2

Two suggestions though the second one is normally used specifically for marketing collateral perhaps you could use it a general sense.

accoutrements

accoutrement: a piece of clothing or equipment that is used in a particular place or for a particular activity

- this vacuum cleaner has all of the accoutrements for cleaning furniture as well as floors
- has all the accoutrements that the home pastry chef could ever want
M-W

collateral

In marketing and sales, marketing collateral is sometimes[further explanation needed] considered the collection of media used to support the sales of a product or service. Historically, the term "collateral" specifically referred to brochures or sell sheets developed as sales support tools. — Wikipedia

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Program " a plan or system under which action may be taken toward a goal" m-w

System is the key in this sense. I once attended a convention with a friend who owned a deli. He asked an ice cream supplier "what's your program" by which he was asking in one short phrase how they distribute ice cream, whether the freezer is supplied, what posters or other marketing materials were available, and other commercial details about the product.

I am looking for other uses; I vaguely recall it in reference to the end of lifecycle activities when the Ford Taurus was ended.

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  • I feel like program and lifecycle activities accurately describe the supplementary actions, but I'm looking for something to describe the artifacts that are necessary to complete those actions. Sorry if that was not clear.
    – e.James
    Apr 5, 2016 at 14:59

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