Most Innovative Company: December 2006
As stated in our September issue of CGT dedicated to innovation and featuring The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) on the cover: "It's been said that P&G has 'innovated innovation.'" From its origins, innovation was key for success -- after all P&G is the company that introduced disposable diapers and fluoride toothpaste to the world.
And while successful new product development is the ultimate goal, innovation in process and people comes first and is essential to the strategy of the company. In every strategic function at P&G, innovation is expected from its people.
"Successful Initiative Management & Product Launch (SIMPL)" is one process map P&G uses. Steps include:
- Discover - Promising consumer proposition
- Design - Integrated business proposition
- Qualify - The Initiative
- Ready - Prepare market launch
- Launch - Execute market launch
According to the company's Web site: "In the 1970s, P&G was one of the first companies to put its safety testing data in a computer database, helping to avoid duplicative testing."
Considering the state of technology and business process at the time, this certainly was forward thinking. With regards to technology now at the company, the role is evolving into a strategic one. The company is progressing to a time when members of the IT staff are "business owners," who can use technology to move the business forward.
A recent implementation with the UGS tool, Teamcenter, greatly enhanced P&G's product development process. The standard corporate desktop environment that was in place included some collaborative tools, but there was no way to share 3D visual product data -- essential in design. According to the case study by UGS, "Teamcenter provided P&G with capabilities specifically tailored to product-related team collaboration, including robust visualization capabilities for visual collaboration in a CAD-neutral format. It also brought P&G a rich set of real-time collaboration services, including calendars, schedules, workflow, virtual meeting sites, instant messaging and virtual conferencing."
"Connect and Develop" is the mantra of the innovation business model edict delivered by Chief Executive Officer A.G. Lafley in 2000. This dictates that the company's goal should be to acquire 50 percent of its innovation from the outside. In a press release about the company's third quarter earnings, Lafley stated, "The company delivered broad-based growth behind strong innovation on both the base business and Gillette."
Keith Grimes, vice president corporate R&D accepted the "Most Innovative Company" award for P&G. He says, "On behalf of The Procter & Gamble Company, I would like to thank Consumer Goods Technology and its advisory board for presenting us with the Innovation Award. P&G competes against some of the finest companies in the world, so it was an honor to be chosen as the most innovative company in our industry. Innovation is at the core of P&G's success and it must be continuous. It is key to staying competitive and sustaining P&G's growth. At P&G, the consumer is boss and innovation is always consumer-driven."
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Kimberly- Clark Corporation
Kimberly-Clark changed its approach to innovation by searching outside of its internal R&D labs through open innovation. The company was able to develop new products that consumers want and need, and bring them to market much more quickly than with a traditional new product development model. At the 2006 annual shareholder's meeting, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, "Using insights gained from customers, shoppers and users to develop innovative solutions helped K-C deliver on its financial commitments in 2005 and will provide the impetus for future growth." In September 2006, the company announced it would open an innovation center in South Korea to support its commitment "to discover, develop and deliver emerging technologies that foster future growth and take the company to the next level of performance as a premier health and hygiene leader."
Kimberly-Clark changed its approach to innovation by searching outside of its internal R&D labs through open innovation. The company was able to develop new products that consumers want and need, and bring them to market much more quickly than with a traditional new product development model. At the 2006 annual shareholder's meeting, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, "Using insights gained from customers, shoppers and users to develop innovative solutions helped K-C deliver on its financial commitments in 2005 and will provide the impetus for future growth." In September 2006, the company announced it would open an innovation center in South Korea to support its commitment "to discover, develop and deliver emerging technologies that foster future growth and take the company to the next level of performance as a premier health and hygiene leader."
Wm.Wrigley Jr. Company
At the September 2005 opening of Wrigley's new innovation center, then Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Wrigley, Jr. said, "Our global consumers have come to expect quality, value, innovative benefits and fun from Wrigley products. With state-of-the-art technology and resources, our new Global Innovation Center enables our people to drive innovation at Wrigley to an even higher level." Over the past four years, the contribution from new products averaged nearly 20 percent of Wrigley's global sales, up significantly from the 5 percent to 6 percent rate of the late 1990's. As a result of this activity and other strategic business moves, the company's sales growth has averaged 12 percent since 1999, more than double the rate of the previous five-year period. CG
At the September 2005 opening of Wrigley's new innovation center, then Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Wrigley, Jr. said, "Our global consumers have come to expect quality, value, innovative benefits and fun from Wrigley products. With state-of-the-art technology and resources, our new Global Innovation Center enables our people to drive innovation at Wrigley to an even higher level." Over the past four years, the contribution from new products averaged nearly 20 percent of Wrigley's global sales, up significantly from the 5 percent to 6 percent rate of the late 1990's. As a result of this activity and other strategic business moves, the company's sales growth has averaged 12 percent since 1999, more than double the rate of the previous five-year period. CG