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.

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