|
|
article
page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
case does include the expected level of resourcing and resource costs, this is just an element of total cost that feeds the computations about eventual benefits. The business case must be adaptive; it is a prediction of future outcomes based on best available current knowledge. This should be a continual process of examination. When more knowledge is available, such as when the project progresses, better estimates and predictions can be made – so the business case should be a living document that is updated at least at every NPI gate, and continues to be reviewed and tuned during the entire lifecycle of the product.
-
Segmentation into large and small impacts: Not all changes require the same depth and breadth of analysis. Small scale products or projects can move quickly through the NPI process, because they do not have the capacity to dramatically impact the company (positively or negatively). Instead of bundling all changes together in one big planning cycle, create a separate budget and NPI-light process to fund projects from the “Small Changes” bucket. Small changes should be done continuously, outside of procurement cycles. NGOSS provides a process for product assembly and change which can accommodate deployment of small changes. Several NGOSS directed OSS products implement the basics of product catalogs and are expected to improve.
-
Other business tool use including: Ideation or Brainstorming, requirements capture, process and flow design, groupware such as Groove (both the old and newly deployed as document collaboration applications, and document management systems.
Cross Functional Process Mapping
While the origins of this approach are somewhat obscured, Motorola did give this technique a name and promoted it throughout the telecom industry. Our experience at LTC validates this as the most productive traditional NPI approach, and we find it adapts nicely to NGOSS related NPI. Done correctly and with the necessary time budget it requires, the controlled and successful introduction of new services and products is likely. Motorola found that by eliminating unnecessary and non-value added work, the typical time reduction in NPI was as much as 90%.
Fundamental to this approach is the
|
|
Bottom line: there is no shortcut that does not include knowing precisely what is needed by the whole business. |
|
gathering and assembly of cross departmental teams who participate in the discovery of goals and requirements and then use these for further design. The methodology involves the capture of “As is” and “To be” processes. Executives, users, customers and operations are canvassed for these processes. The team members must include specific roles:
- Project champion who provides resources and removes barriers
- Team leader who organizes and conducts the meetings and who ensures that information exchange occurs
- Action Item Owners
- Team Members who complete tasks
- Champions and Independent facilitators; asking difficult questions; confronting inappropriate corporate culture
There were problems with this approach. Teams often got very large – sometimes 40 to 50 in a room - which is unworkable. Nevertheless, it remains the best current approach for getting the strategy, requirements, and processes straight during NPI, especially when the company’s culture empowers individuals to make decisions on behalf of their teams, and thereby keeping team size down to a manageable size.
Product Life Cycle
It is necessary to look beyond just passing through the gates and launching the product, even if those hurdles seem to already be a daunting race. Successful product introduction is not just about “getting to market” but about “succeeding throughout the whole life of your product.” The longer the active buying life by the customer of the product, the better success the product provides the corporation.
This extended product lifecycle lasts years beyond the Launch phase. Full NPI analysis and planning includes consideration of all the phases of Product Life Cycle:
- Research (Market and Product)
- Development
- Pre-production
- Full Production
- Maturity (Sales stable but not growing), (in need of a mid-life kick)
- Decline (The slope of the decline graph is not relevant)
- Terminal decline (candidates for killing)
- Withdrawal of the product from the market
article
page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|
|
|
|
