Project Definition:

RMI led an effort to revamp New Product Introduction (NPI) processes for a US based company that also had an engineering team in China.  This project had very little budget for capital equipment, so frugality was an overarching imperative.

Approach:

Every department in the company contributes to the success or failure of a product development process.  The approach was extremely collaborative to engage all stakeholders in understanding the current conditions and charting a path to an improved future state.   Kaizen events were conducted where applicable to quickly converge on a new process.  “Better” was prioritized above “perfect”.   “Fail early, fail cheaply” was preferred over “Right the first time”.  Processes were re-written, tested, and used on pilot projects.   They were then updated based on lessons learned and feedback from team members.

Deliverables:

This was not a paper exercise or PowerPoint experiment.  The deliverable was an efficient, sustainable process that got their product to market quicker than the competition.

Results:

We reduced process steps by 57% and overall time to market by 40%.  Many of the previous constraints were reduced  or eliminated entirely.

Vice President, Engineering