Reaching A Global Innovation Organization: Ansell’s Automated Stage-Gate System

Reaching A Global Innovation Organization: Ansell’s Automated Stage-Gate System
Larry DelPrincipe – Winner, Stage-Gate Innovation Summit ’07 Storyboard Presentation Ansell Healthcare

In early 2004, Ansell Healthcare undertook an aggressive initiative to implement a Stage-Gate Innovation System and establish a global framework and common language for NPD. 

Their efforts paid off - they realized performance goals almost immediately with sales from new products improving from approximately 4.5% to 9%.  Ansell attributes the quick results to a strategic decision to accelerate the adoption of the new system by leveraging their popular, global collaboration tool, Lotus Notes®.  By releasing a Lotus Notes software application populated with their customized Stage-Gate process content the same time they introduced their new Stage-Gate system, they enabled a simultaneous roll-out, world-wide. 

The implementation team recognized the cultural significance of Lotus Notes and it became the focal point of their implementation efforts.  Larry will share his experience and insights on one of the most controversial decisions faced by organizations preparing to adopt Stage-Gate principles and practices – when to automate. 

Specifically, Larry will share:

• Highlights of Ansell’s Stage-Gate Innovation System: Customized Stage-Gate Processes for Global New Products, Strategic Regional Initiatives and Customer Orders through to Technology Developments
• How Ansell made their decision to automate – key considerations and criteria
• Lessons learned – what organizations need to consider when introducing and automating Stage-Gate simultaneously  

Download Summit ’07 Winning Storyboard (207 KB PDF)

How BEHR Succeeded Implementing Stage-Gate into A Fast-Paced, Entrepreneurial Culture

How BEHR Succeeded Implementing Stage-Gate into A Fast-Paced, Entrepreneurial Culture
Dr. Dale McIntyre, Vice President New Product Development, Masco Architectural Coatings, BEHR Process Corporation

The ‘Can Do Attitude’ is the entrepreneurial spirit at Masco Architectural Coatings (MAC) and one of the main reasons they’ve enjoyed above average growth over this past decade.  The industry leader in the manufacture of quality coatings for the Do-It-Yourself market attributes its product innovation success to its people, technology and entrepreneurial culture. 

As the company grew, its leaders recognized the need for a more structured product development process to help sustain growth. At the same time, MAC was concerned that a structured process might inhibit the entrepreneurial spirit and responsiveness to the needs of customers that the company had become known for. Dale McIntyre will walk you through the steps he and the MAC Stage-Gate Implementation Team took as they customized an implementation plan destined for success.  He will describe how they created platforms for change, decided upon the order in which to implement improvements and their approach to executive education and communication. 

Key learnings include:

• The role of problem diagnosis when you are establishing a platform for change
• How the implementation readiness assessment helped to create a strategy for success
• How MAC engaged different requirements of executives and practitioners with their implementation plan
• The role of process improvement in integrating Stage-Gate into the corporate culture

A Brilliant New Product Idea Generation Program: Swarovski's i-Lab Story

A Brilliant New Product Idea Generation Program: Swarovski's i-Lab Story
Johannes Erler, Vice President Innovation/Crystal Business
D. Swarovski & Company

D. Swarovski & Company manages a complex portfolio of 85,000+ products with 1,000+ new product and product variation launches every year.  The pace and volume in which they generate new product ideas and take them to market – successfully – is dizzying.

In the last few years Johannes Erler and his team began experimenting with their most recent winning idea, i-LAB. i-LAB is Swarovski’s answer to a critical need to generate large volumes of high quality new product ideas, screen them to quickly spot the winners and ‘plus++’ them across different business units before entering their Stage-Gate process for accelerated commercialization. 

Swarovski’s winning combination ‘i-LAB with Stage-Gate’ has resulted in nothing less than a ‘stellar’ innovation machine.  It has enabled thousands of internal staff to speak a common language of innovation, has created an envious network of idea submitters and has led to truly innovative products. 

Join Johannes and learn what i-LAB is, how it works and how it interfaces with their Stage-Gate process. 

Key learnings include:

• How Swarovski created an organization-wide, innovation-focused culture by introducing ‘story-telling’, ‘brand language’, ‘recognition schemes’ and ‘people dialogue’
• The unique broad-participation method of screening, scoring and filtering new product ideas

The Process of Researching and Implementing A New Business Model For Growth

The Process of Researching and Implementing A New Business Model For Growth
Dr. Debra Wilfong - Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Donaldson Company Inc.

Over the past 18 years, Donaldson Company Inc.’s revenues have grown from $398 million to $1.9 billion.  Today, its extensive global reach spans 37 countries.  And, its sales internationally outpace NAFTA at 55% to 45% respectively. 

Going forward, Donaldson strives to reach $3 billion in 2011.  Filtration technology will be the heart of its success.

In light of such enviable success and its new aggressive growth targets, two new challenges emerge for the market leader in filtration solutions:

• how to sustain such a demanding pace of growth
• what innovation processes are needed as the company’s reach extends to  more than 100 locations around the globe with numerous new markets and product applications to serve, and a larger and more disperse team of innovators  

Dr. Wilfong will lay out the specific steps she and her team took to create an effective technology growth strategy by responding to these challenges.  From positioning the problem and designing the right model through to global implementation, she will relay the strategies and tactics she employs at Donaldson Company, Inc. 

Key learnings include:

• An overview of the steps used to ‘position’ (properly diagnose) the root of key growth needs
• The facilitative approach taken to design a new business model for growth, including the company’s Stage-Gate process, Technology Development process, and Portfolio Management and Prioritization processes
• An overview of high impact design decisions including how Donaldson manages technology transfers

Sustaining Innovation Results: 30 Years of Evolution with a World-Class Innovation Program

Sustaining Innovation Results: 30 Years of Evolution With a World-Class Innovation Program
Jack Welsch Vice President Product Development - InterMetro (an Emerson Electric Company)

With $20+ billion in net sales, Emerson Electric is one of America’s largest corporations.  InterMetro is a large division of the Tools and Storage group of Emerson Electric and one of the earliest installations of Stage-Gate®.  The leading manufacturer attributes its enduring success to their core competency in developing superior, award-winning products and getting them to market, fast.  InterMetro’s percent of sales from new products is at par with world class performance and continues to climb. 

Jack Welsch will share the inspiring story of how three decades of continuous improvements to critical innovation business processes has been instrumental in InterMetro’s long-term success.  Innovation is ‘front and center’ throughout their organization.  He will share how this commitment becomes visible and meaningful at InterMetro through the requirements they’ve built into their Stage-Gate process including a demand for excellence in Gates, Deliverables and Voice of Customer.   

He will also outline how their Innovation Program evolved over the course of 30 years, specifically four key turning points, in order to sustain year-over-year improved innovation results. 

Key learnings include:

• How to establish product innovation as an organizational core competency
• A 30 year ‘Evolution Roadmap’ of a World-Class Innovation Program

From Good to Great: Owens Corning’s Never Ending Quest For Better Innovation Results

From Good to Great: Owens Corning’s Never Ending Quest For Better Innovation Results
Dr. David Mirth - Vice President Innovation Owens Corning

At Owens Corning, product innovation is at the heart of their business. The world leader in building materials systems and composite solutions has been leveraging product innovation to drive growth from its inception.

A FORTUNE 500 company for 53 consecutive years, FORTUNE MOST ADMIRED company and one of the world’s top 100 most innovative companies (InformationWeek magazine), where does a company like Owens Corning take their Product Innovation Program next?

David Mirth will share how, through continuous self-assessment, they are targeting specific areas for improvement while carefully preserving best practice elements of their program. David discusses the leadership effort required to overcome such challenges and the pitfalls he experienced along the way.

Key learnings:

• How assessment data helped target ‘meaningful’ improvements to their Stage-Gate innovation process
• The assessment ‘tool kit’ used to achieve broad buy-in and a sense of urgency without a pending crisis
• The critical role of the Champion of Change – what tactics worked and what didn’t
• Implementation techniques – the delicate balancing act between new expectations and the old behaviors

A Strategic Approach to Driving Breakthrough New Products

A Strategic Approach to Driving Breakthrough New Products
Craig Maxwell – Corporate Vice President of Technology & Innovation - Parker Hannifin Corporation

In 2002, Parker Hannifin established an ambitious goal to drive top-line performance and profitability to new levels and the Parker Win Strategy was born.  One of the critical components of this initiative is the work being done to drive profitable organic growth and the company’s focus on innovation.

By 2006, organic growth made up nearly half of Parker’s top-line growth.  Craig Maxwell attributes much of this success to the introduction of their highly customized Winovation Stage-Gate Process which serves to focus their resources to innovative product ideas with the highest market potential. 

He will discuss the leadership effort that was required to drive such a rigorous, disciplined approach to innovation across the complex $10.3 billion organization with 118 divisions in 46 countries around the globe.  He will also share his experience and insights on what it really takes to achieve truly breakthrough new products, technologies and businesses – the frameworks, the behaviors, the roles and the plans. 

Specifically, Craig will share:         

• Winovation Stage-Gate Process: what it is, how it fits in Parker’s Innovation Program and the key principles behind its design
• Highlights of the master implementation plan and how key obstacles were managed successfully
• How Parker successfully identifies, prioritizes and drives highly innovative, breakthrough new products to market
• The critical linkage of the Winovation Stage Gate Process to the financial performance of the company.

Timex Corporation’s Big Win: Tough Decisions To Rejuvenate a NPD Portfolio

Timex Corporation’s Big Win: Tough Decisions To Rejuvenate a NPD Portfolio
Bernd Becker, Manager, Senior Vice President Product Development & Innovation TIMEX Corporation

Three years ago, Timex Corporation established a bold business strategy to take the company into new, high-end markets with substantially differentiated products. 

The world’s leading manufacturer of watches and wrist instruments looked to their Product Development organization to play a significant role in making the ambitious plan a reality. 

Bernd Becker discusses the specific aspects of Timex’s Innovation Program that he and his team leveraged to shift how and where their R&D dollars were invested.  This simple and focused view resulted in what Timex refers to today as ‘The Big Win’ – a dramatic reduction of their portfolio of NPD projects with virtually the same value as before.

Key learnings include:

• How Timex focused their NPD teams on the information required by executives to make good decisions
• CTQ – Timex’s solution to better match quality expectations between gatekeepers and practitioners
• The Big Win – How Product Development facilitated the tough decisions that lead to Timex’s turnaround
• High quality gates and portfolio management – how Timex interfaces these two critical decision points