Implementing Stage Gate Product Development for Greater Success and Growth

Background

Yes, even Whittaker’s have faced problems with innovation and product development. These issues ranged from understanding Timelines and Business Cases, missed Activities, through to ordering incorrect amounts of Launch Materials.

For a company well-known for its innovation, the ongoing stress and cost needed to be controlled.

Stage Gate is a methodology that improves project outcomes and prevents risk by adding gates, or areas for review, throughout your project plan.

Implementing Stage Gate Product Development was vital to improving project outcomes and enabling growth:

• Accelerates speed-to-market

• Increases likelihood of product success

• Introduces discipline into an ordinarily chaotic process

• Reduces re-work and other forms of waste

• Improves focus via gates where poor projects are killed

• Achieves efficient and effective allocation of scarce resources

• Ensures a complete process – no critical steps are omitted

Challenges

Nurturing a positive and adaptive culture was crucial for long-term success. This can influence employee morale, relationships, and the company's ability to adapt to evolving market conditions. Understandably, Project Owners were concerned for losing control and were hesitant to try something new.

Solutions

The Stage Gate Process is bespoke – you can change it to fit your needs. Commencing with an exploration of current operational methods allowed us to identify both successful practices and areas that needed improvement. Through a thorough analysis of each department's specific needs in the development and launch of new products, along with their respective timelines, we custom-built a Stage Gate Process tailored to meet those objectives.

Selling the benefits to Stage Gate was imperative to get buy in and everyone on board. Empowerment sessions were setup across the company to coach the new process and documentation, but also allow for feedback and concerns.

Results

'Trust the process and be set free.'

Implementing Stage Gate Product Development allowed everyone involved in developing and launching a new product to understand where and when their activities sat in the process. It allowed them to plan resource and priorities and ensure they were only working on projects that had been approved by the Directors (Gate Keepers).

By utlising Gates and business case documentation, it ensured everyone was working off the same information and at the correct stage of development.

For the Directors, it empowered them to make the best, most well-informed business decisions leading to bolstered business growth.

With Post Launch Reviews being a compulsory part of the process, it allowed everyone to recognise what was done well and what was done not so well in a blame-free environment. As a result, the process undergoes continuous enhancement, leading to greater success!