The state of manufacturers’ NPI processes
In the summer of 2019, Winshuttle surveyed 199 professionals involved with product launches for large manufacturers using an SAP ERP system. Here are some highlights of what we found.
Get the full reportChanging demographics [1]
72M
Boomers
66M
Gen Xers
73M
Millenials
Shifting revenue [2]
$17B
moved from large CPG manufacturers to small players since 2013
[1] Millennials are predicted to surpass Boomers in 2019. Pew Research Center—based on US Census Bureau 2016 data.
[2] IRI data 2013 – week ending 8/12/2018 – according to Forbes.
Challenges today
Small agile brands are disrupting markets and grabbing market share from large, established manufacturers. CEOs understand that speed and organizational agility are key for survival in a dynamic market shaped by shifting consumer preferences and rapid technological change. Slow, manual launch processes are no longer an option.
Acting with agility is the new currency of business; if we are too slow, we will be bankrupt.
% of CEOs who agree:
Survey Findings
The need for speed
The majority of respondents are under pressure to reduce product launch cycles.
“
68% of U.S. CEOs believe that being too slow leads to irrelevance.
KPMG 2019 U.S. CEO Outlook
The majority want to speed up – but goals to reduce NPI cycle time vary.
-
4%
-
14%
-
25%
-
12%
-
44%
Existing launch timelines are slow.
month
months
months
months
months
months
*Sum does not equal to 100% due to rounding.
70%
are taking longer than 6 months
The need for scale
Over the next 4 years, new products are expected to:
Increase
Stay the same
Decrease
“
Manufacturing CEOs recognize that they are operating in a new world—one full of unprecedented opportunity, threats and risk. But they will have to be more agile, adaptive, and evolve differently if they hope to thrive, let alone survive.
KPMG U.S. CEO Outlook
There is a lot of volume across different launch types.
Organizations that carry out the following launch types often or very frequently:
Line extension
69%
Net new product
68%
Ingredient or component change
63%
Label change or package redesign
57%
Plan or geographic extension
42%
Net new product launches are just one type of launch that large manufacturers undertake. Each process is different and regional, or product line differences add to the complexity.
The customer is king, and competition is fierce.
These factors drive new product launches in organizations often or very frequently:
Changes driven by consumer/customer preferences
Acquisitions of
new product lines
Regulatory
changes
Changes driven by competitive pressures
Geographical
expansion
Shifting consumer demographics and buying options are driving launches and producing competitive pressure. Acquisitions, a natural consequence of these factors drive their own share of launch projects.
Speed bumps to faster launches
Companies are facing a lot of challenges with their NPI processes.
-
49%
-
37%
-
32%
-
30%
-
36%
-
20%
There’s still a lot of manual work going on.
Manual
Spreadsheets and email
Manual
Paper forms
What’s your biggest challenge when launching new products?
“
Manual, slow and disconnected.
“
Getting the right players on the same page.
“
The willingness to make a change to the process.
“
Timelines and visibility of lifecycle.
What would make the biggest impact?
Almost half believe streamlining manual processes and automating data collection will have the biggest impact on their launch processes.
Streamline manual processes/automate data collection
47%
Ability to quickly make process changes
18%
Gain more process visibility
12%
Better data governance
12%
Headcount
6%
Other
5%
Success Story
Monster Energy transforms its product launch processes
Learn how this fast-growing, global beverage company digitized and transformed their SAP launch processes with Winshuttle’s NPI solution.
Watch the webinar
Get from “Go” to launch, faster
Optimize and digitize your product launch processes with Winshuttle’s New Product Introduction (NPI) solution and stay ahead of your market. We enable you to speed up the collection of your SAP product data and better manage business-critical tasks like sourcing new materials or creating new artwork.
This flexible product launch platform can handle any launch process type, high levels of complexity, and high volumes—so you can get to market faster, scale up your launch capacity, and get the flexibility you need to keep up with a dynamic landscape.
The state of manufacturers’ NPI processes
In the summer of 2019, Winshuttle surveyed 199 professionals involved with product launches for large manufacturers using an SAP ERP system. Here are some highlights of what we found.
Challenges today
Small agile brands are disrupting markets and grabbing market share from large, established manufacturers. CEOs understand that speed and organizational agility are key for survival in a dynamic market shaped by shifting consumer preferences and rapid technological change. Slow, manual launch processes are no longer an option.
Acting with agility is the new currency of business; if we are too slow, we will be bankrupt.
% of CEOs who agree:
Changing demographics [1]
72M
Boomers
66M
Gen Xers
73M
Millenials
$17B
moved from large CPG manufacturers to small players since 2013
[1] Millennials are predicted to surpass Boomers in 2019. Pew Research Center—based on US Census Bureau 2016 data.
[2] IRI data 2013 – week ending 8/12/2018 – according to Forbes.
Survey Findings
The need for speed
The majority of respondents are under pressure to reduce product launch cycles.
“
68% of U.S. CEOs believe that being too slow leads to irrelevance.
KPMG 2019 U.S. CEO Outlook
Existing launch timelines are slow.
The majority want to speed up – but goals to reduce NPI cycle time vary.
The need for scale
Over the next 4 years, new products are expected to:
Increase
Stay the same
Decrease
“
Manufacturing CEOs recognize that they are operating in a new world—one full of unprecedented opportunity, threats and risk. But they will have to be more agile, adaptive, and evolve differently if they hope to thrive, let alone survive.
KPMG U.S. CEO Outlook
Speed bumps to faster launches
Companies are facing a lot of challenges with their NPI processes.
There’s still a lot of manual work going on.
Manual
Spreadsheets and email
Manual
Paper forms
What’s your biggest challenge when launching new products?
“
Manual, slow and disconnected.
“
Getting the right players on the same page.
“
The willingness to make a change to the process.
“
Timelines and visibility of lifecycle.
What would make the biggest impact?
Nearly half believe automating data collection and entry will have the biggest impact.
Success Story
Monster Energy transforms its product launch processes
Learn how this fast-growing, global beverage company digitized and transformed their SAP launch processes with Winshuttle’s NPI solution.
Get from “Go” to launch, faster
Optimize and digitize your product launch processes with Winshuttle’s New Product Introduction (NPI) solution and stay ahead of your market. We enable you to speed up the collection of your SAP product data and better manage business-critical tasks like sourcing new materials or creating new artwork.
This flexible product launch platform can handle any launch process type, high levels of complexity, and high volumes—so you can get to market faster, scale up your launch capacity, and get the flexibility you need to keep up with a dynamic landscape.
