New Product Development in the Industrial Products Industry

Ducker Carlisle combines industry and market expertise with unique methodologies to support businesses with channel assessment in the healthcare space.

Client Situation/Need:

Ducker Carlisle was approached by a global supplier of specialized processing equipment and engineered solutions serving critical processing industries such as food & beverage and industrial markets. The client firmly believes that continuous innovation and delivering increased value to customers are vital to advancing competitive differentiation, business growth and success. The early stages of new product development center on the discovery of customers’ unmet needs, latent needs, workarounds, and desired business outcomes leading to ideation and potential concepts to consider for development. Ducker Carlisle was engaged to build a consistent and repeatable process to implement internally, with the goal of continually feeding the pipeline with innovation ideas and concepts. By adopting a scalable and repeatable process within the client organization, customer-centric innovation and accelerated commercialization become a core competency and ultimately, lead to enhanced market and competitive positioning.

Ducker Carlisle Solution:

Ducker Carlisle has extensive experience in supporting clients with their product development and innovation processes including the earlier stages of discovery and ideation. Ducker Carlisle also has decades of experience studying end-use market segments and end customers served by the client, providing us with an intimate understanding of the complexities of our client’s customer base and market dynamics as well as the credentials to successfully collaborate and coach the client’s core team through the research, analysis and adoption process.

Ducker Carlisle proposed a threefold solution. First, Ducker Carlisle established a consistent and repeatable discovery research and analytical process and playbook for the client to implement with its customer facing team members. Second, we provided discovery research training for the client’s team members who frequently interact and visit with end customers, so they are confident and effective in their ability to observe, assess and analyze customer needs and identify innovation opportunities. Lastly, we supported phases of customer research with on-site, collaborative visits to key customer accounts working side by side with the client’s team members.

Benefits/Deliverables:

Through close collaboration with client core team members, virtual training conducted by Ducker Carlisle team, and in-person interviews and exploratory observational research with key client customers, Ducker Carlisle delivered a New Product Development Playbook with consistent and repeatable discovery research and analytical processes.

The Playbook provided the client with a comprehensive framework and internal competencies for developing innovative ideas and concepts to continually feed the new product development pipeline.

Client Outcomes:

With Ducker Carlisle’s support, the client adopted a proven and repeatable process by which their teams observe, understand, and address existing customer issues and drive customer-focused innovation, leading to accelerated new product development, and increased success of commercialization.