To market, to market to buy a fat pig: On Product Launches

Next time you are attracted to a job where they invite you to launch a new product, make sure you slap yourself in front of a mirror and come read this article! Wish I had done that several times through my career. Much like AA, I think there ought to be a self help group called Launches Anonymous for all the recovering launch addicts out there. I have sworn so many times to never do it again. 

So yes, I have had more than a fair share for a lifetime. With cars, launching the Cadillac new plant, new CTS, new SRX, new STS and now a new plant that moulds and paints interior and exterior parts for the 2019 Mercedes GLE/GLS. With motorcycles, my most dear Classic 350/500 and Thunderbird and almost a full new plant. In mining, the potential launch of new aluminosilicate clay sources in Pugu,Tanzania & Neyveli, India and the development of new products away from paper & paint applications. Then in electronics, the development of a product range that includes not only design but also manufacture of aerospace and defence certifiable modules. And oh I forget, a brief, glorious and incomplete stint helping launch a new plant and product for Ather Energy, a ground up electric scooter design.

Might I say, a full range of experiences. Great successes (to see your product on the road decades after your love affair is truly gratifying). Great failures (yes, you get in trouble when your product tanks, or you spend too much, or you take too long, or in some cases cast a long shadow upon your higher ups.) In all cases lots of learning, both on what to do to succeed and what to do to fail. While I could fill a whole book with well supported theory derived from such practice, for now, I only have the energy to share some simple observations.

The Need: Did the need surface from the owner, or CEO or sales/marketing department? How well was the business case conceived? Were the business planners going to have to run the investment and ensure forecast returns? Did they make their forecasts based on the numbers of their best run operations or the practical aspects of the 3-5 year capability/capacity growth curve of a greenfield in adjacent or remote geography from the main business? What is the level of risk with the new product, especially when product, process and people are all new to the business? And above all, was the justification based on growing revenue only, or safely ensuring a required return, or a true and strong long term play for a reliable business, implying reliable sales and margins?

I have encountered so many scenarios- from unbounded investments seeking margins that the customer was not willing to support, to great business cases where finally, the investor simply didn’t come even close to giving the business a fighting chance. While you may be looking for answers here, I am flooded with questions mainly. In the answers to these questions lies the fate of many or most new product launches. The die is cast very, very early. 

Product Maturity: While launching three products and a new plant across 4 years at GM’s Lansing Grand River I encountered a remarkable anomaly. Plant launch-check. CTS launch-check.SRX launch-oh my God!. STS launch-check. What makes for an interesting academic study was how the control factors were the same and yet one product went through the factory like a bomb. As the prototype builds went through our manufacturability tests we discovered so many basic problems and got such little quick response. No gate stopped the inexorable march of the product to the line as it crashed through key processes and came out to sit in vast lots in great numbers. Waiting. For true solutions to design issues (ranging from having the right length of a wire harness to make a connection below the carpet to figuring out how to plug large leaks on water test as we glued a full glass roof to the top with two-part epoxy,) to be tried and tested. And then to send armies of operators to these yards in the hope that they would only fix the problem they were going after and not introduce new defects!

Surely, many of you have heard so often on fighting for the integrity of gates in the product development cycle. There are as many books and well laid out product launch plans as there are examples of gate after gate crashed as projects dig their head deeper into the sand, like exposed ostriches, only to act surprised when a swift market or board kick to the exposed bottom causes cries of pain and suffering! And for gates to be sacred, enough experienced resources need to be empowered to solve problems swiftly and bow to even stronger gatekeepers with the authority of stopping the bus to drive quick resolution.

Process Maturity: I can still remember a favourite CEOs exhortation of how come you guys are all so focused on product maturity and totally ignore process maturity! In my mind the obvious aspects of process maturity is the testing and confirmation of the manufacturing processes to produce the right quantity of parts at the expected quality to match the launch curve. The subtler aspects of process maturity is how the production workforce is set up to detect, contain and correct encountered gaps in performance. What I have found often is that even with stellar product and manufacturing process maturity launches crash simply because they lack the experienced leaders and gumption to face and solve these gaps head-on and quickly.

Make no mistake, in all cases, the true wealth generating capability of a company lies within the heads, hearts and hands of the countless unsung heroes in the process maturity world. Gritty folks these. I still aspire to belong to this horde.

The Customer’s Team: As Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” This business of planning involves the need to make large assumptions about the customer’s need and reaction to your product. How well the customer engages in the launch is therefore a key indicator of success. For some products, the only times the customer gets to co-invent the solution is either during the market research and clinics, or upon first experience with the product. These are the riskiest. In other instances, if you are lucky, the customer is also a company, keenly desirous of your success. In such a case, the nature and constitution of this team also has a large bearing on success. If this team has the right maturity, and is willing and able to interweave with you to rapidly discover, assess and countermeasure gaps you are in great luck. On the other hand, if it is hands-off team eager to find fault (and offer no solution) and shrug, “I told you so..” to the sourcing team, God help you because the huns are within your gates and mass destruction is soon to follow.

Your Team: Stating the most obvious of all success factors in a launch is the constitution of the team- its leader, its members, and the deep bond that grows over time to engender success. In an earlier blog, I have shared the essential aspects of how a team leader cannot be a boss. And how a team needs to have a really diverse membership not only in functional expertise, but also in gender and age to ensure a good balance. This has been the most overlooked aspect of launches in my experience. For all the effort placed in developing the business case, market research and tracking of product and process maturity, precious little is placed on formulating the exact constitution of a team and its support and sustenance. So if you want an indicator of a launch’s success, be a fly on the wall and sit in on a team meeting. And cash out when you see a vital member leave in a huff.

Wildcard- concurrent launches: Picture 3 curves plotted against time for a launch. A) Product launch curve plan as dictated by the business case for market entry and return on investment, and this is the golden standard against which the launch will be judged, B) Product Maturity curve to meet A above, and C) Process Maturity curve required to meet A above. Generally speaking B+C should exceed A with some safety margin to ensure success. Against these goals, when you plot the actual performance of a launch you can well see if we are going to make it or find large gaps between planned and actual causing months or years of grief and pain to the P&L.

While one major launch is in itself such a challenge, the real test of a company is how many concurrent launches it chooses to undertake. Whether it has the wisdom and fortitude to truly say no to opportunities for which it does not have the required mature resources and processes or is seduced into accepting them in the hope that somehow the exhausted resources can be stretched to endure the pain and somehow sneak through. Ideally, the best investments are such where the the required resources and processes are amassed ahead of opportunities. Alas, opportunities don’t appear at our convenience, and when they do, we have to be prepared to pounce.

Here is my humble prayer then. Next time a shiny launch program for a business, or plant, or product comes knocking at my door all seductive with great benefits and flattery heaped on me, God give me the courage to gently shut the door and say no! Or listen carefully for a few minutes..?