Like living organisms, organizations are either growing or dying. Those that fail to evolve are doomed to distinction. For some, it happens slowly, for others with disturbing swiftness. Think of what were once considered "blue chip" companies; those whose stock was a safe bet. Consider names like Bethlehem Steel, Kodak, Polaroid, Blockbuster, or Borders. Now think of Google, Apple, Netflix or Keurig. While no single factor can assure success and one rarely results in failure, the second list is clearly one of innovative companies; those who have a record of developing and introducing innovative new products. Like the dinosaurs, on the other hand, those in the first or loser category could not or would not keep up with changing realities.
While not all companies will be able to create dramatic disruptions on the scale of those mentioned above, all have the potential for innovative leadership given the right strategy, culture, methodology and, most of all, commitment.
According to industry studies, product innovation is strongly linked to financial success. What’s more, leaders do much better financially than followers. Developing new product offerings by simply emulating your competitors will never make you a leader. Leaders move aggressively forward with a clear vision, a sound strategy and a passion for excellence.
However, new product development (NPD) is laden with risk. As Niccolo Machiavelli said over 500 years ago, “…there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
Many processes intended to minimize risk are so complex that they'll expose you to one of the greatest risks of all; getting to market too late! To be successful, a company must, on the one hand, be able to move quickly and boldly while, on the other hand, managing the inherent risks. Doing that requires a culture that encourages and rewards aggressive integration coupled with a system that manages risk while facilitating the innovation process.
Our goal is to help you to develop an integrated system to maximize your chances of success by managing the inherent risks in an effective and efficient manner.
All companies are different and what works well in one company may not be well suited to another. With that in mind, I initially planned to go about my business by working with a blank canvas, to collaborate with each client to create a customized process from scratch. It then occurred to me that there are many sound principles that can be applied with little or no customization and that by starting with them, both time and expense would be greatly reduced.
After discovering key attributes of your organization such as its strategy, culture and innovation methodology, we will start with our portfolio of standardized methods and tools. Then, working with the people who are directly involved with the NPD process, we will discover what works for your company and what does not and, together, develop a process that is right for you. This collaboration will not only assure that the process is an excellent fit, it will provide the internal commitment necessary if the process is to endure.
We will then work with you to implement the process and train your people. If you wish, we can continue on for a while to mentor you and them during process implementation.
Successful New Product Development depends on four key ingredients:
People, Culture, Process, and Commitment.
Just as you must not design products for your customers without fully understanding their needs as well as their wants, no consultant can provide proper guidance without understanding your unique realities.
Whether or not you currently develop new products, we will start by understanding your vision for your new products program and your commitment to it for without that commitment, the process will fail. Next, we'll look at your company's vision, strategy, and culture for it is upon these that your NPD program must be based. A clear vision and both a corporate and an NPD strategy are necessary for success. Also essential is a culture that encourages innovation and accepts occasional failures.
If you currently develop new products, we will examine your aspirations, results and current practices. What results are you currently achieving? How do they stack up against your aspirations? How do you measure success and what part do those measurements play in performance evaluations?
How are you organized for product development and how well is that working for you? Do people from all departments work seamlessly and collaboratively? Are the resources you apply adequate for the results you expect? What is your process for understanding the need of your customers? Is it capable of discovering needs even when the customers themselves are not yet conscious of them?
These and other questions can be answered through use of a survey questionnaire supplemented by interviews and a study of documents. Together they paint a picture of what works exceptionally well and needs not be tampered with; what is in dire need of revision and what need only be fine tuned. Armed with that data, we are ready to develop and implement an integrated system that can jump start your new product program.
“Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.”
To many, "process" is a dirty word. It implies a morass of rules and procedures that serve only to slow progress and frustrate people. I was once so frustrated with a arduous process that I asked my boss, "I can only do one so which do you want, the paperwork completed or the product on time?"
Today's business environment dictates that we move faster than ever before. The words "lean" and "agile" have become part of our lexicon and those principles must play an integral part in whatever we do.
At the same time, the process must be directed to assure it delivers products that align with the company's strategy, fulfill its objectives and manage inherent risks to an acceptable degree. The challenge is to achieve balance between two apparently conflicting goals; one to move quickly and aggressively, the other to exert an appropriate level of guidance. The degree of guidance needed depends on both the company’s tolerance for risk and the risk inherent each project. Therefore, there is no “canned” process that is right for every company or even for every project. While the basic steps in a development process may be similar, the level of control must be appropriate to the company’s and the project's realities.
Starting with core methodologies, templates and tools, we will collaborate with your people to implement a process that will help you to quickly and efficiently deliver game-changing products while managing risk acceptably.
The right practice for you is one that delivers the needed level of control with no more administrative overhead than necessary.
The late Steve Jobs said, “A lot of times, people don't know what they want… until you show it to them.” Before they were available, did any of us know we “needed” smart phones, GPS or DVR’s? Of course not! Yet few of us can imagine life without them.
While understanding competitor's offerings is essential, following their lead is hardly a way to establish your own leadership. Simply asking customers what they want is necessary, of course, but it only scratches the surface. Understanding of customer needs involves intimacy between key developers and customers at all levels in the distribution chain. We can help you discover a methodology to delight your customers by solving problems they were not even conscious that they had!
Asking customers what they need or want will not get you where you need to go. You must discover their needs before they are conscious of them.
The best process is meaningless unless it is fully understood by the people who must use it. Training addresses only the "what" and "how" and is insufficient. In order to work as dedicated members of a cohesive, collaborative team, people must fully understand the business rational for each element in the process and the critical role each individual plays in it. Furthermore, each player must understand how his or her role relates to that of every other player.
Once a process has been developed, we can provide both education and training; the former to develop understanding of the principles and the latter to develop understanding of how the game is to be played.
If needed, we can also do training in team dynamics to assure that your teams are working smoothly together.
Excellent people and an excellent process mean nothing if the two elements are not in harmony.
Steel is hardened and tempered only with heat. Likewise, it is only in the heat of a real project that you will discover what works and what does not. Whether it’s a minor flaw in the process itself or a lack of understanding on that part of an associate, the issue must be isolated and addressed. We suggest that we work with you at least part way through a project or two, meeting periodically with members of both the executive and project teams, to mentor them and to help refine the process and its implementation to your satisfaction.
We won’t “love you and leave you”. We can work with your people as they conduct a project to assure that the process is working optimally.
Having tried for years to find that book, I had no recourse but to write it. Click "The Book" on the navgation bar to learn more.
Here are some of my thoughts on the subject of New Product Development...
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Unlike the countless books that each address a single aspect of product development; strategy, customer research, creativity, the development process, and so on, this book brings it all together to present a holistic understanding of the broad subject of new product development.
Whether you work in the public or private sector; whether your organization makes a physical product or your product is better known as a service, this book is for you. It's for you whether you are a novice or experienced practitioner; whether you work in finance, production, marketing, sales, engineering, quality, or any of the other disciplines upon which success depends. The book is for you whether you wish to understand the whole picture or simply to learn how to do your own job more effectively. If you are an owner or executive, the book is most especially for you. Oh, and if you are still a student who cannot now know where your career will lead but want to be on the leading edge of an organization, it's very much for you.
Among the many important topics are: Disruption; what it is and how it can propel your organization to unimagined heights or see it sent to oblivion. Strategy; how to create a new product strategy that supplements that of the overall organization by aligning efforts and focusing resources. Leveraging the investment; how clear organizational and new product strategies and a climate and culture that actively encourage collaboration and measured risks is essential. Customer centricity: how to understand customer needs before he understands them himself by observing more than asking. Creativity; how to engender creativity and channel it towards the generation of breakthrough products. Process; how adherence to a disciplined yet flexible process, led by top management, will help to accelerate game-changing products to market. Effective product introduction, including such issues as positioning and pricing. Intellectual property; the importance of patents and trademarks in protecting your investment, what they mean and how to obtain them. And Product Safety and Products Liability; the moral and legal imperative to develop safe products and the ramifications of failing to do so.
A graduate of Lehigh University, Jack Welsch has had over 4 decades of experience in engineering and new product development at all levels and has been awarded over 35 U.S. patents. He has been directly involved with the phased and gated development process since 1979 and has spent much of his time and energy in the continuous improvement of the process.
While most of his career has been spent in manufacturing companies, he has taught the business aspects of product development as an adjunct instructor at both Lehigh and Wilkes Universities. He has been a speaker on the subject at numerous conferences, including those at Cornell, Lehigh and Wilkes Universities. He was also honored to be a featured speaker at the prestigious Stage-Gate® Innovation Summit hosted by noted Stage-Gate® guru, Dr. Robert Cooper.
In addition to his role as Principal of J. H. Welsch Consulting, he is Chairman of Wilkes University's Industrial Advisory Board.
J. H. Welsch Consulting, L.L.C. is dedicated to helping firms improve their new product development process.
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