Client
Food Products Company
Product development is the key to continued success and growth for a food products company known throughout Europe for its popular brands. The company worked with Kepner-Tregoe to redesign their product development process defining new roles and responsibilities and new commercialization activities. In some instances, the approach required radical changes in behaviour. KT partnered with this client to implement the new process and sustain the necessary changes.
Solution
In six months, KT developed and helped execute a three-pronged approach to product development. The result was a seamless rollout that consisted of:
- Developing a clear roadmap that guided successful commercialization of products
- Equipping the company’s own program managers to drive the implementation
- Sustaining the project team’s commitment to the new approach
- Installing project and program management capabilities to support implementation and sustain results
- The product development program was complex and demanding. The KT team helped the client stay on course, guided by clear objectives and metrics. The project completed on time and on budget.
Result
Now new products are developed smoothly through a process owned by the client and managed by their own project managers working consistently across the product portfolio. The product development process has now been adopted and is seen as a significant enhancement to the company’s ability to compete in a demanding marketplace.
Scorecard
- Program implementation at six months:
- People understand their roles and have a sense of “ownership” of the process
- 47 project managers have been trained
- New Stage-Gate® criteria successfully trigger the required work
- Common, shared processes are used to pursue project work
- Transition to the improved process is complete