Research & development: Innovation

Individualism, innovation and quality are key customer demands for today's companies. R&D is decisive in ensuring that products meet these high expectations.

Companies in all industries and sectors are faced with customers who expect products and services to be tailored to their individual needs ever faster. To remain competitive, these companies have no choice but to get innovations to market quickly, at a low cost and exactly in line with customer requirements.

The result, however, is a tricky balancing act. While products can be marketed successfully for shorter and shorter periods only, more complex technological expertise is needed to align these products with the demands of customers. Consequently, innovations rarely have a chance to pay for themselves because rival firms get better products to market faster.

Innovation projects must therefore be managed very professionally – both for companies targeting new markets and those eager to defend their existing market position. Anything less can leave even established market leaders exposed and vulnerable, in danger of losing their market dominance to niche players.

It is not enough merely to tinker with one corner of the magic triangle of cost, quality and speed. Failure to address any one of these aspects can doom a product launch to failure and drive a company off course for years.

That is why Roland Berger Strategy Consultants recommends a "big picture" model for successfully launching innovative products. A clear innovation strategy consistent with corporate strategy is necessary. The entire organization and all processes must then be aligned with this strategy. Employees must be trained appropriately, and a culture of innovation must permeate the entire enterprise.

We work closely with each client as we apply our in-depth methodological expertise to crafting strategy-compliant R&D portfolios. We investigate whether new technologies are really suitable to accelerate production and reduce manufacturing costs. We also point out how different geographic regions can optimize their collaboration. Ultimately, the innovation process itself can then be managed professionally using finely tuned monitoring tools.

Leveraging global collaboration to accelerate development

Our client was a manufacturer of commercial vehicles with four business units in North America, Europe and Asia. Frictional losses between the units were a regular occurrence, causing repeated delays and budget overshoots in innovation projects. We harmonized the innovation process, produced a detailed process description and introduced a system of key performance indicators. Thanks to an identical parts strategy (and other actions), the business units now cooperate closely and efficiently. Today, development projects are completed punctually and on budget.

Developing products where they are to be sold

A midsized engineering firm was seeing its sales market increasingly drift toward the Asian region. We redefined the client's innovation activities, relocated aspects of R&D to Asia and introduced methods to manage the innovation portfolio more strictly.

Using quality gates to secure competitive advantages

In collaboration with our client, a mobile communication service provider, we formulated a strategy that would enable the company to protect its competitive lead in the long term. We reorganized the development process and introduced what are known as quality gates. These gates determine that the next step in any innovation project only begins when all demands placed on the previous step have been fully met. This strategy ensures that only mature products are rolled out.