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The Problem:
· The company was undertaking a rapid growth phase and needed fast development of new product lines to achieve growth targets.
· Concurrent NPD had to increase from 3 to 12 products with over 1000 SKUs without adversely affecting current workflows.
· New product development (NPD) required complex, dynamic coordination of overseas sourcing, regulatory requirements, major retailers and many people to keep NPD flowing fast.
· There was insufficient time for traditional approaches (like project management) where contributors have to personally coordinate many actions. KraMar needed automatic coordination of personal actions, plus automatic real-time feedback and reporting to all contributors.
· All NPD contributors needed to explicitly know 7x24 what they needed to do when, how their efforts contributed to those of other team members and current progress.
The Solution:
· After a detailed search of possible solutions, KraMar selected TASKey TEAM’s hosted version to develop and implement their NPD processes.
· The Web hosted version of TASKey TEAM required minimal setup and contributors had 7x24 global Internet access.
· After half a day’s training on the method and software tool, the leaders of functional areas (CEO, Admin, Finance, Purchasing, Marketing, Sales, Warehousing, and Distribution) concurrently developed a comprehensive NPD template in one day.
· The template included many of the actions required to do tasks, and most importantly, the teams of people to do the tasks and actions.
· TASKey TEAM automatically handled the otherwise complex planning process and ensured that NPD information was presented from each individual’s perspective.
· During implementation, each team member could view a personalised dynamic ToDo list of how they needed to contribute. When actions were completed or changed, other team members were automatically informed and progress updated.
· While the NPD process was being implemented, changes to the planned approach were automatically recorded. So the template could be easily updated to incorporate lessons learnt.
The Result:
· Growth targets are being exceeded.
· Teamwork has improved because everyone knows what they have to do without having to continually ask team leaders.
· TASKey TEAM automatically handles complex dynamic coordination, feedback and reporting, so team members are less stressed because they have more time to do real work. |
Benefits
· TASKey TEAM increased productivity to achieve otherwise unachievable goals.
· Templates of all or any parts of the NPD process reduced planning time for future products to minutes.
· Automatic coordination, feedback and reporting reduced the stress of having to remember to keep work coordinated and everyone informed.
· Stopping work falling through the cracks kept NPD work flowing.
· Personal ToDo lists and reminders kept contributors focused on what they need to do and when.
· Time and stress was saved in telling people what they needed to do, what other people were doing and reporting progress.
· 7x24 Internet access let TASKey TEAM users participate at a time and place that suited them.
· Ownership was enhanced because everyone could see the importance of their contribution to the result.
ROI:
For a small investment in $s, time and effort; TASKey TEAM allowed KraMar to quickly get their new products to market to accelerate growth and increase market share.
Testimonial:
“Before we began using TASKey TEAM for new product development we were continually missing deadlines and as a consequence letting our customers down and business opportunities lapse. With the implementation of TASKey TEAM we now manage twice as many projects and always launch products on time.”
Mark Harris
Marketing Manager
The KraMar Pet company
For more information:
Visit www.taskey.com |