CPG Industries look to innovation for growth however recent trends have impacted innovation performance. Product design is more complex while high-margin windows of opportunities are smaller. Developing winning products quickly and cost-effectively requires full access to design knowledge, cross-functional collaboration, and highly efficient processes.

Some common issues are:

  • COMPLEXITY - Products, regulatory rules, and global distribution are significantly more complex then ever before. Launching and managing a consistent product globally while dealing with so many variables is a significant challenge.
  • LIMITED CODIFIED KNOWLEDGE - Much of the knowledge related to product innovation is not captured electronically. Without capturing this valuable intellectual property, failed product ideas are revisited, knowledge leaves with retirees, and process improvement opportunities are limited
  • MANUAL PROCESSES - Many innovation processes are difficult to manage because they are fragmented and not automated. Manual processes slow new product introduction and substantially increase the costs of doing so.
  • INEFFECTIVE COLLABORATION - Cross-functional collaboration is critical to rapidly develop winning products. Geographical and technological boundaries limit collaboration across key areas such as sales, marketing, procurement, and manufacturing.
  • DISPARATE TECHNOLOGIES - Different data resides in different systems so information sharing is slow, error-prone and users are never sure which version is most accurate. Duplicate systems add significant costs in IT management and support.
  • LIMITED EXECUTIVE VISIBILITY - Portfolio management is a challenge without a strategic view of all active projects. Without such visibility, less strategic projects consume scarce resources while more promising efforts suffer.

Significant performance improvement is possible with these strategies:

  1. Capture and manage all design chain knowledge through a centralized information store.
  2. Automate key design chain processes using workflow technology.
  3. Increase collaboration through intuitive user interfaces that facilitate non-specialist access.
  4. Integrate enterprise and desktop applications to the centralized knowledge repository. Automated integration reduces errors and improves productivity.
  5. Implement executive dashboards to track and monitor development projects.

The benefits of taking this approach include:

  • GREATER RESPONSIVENESS - With optimized design-chain processes, organizations are more nimble and able to react to new market opportunities
  • INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY - Automating design-chain processes improves productivity, reduces costs, and eliminates errors.
  • IMPROVED COLLABORATION - Great products depend on cross-functional collaboration and inter-departmental synergies which lead to further successes.
  • INCREASED CORPORATE VALUATION - Consistently delivering winning products and codifying innovation knowledge drives high market valuations.

Lascom CPG can substantially improve overall corporate performance by capturing and managing all product-related information, automating key processes and providing management an unparalleled opportunity to make more informed decisions and develop best practices.