Product life cycles are becoming shorter all the time, while the numbers of product variants are increasing rapidly. The need for innovation has never been so great. This makes it more essential than ever to innovate successfully and efficiently. The SyncForce Product Development Manager module enables you to do exactly that by providing you with a single system to manage all your innovation projects. The SyncForce Product Development Manager is based on the Stage Gate model of Robert G. Cooper.
The four key elements supported by the SyncForce Product Development Manager:
Large numbers of innovation projects are running in parallel in many organizations. Staff are involved in multiple projects, and as well as their project tasks also have their other responsibilities. The resource planner shows which projects are active, who the project team members are and what the workload is of both individual team members and departments.
All the projects are managed using the Stage Gate methodology, in a similar way to project management software. Multiple standard project templates can be created within the Product Development Manager. For example for NPD (New Product Development), EPD (Existing Product Development) and RR (Range Redesign). These templates not only contain the standard stages and gates, but also the standard activities with default cycle times and results for each stage. This allows projects to be initiated quickly and consistently. All elements of each project can be modified and activities can be added. The total project status is saved at each gate transition, making it easy for you to monitor and review the progress of the project.
Brand consistency is one of the most important factors in creating strong brands. The integration with the
Media Library makes it easy to link images to the project. Based on the brand and the type of project, brand guidelines can even be linked automatically to the project. As well as that, a good briefing supported by insights is vitally important. To ensure this, the standard Briefing Wizard allows the product manager to define the project step by step, supported by tips and best practices.
The briefing together with all the related files and information is available to all team members, including partners such as advertising and design agencies.
Regular monitoring of budgets and adjustment in line with changing conditions is a time consuming challenge for many organizations. The Product Development Manager puts you in control of budgets and costs. Budgets are assigned on the basis of year plans. From then on each project has its own budget monitoring system, including a full PO system that enables you to review budgets and expenditure on a continuous basis. Together with the product forecast, which is also linked to the project, you can at all times see if a project is still on-track to deliver the right returns, and at which point it will reach break-even. This knowledge makes it possible to stop projects in good time if necessary, thereby preventing expenditure that does not have the prospect of the required returns.
A unique feature of the SyncForce Product Development Manager is its integration with the
Product Information Manager. This creates a complete product portfolio management solution. Which new products will be created in this project, and which products will be replaced, or are the products complementary? What are the expected sales of each new product? The expected results of each project – in terms of margin and sales expectations – are calculated automatically, based on the cost price, the market price as defined by marketing, and the applicable mark-ups in the sales channel.