Are your company’s product innovation efforts as efficient as they could be?

North America’s top market performers innovate with 5x’s more productivity than the average company. Simply put, they are achieving better results with fewer resources because they are efficient product innovators.

New product success is not simply about developing new products that sell; it’s about getting them to market quickly with the lowest cost and the highest return. Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett use their latest research and draw upon their combined 60 years of experience in the field to show you what the companies that continuously win at new products are doing. Top performers have discovered how to properly balance the need for speed with profitability. With a new process they call NexGen™ Stage-Gate^®, Dr. Cooper and Dr. Edgett show precisely how you can ensure that your innovation is not only lean and rapid but profitable as well.

• Explore the 7 Principles of Lean, Rapid and Profitable New Product Development
• Learn how to isolate and remove the typical time wasters in the Idea-to-Launch Process
• Learn what drives a new product project to market quickly and effectively
• Discover how to maximize the productivity of your portfolio
• Learn how to streamline your Idea-To-Launch Process with NexGen Stage-Gate.

A ‘Must Read’ for people in these roles:

• Executives, experienced innovators and senior managers responsible for product innovation performance
• Process Owners leading product innovation process improvement initiatives
• Managers responsible for new product/new revenue generation
• New product development managers, project leaders and team members.

Keywords: speed to market, productivity, idea-to-launch process, product innovation best practices, risk management, cross-functional teams, resource allocation, continuous improvement, new product development (NPD), NexGen Stage-Gate Process, strategic portfolio management, voice of customer research, pipeline funnel, Gatekeepers, front-end loading projects, up-front homework, spiral development, product definition, integrated product definition, strategic buckets, lean manufacturing, scalability, 7 principles of lean rapid and profitable NPD, innovation productivity, post launch reviews, metrics, value stream mapping.

Key Topics:

• The Executive’s Dilemma: Faster, Better, Cheaper Products
• The Concept of Productivity in Product Innovation
• Lean Manufacturing and How It Applies to Product Innovation
• Improving product innovation productivity by introducing scalability, flexibility and adaptability to your Stage-Gate Process
• How to evergreen your Stage-Gate Process, remove waste and drive continuous improvement
• Why building the voice of customer into your Idea-To-Launch Process accelerates results
• The importance of front-end loading new product projects to achieve early product definition
• How fast paced teams use spiral development to handle dynamic, fluid and changing information
• Using cross-functional project teams to accelerate the idea from inception to launch.

Companies referenced: Toyota, Microsoft, ITT Industries, Kraft Foods, Chrysler, Compaq, Exxon-Mobil Chemical, Goulds Pumps, HP, Intel, Apple, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, Max Factor, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Pall Corporation and GOJO.

About the Authors

Dr. Robert Cooper

Dr. Robert G. Cooper is one of the most influential innovation thought leaders in the business world today. He pioneered the original research that led to his many groundbreaking discoveries including the Stage-Gate Idea-to-Launch Process. Now implemented by almost 80% of North American companies, it is considered to be one of the most important discoveries in the field of innovation management. He has spent more than 30 years studying the practices and pitfalls of 3,000+ new product projects in hundreds of companies and has assembled the world’s most comprehensive research on the topic. His presentations and practical consulting advice have been widely applauded by corporate and business event audiences throughout the world making him one of the most sought-after speakers.

A prolific author, he has published more than 100 academic articles and eleven books, including the best selling Winning at New Products, 3rd Edition. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Crawford Fellow from the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and the Maurice Holland Award from the Industrial Research Institute (IRI). Dr. Cooper is a Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Technology Management at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at Penn State University in Pennsylvania, USA.

Dr. Scott Edgett

Dr. Scott J. Edgett is internationally recognized as one of the world’s top experts in product innovation and is the pioneer of portfolio management for product innovation. He is a high profile speaker and sought-after executive advisor on product innovation. Dr. Edgett has extensive experience advising large multinational clients in a variety of industries, principally focusing on issues affecting innovation leadership and capability. He is credited with helping business executives and innovation professionals successfully implement world-class innovation processes that have generated outstanding results. His speaking engagements and professional work have taken him around the globe to work with some of the world’s best innovators and companies among the Fortune 1000.

Dr. Edgett is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, with Dr. Robert G. Cooper, of both Product Development Institute and Stage-Gate International. He has spent more than 20 years researching and developing innovation best practices and working with organizations in product innovation. He is a prolific author having coauthored six books including the popular ‘Portfolio Management for New Products, 2nd Edition’ and has published more than 60 academic articles. Dr. Edgett is a former Professor of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University in Ontario and is a Faculty Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at Penn State University in Pennsylvania, USA.