Major division of F100 global ag equipment OEM needed to align their product & development portfolios with their division strategy, taking into account the plans & priorities of each region; product team; function; and the dealer network. The lack of integrated portfolio management and strategic alignment was leading to development delays, commercial disappointments and over-reliance on a couple of profitable — but maturing — products.
SOLUTION:
We diagnosed the causes of delays & misalignments, then developed:
- A coherent Solutions Vision (for several product lines);
- An integrated Product Roadmap;
- Multi-year Roadmap Budgets (to limit the damage from funding gyrations).
We set priorities for the entire division by crop value chain and region (the first time this had been done). Finally, we designed a decision process (with decision rights) for establishing and updating the Solutions Vision, Product Roadmaps, and Budgets.
RESULT:
A smoother, faster, more consistent development process brought several successful products to market. In particular, it aligned the release of updated headers with new and upgraded combines — something the division had always struggled with before. This new process worked so well we were brought in to do the same thing for several product platforms in the larger group.