(c) 2003 All Rights Reserved - Food & Drink Innovation Network - FDIN.Co.UK Notes from Special Interest Groups Food & Drink Innovation Network National

(c) 2003 All Rights Reserved - Food & Drink Innovation Network - FDIN.Co.UK

The Food & Drink Innovation

Net w ork

Notes from Special Interest Groups

Food & Drink Innovation NetworkNational Meeting - March 12th 2003

This is a direct transcription of the flip charts produced by each group.



Net w ork Summary of special interest groups

• The topics were (in descending order of attendance)• What is the best-practice for an NPD process? (10 attendees)• New products ... selecting the winters (10 attendees)• How can we compress NPD times but still involve all the stakeholders? (11 attendees)• Practical experience of paperless NPD systems (8 attendees)• Paperless NPD systems – managing change successfully (10 attendees)• How to give customers what they don’t know they need yet (15 attendees)• How to set up and run the best idea schemes (9 attendees)• How can we nurture better relationships with multiple buyers? (5 attendees)• How can retailers and large manufacturers help SME’s to innovate? (7 attendees)• How to stimulate our supply base (2 attendees)• Selling innovation on the shop floor (5 attendees)• How to help factories see their improvement opportunities (9 attendees)• What do you want from an FDIN website (4 attendees)



Net w ork New products – selecting the winners

Product testing methodsKids products – use a local school or other

focused group of people.Canteens – take opportunity to present

new ideas to manufacturing teams.

Understanding the consumer – what do they really want? Better to spend time establishing this first before showing particular products.

Watching how products are used? When eaten, with whom, with what. To help identify real consumer needs.

Using the workforce – set up groups of people who can be used for screening of products.

Branded v own label. Probably more time and resource for customer research.

For own label, is the store not the test market? Probably yes but we still have costs of getting products to the launch stage.

Is sufficient focus put on improving existing products as on new products? Don’t get carried away with innovation of new ideas / new products for the sake of it.

Paul Clarkson – SK Chilled Foods; Steve Wallace – Mr Kipling; Patrick Couzens; Dawn Terry - Masterfoods; Arthur Day - Nestle; David Lomas – A G Barr ; Sally Whelan – Concept 2 Launch; Duncan Murray - Nestle; Susie Barnes - Brakes; Helen Nickells - Heinz



Net w ork What is the best-practice for an NPD process?

Filling the funnelAre you responding to what your customers want?Don’t develop products to fit the factory!

However use your assets as best you can.You need to justify the

Process has to start with a clear category strategy which must fit the company strategy/vision. (Tick lists does it for our strategy).

Everybody wants their product now … but will change the goal posts giving unrealistic time-scales.

NPD to NPD … not through sales and the buyer.Shrewd and committed thinking.

Best Practice

Build business caseUse cross functional teamsHave senior manager buy-inFilterPrioritiseKnowledge of product is essentialAlways have conflict with operationsFuture of companyRestricting time linesNot enough projects are killed before they should be … needs a

way of filtering out projects … confidence in your projects.When does NPD finish? The race for quality has no finishing line!Total handover by the time the product is robust enough means

the success of NPDNew products by the due dateValue generated in 12 months

Continued …

James Newstead - Muntons; Sioned Huxley – Halo Foods; Russel White – Partners For Change; Emma Chambers – Concept 2 Launch; Neil Carr - Macphie; Nicola Veasey – Bernard Mathews , Mike Nightingale - Pera; Jan Roelfson - Heinz; Sharon Thomas – Two Sisters Foods; Duncan Murray - Nestle.



Net w ork What is the best-practice for an NPD process … continued

Ideas Gate 4 Develop Gate 3 Pilot Gate 3 Factory Trial

BLUE SKIES

CONSUMER

CUSTOMER



Net w ork Paperless NPD systems – managing change successfully

Sainsbury’s use GNX. CPD Collaborative Product Development.

Have some gate documents e.g. marketing, that come before the process starts. For JS it has reduced time up to 2/3rds.

They took top 120 suppliers and briefed them.Appointed an administrator to set all internal people on

system.Then input all the product specifications.Aim is to get UDEX in line with the CPD system, but at

moment means suppliers input twice.Two stage-gate parts:-

Project management tool.Specification management tool.

Include a series of mandatory fields.Gate meetings – to determine hurdle rates before the

gates are opened.The “brief” for the project goes on the system in some

companies.

BenefitsMakes innovation happen.Identifies how good you are at delivering innovation. It’s a performance tool.Accuracy of recipes is important; must be validated.Ideal is to launch in two steps and pilot it, and do a slow

roll out. Aim is to get 80% of suppliers on it.Ideal is to get all retailers using the same system, so

retailers can tailor it to their needs.Allows better work scheduling.Portfolio Analysis.

LearningsGet suppliers involved earlier and understand their

training needs.Saves time when searching for an ingredient in a project.Identify bottlenecks in the process. (Who slows it down)Can’t burn the internet down. So information is safe.Best specification system – QSA, Ramyses, then

Hamilton grant.

Cathy Port – Sainsbury’s; Zoe Nicholls – RHMFS; Susie Barnes – Brakes; Grainne Allen – Culinary Inspiration; Dave Phillips – General Mills; Sioned Huxley – Halo Foods; Ian Mathews – Marks & Spencer; Sally Whelan – Concept 2 Launch; Dawn Terry – Masterfoods; Mike Shaw – Dairy Crest.



Net w ork Practical experience of paperless NPD systems

Memory Lane has a system built in-house but based on “Formulate”. Possibility of collaborative programmes for own label suppliers?

Coors have an internal process. 3 stage paper-based but database sku tracking.

RHM looking at Sopheon’s Acolade. IDE very resource orientated. Ramesys very recipe oriented.

M & S and JS launching CPD.

Strong view that a food industry standard process would benefit everybody.

Should also look outside the food industry for best practice. E.g. Nasa can do rocket science we should be able to do food products!

Dave Phillips – General Mills; Debbie Sarson - Coors; Ian Taylor – Northern Foods; Liz Andrews - Heinz; Lesley Hardinge - Somerfield; David Moreton – Memory Lane Cakes; Sterling Crew - Tesco;



Net w ork How can retailers and large manufacturers help SME’s (Small and Medium sized enterprises) to innovate?

Difficulty in SME’s companies getting to talk to bigger companies.

Larger companies work to longer time-scales.

Larger companies less flexible than smaller – why?

SME’s supply quicker but not better.Move to local produce.Retailers may not have the technical

expertise so can not help.Many SME’s think innovation is recipe

changes ... Or only NPD.

Larger companies and retailers expect the SME’s to do the innovation.

Should larger companies and retailers act as a signposting to support retailers and “adopt an SME” concept … e.g. Northern Foods plant helping a local SME and mutual relationships develop.

Should LE + Retailers have “Open Days” to have a chat with suppliers.

Could there be a role for Regional Development Agencies?

Christ Smart - ; Emma Chambers – Concept 2 Launch; Frances O’Reilly – Yorkshire Forward; Lesley Hardinge - Somerfield; Neil Carr - Macphie; Ian Taylor – Northern Foods; James Carroll – Thor International; Malcolm Wilkes.



Net w ork How to help factories see their improvement opportunities.

TPM & Training“Single point lessons”Pictoral ToolsLevel 1 – 4 mentorGet operators to sit down with engineers.Needs a full-time facilitator.UK enterprise visits.TPM has increased productivity so much that the

line can be taken down for engineering and maintenance.

Productivity Steering GroupCross functional teams targeting areas – every

function. One is the champion

Train operators in their process so they know what questions to ask and know why they do what they do.

How to move from fire fighting to route-cause. Identification and problem solving.

Select key members of team who want to make changes

Train operators on why they do what they doWhen to redesign equpment. Use OEE and

attribute a value to a percentage .How to get factories to go beyond known

solutions.Production people need time to step back from

fire fighting.Can we pool problems and identify research

themes (through faraday)

Peter Willis – Marlow Foods; Neil Saville – Jacobs Danone; Peter Moores - Pera; Christina Goodacre - Defra; Phil Camburn - GSK; Simon Dale – FKKH Reading; Richard Heath - Heinz; Geoff Andrews – Northern Foods; Adrian Marshall – Crafty Tech.



Net w ork How to give customers what they don’t know they need yet

Great ideas in manufacturing … how do we improve NPD innovation process from supplier via retailer to customer.

Sharing the risk – retailer and supply base.Ideas in front of multiples, earlier in process.Partnerships and commitment.Idea generation sessions.Where does an idea come from? Lifestyles,

procurements, idea generations.Price?Innovation about a number of things.Structured development process can aid

development and on-going process.Staff changeover in buying team at retailer

can cause a number of glitches in development process.

Inclusion of suppliers in briefs from multiples not a two way street.

Wish listPartnership … do they exist? How can we

develop them.On line tendering process?How does retailer choose its supply base?Consumer research to back-up NPD.Look externally for expertise.Look at trends outside of sectors they are in.Use data and analise it.Who has interface with consumer, how can

knowledge be passed down the chain.Can we use research agencies e.g. Campden,

Mintel, TNS etc?

Continued …..

Mike Nightingale - Pera; Beth Bray – Cavaghan & Gray; Eddie Stableford – Brand Dragon; Amanda Ferguson – Moy Park; Annelise Whitaker – Golden West; David Evans - Campbells; Tehmima Mughal - Campbells; Mathew James – Young’s Bluecrest; Sharon Thomas – Two Sisters Foods; Nicola Veasey – Bernard Mathews; David Moreton – Memory Lane Cakes; Phil Preston – Sun Valley; Ian Blakemore - Pera; Sterling Crew - Tesco; Naz Ahmed.



Net w ork Continued ... How to give customers what they don’t know they need yet

Consumer led process … Understanding customer profile. How do we decide what they want?

How can we share information better? Sales – Innovation links?

Multiple supply v sole supply – Information sharing at different levels.

What does customer want in 3 – 5 years time? Trend analysis?

What are the new food trends? Will they come out of other lifestyle trends?

Health & anti-aging food & drinks.

Technical knowledge – research?

Capturing Innovative Ideas – How do we get them to markets. How do we support small companies in development and progression of an idea?

NPD “Short life cycle” Launched and delisted quickly. Big cost for small manufacturers.

Consumer satisfaction At what cost to themselves. Cost to manufacturer.

Development buying process

Sharing information Empowering everyone equally.



Net w ork How can we nurture better relationships with multiple buyers?

Understand pressures buyers are under in first place. E.g. volume of e-mails and other taks.

Assistants for buyers so contact can be made at least.

Use NPD manager for own label ideas.Cost issue – quality versus price.Why do retailers go to existing suppliers rather

than new (often smaller) ones.How can we share objectives with manufacturers

earlier on to better invest their time.Ideas on website so suppliers can tender for new

products. Or creation of an agent group which finds possible suppliers for retailers.

Group which filters possible suppliers for retailers.

How can suppliers prevent ideas being pinched or adopted by another supplier after mentioning to retailer?

How can we prevent the food offer becoming homogenised because retailers are continually rationalising their supply base.

Working party to resolve the issues would be pulled together.

Supplier need to be better at selling the benefits of their product range to the retailer. “What is their point-of-difference”. The whole proposition, not just the product.

Russel White – Partners For Change; Naz Ahmed; Cathy Port – Sainsbury’s; Sally Whelan – Concept 2 Launch; Malcolm Wilkes.



Net w ork How to set up and run the best idea schemes?

The Do’s

Do make sure that the scheme has backing from the most senior person in the company.

Do look at as many schemes as you can; good & bad. This will help to build a more suitable scheme for your company.

Do have people running the scheme who believe in it. If they don’t believe in it … why should the employees?

Do iron out the bugs before launching the scheme; people don’t have faith in schemes that have to be re-launched.

Do launch the scheme with as much fanfare as possible and keep the noise up to ensure that people know the scheme is there.

Don’t think you have to offer lots of money as a reward for an idea. Many successful schemes simply offer pure recognition.

Don’t have evaluators that aren’t taking their role seriously. Simple yes or no to ideas is no good; proper feedback is needed and in a timely fashion.

Don’t rule out any idea. It’s not all about cost savings or NPD. Good morale keeps down recruitment costs and keeps up productivity.

Don’t forget to keep idea submitters up-to-date with their idea progression. If they don’t hear anything they will assume the scheme doesn’t work.

Don’t make the scheme so complicated that people are scared of putting an idea forward.

Remember K*I*S*S (Keep it simple … stupid)

Pete Strange – General Mills; Simon Spanyol – Master Foods; Ian Mathews – Marks & Spencer; Frances O’Reilly – Yorkshire Forward; Rob Nicholas – RHM Foodservice; Tehmina Mughal – Campbell’s; Phil Preston – Sun Valley; Richard Heath – Heinz; Greg Tucker – The Marketing Clinic.



Net w ork How to stimulate our supply base

It all starts with a differentiated strategy, which means that you first have to separate your supply base into routine, commodity and strategic suppliers.

The last mentioned category is the one you take into account if you talk about innovation.

The fundamental in such a relationship is a standard contract and confidentiality agreement.

The next building blocks are:Commitment on all levels for strategic partnershipMutual brainstorming sessionsSharing strategies and information on brands and

consumers etc.Sharing costs but also benefitsAnnual suppliers innovation awardsWebsite for suppliersNewslettersMutual developmentsMutual value engineering

All this in a cross functional approach, together with your company and your suppliers to create a full-commitment and shared objectives and responsibilities on innovation …. Where you, as a customer, are encouraged to get access to the innovative power of your suppliers and where your suppliers will be rewarded through long-term relationships and growth.

Deborah Sarson – Coors Breweries; David Lomas – A G Barr;



Net w ork How can we compress NPD times but still involve all key stakeholders?

StagegatePaperlessManor: E-mail system – timebound 6 steps

agreed up frontScope ... Don't get too many stakeholders

Use project sponsorsInitial stages

Marketeer / ConsumerTest hypotheses – Research

GeneralUtilise AllCompression – size of change (evolution vs

revolution)Concept developing team – strike rate?Involve packaging early – lead times.Don’t be too proud to build with a twistBig boys – very long winded

Specific needsCustomer’s ideas quickest

IssuesChanging briefs / goalpostsWhat success looks like?Some milestones not clearRealistic critical path and ownership –

prioritisation of marketing resourceKey sponsors / key owner in placeToo many projectsResource insufficient ... Planning and honesty ...

be precise.No process for sale of process ... Depending on

imposition of rigidityCompany culture related.

Russell White – Safeway; Simon Spanyol – Masterfoods; Steve Wallace – Manor Bakeries; Patrick Couzens - ; James Newstead – Muntons; Helen Nickells – Heinz; Duncan Murray – Nestle; Rob Nicholas – RHM Foodservice; Fiona Cramp – Solway Foods; Arthur Day – Nestle; Paul Clarkson – S K Chilled Foods.



Net w ork “Selling innovation on the shop floor”

Cross functional teamCommon agendaTPN/ValueFormalLooking at the same problemInnovation is not just NPD

NPD transfer on to the lineTime to change the climate / environmentBuy – in and understandingInvolvement and voiceNine Rules ... Apply across the siteRecognising that the factory floor has a brainLack of clarityDiversity of viewResistance to NPDGeographic divide. Products v HQ

ProductionKPI’s have nothing to do with innovationTop down support for process innovation

It’s a good idea. But short term financial demands need to raise the profile of the benefits – bad history

Good payback: Resources, time, people.Shop Floor: Temporary, capability for change,

quality.

David Quain – Coors Brewers; Peter Willis – Marlow Foods; Amanda Ferguson – Moy Park; Grainne Allen – Culinary Inspirations; Chris Smart



Net w ork What do you want from an fdin.co.uk web site

Virtual open space discussionsThese are useful.How can this be ported to the web?Digest by e-mail … Monday morning –

Friday 2pm?

Simon Jones; James carroll; Adrian Marshall; Phil Camburn

Documents

(c) 2003 All Rights Reserved - Food & Drink Innovation Network - FDIN.Co.UK Notes from Special Interest Groups Food & Drink Innovation Network National