Manage unpredictable supply chains with innovation systems

In the early days of the Covid pandemic, sudden shifts in consumer purchasing habits caused an unexpected demand for many goods. This resulted in significant supply chain disruptions and a lot of?empty store shelves. While frustrating, it was easy for people to understand why a once-in-a-century global pandemic could create disruptions. Fast-forward to mid-2022, much of society has returned to normal activity, and we see more news headlines about massive supply chain problems worldwide and even some empty store shelves again.

There are a variety of angles to the supply chain crisis - from the initial stories of microprocessors being in short supply to the current headlines about container ships backed up in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, to the sky-high increases in containers to a shortage of truck drivers to haul the freight. We’ve even seen?stories?about how giant companies use the supply chain crisis to their advantage over competitors.

At this point, four things seem certain:

• It’s a global issue
• Shortages continue across all products
• Manufacturers of all sizes are feeling the impact
• Price increases are inevitable.

Disruption and frustration are inevitable as there’s no way of knowing how long this situation will continue. Surrounded by this confusion, it’s difficult for business leaders to forecast with certainty when products will launch and what the cost and revenue projections will be.

New product development teams are caught between the company’s revenue expectations and the ability of the organization to deliver products to buyers. Planning for any given product has suddenly changed from a one-time product definition (plus its market lifecycle) to a continuous, fluid product definition. It’s now imperative that organizations embrace cross-functional collaboration and take it to every corner of the enterprise.

Since executives can’t always resolve supply chain issues, they must take a bold and, for some, unprecedented step. They need to change product definitions, remove some features and add others. Companies need to be more agile and creative than ever before. Build what you can and move forward aggressively.

It’s time for product refactoring

The term “product refactoring” may seem new, but we’ve been doing it all along. Many companies refactor products and do it for both technical and commercial reasons. For example, if it becomes apparent during development that a feature isn’t cutting it technically, it’s removed from the product definition. At the other end of the life cycle, completed products are often tweaked based on early market testing or consumer evaluation.

Companies with regulated products that require long approval cycles face additional challenges. They need input and insights from sales (for potential product changes), engineering (for risks), manufacturing (for status), and the executive suite (for strategy and financial alignment). These products then need to be rethought into a large, combined product that can gain approval and then potentially decomposed into products that don’t require re-approval because they have fewer capabilities. Regardless of the complexity of an organization’s product portfolio, companies must be more agile than ever with all the unknowns present in today’s supply chain situation.

A single source of truth is essential in the innovation process

Far too often, organizations make decisions based on incomplete information. Departments may not have a view of what others are doing in the enterprise. Individuals at multiple levels are making decisions in an uncoordinated fashion due to an inaccessible or inconsistent decision-making framework. The issues that arise when product development includes external partners are exacerbating the situation. This approach is no longer defensible if it ever was.

The most forward-thinking companies are?deploying single innovation systems that are flexible, scalable, and capable of integrating?with any system or?innovation process. These systems create a decision-making framework and single source of innovation truth that includes all levels of the organization. Product refactoring is far more likely to succeed when all stakeholders have a clear line of sight into activities, decisions, and expectations. A single innovation system also promotes the global adoption of standardized innovation best practices and ensures consistent governance procedures are stringently enforced.

The ability to consistently innovate, develop and refine a successful portfolio of products has never been more critical. It’ll enable organizations to navigate today’s supply chain problems and whatever thorny issues arise in the future.

Your enterprise innovation management system is a long-term investment to support your current and grow your future innovation and new product development needs. In this Sopheon guide, you’ll learn what to look out for and which questions to ask before choosing the right innovation management solution for your organization. Download it now.

Sopheon delivers a complete innovation management system that gives companies visibility, smarter decision-making, and better time-to-value. Let’s discuss how we can help address your most pressing innovation challenges.?Connect with Sopheon

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