Dates & Location:
 October 21-22, 2008 / Oak Brook, IL

BACKGROUND

WHY THIS SEMINAR IS IMPORTANT TO YOU

Many companies have already introduced a new product process (such as Stage-Gate®) system and yet are still struggling to get the financial results they expected. Projects continually take too long, the development pipeline is clogged with too many projects and more often than not, key projects are not properly resourced at the right time. With time-to-market so critical, can you really afford to put projects on hold until they pass through a formal gate review? Is it possible to adjust your NPD process to accommodate different types of projects and even develop an XPress version for smaller projects and customer requests?

Robert G. Cooper, noted product development expert and author of Winning at New Products, will instruct this two- day, hands-on, practical workshop on how to significantly improve your gating and portfolio management process to increase your NPD productivity – to identify higher value projects, screen out bad projects early on, ensure that resources are allocated on time to winning projects, and remove waste and accelerate the process through to launch. The seminar draws heavily on the results of an APQC study of the best practices of top NPD performers in the United States, which he led. Focused on “how-to’s” and implementation, this session will provide you with a step-by-step action plan to accelerate your NPD process and dramatically increase profits, success rates and time to market.

10 Key Benefits

By attending this seminar, you will learn how to:

1. Apply the seven principles of lean, rapid and profitable product development in your business

2. Determine the right mix of new projects – large versus small; long term versus short term; significant new products versus minor tweaks

3. Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the front-end of projects – strategies to build Voice of the Customer into projects and get product definition right

4. Decrease cycle time and slip rate through effective resource management and the development of truly cross-functional teams

5. Tailor your idea-to-launch process to accommodate different types of projects – receive specific details on how Stage-Gate XPress and Stage-Gate Lite work

6. Adapt and integrate portfolio methods and techniques of high performing companies (based on recent APQC survey results of top NPD performers)

7. Unclog your pipeline and free up key resources for projects with the greatest profit potential

8. Align your business goals and strategy with your development portfolio – make sure that you don’t take on too many low value initiatives (product line extensions and modifications) and miss out on a true game-changing new product opportunity

9. Use strategic buckets to help balance your portfolio and scorecards to help you the select projects with potential for higher returns

10. Find out what data is needed to make critical go/kill decisions and how to expedite its generation

BONUS - FREE BOOK!
All Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Dr. Cooper’s Latest Book:

Lean, Rapid and Profitable
New Product Development

® Stage-Gate is a registered trademark of Product Development Institute and Member Company Stage-Gate Inc.

Instructor:

Robert Cooper
[Bio]
Renowned product development expert and author of the best-selling books, Winning at New Products and Portfolio Management for New Products