Fast-start to technology roadmapping for leading liquid repellent technology supplier

Our client, a leading supplier of liquid repellent nano-coating technologies, works directly with original equipment manufacturers to make materials and devices water resistant, improving their reliability and enabling them to survive liquid exposure in everyday accidents.

Having experienced rapid growth over recent years, the Senior Management Team identified the need for independent support with applying roadmapping to support their future strategic planning. They also wanted to incorporate training to the process enabling individuals in the organisation to use the technique for other areas in the future.

The challenge

The senior team acknowledged a shared sense of direction for the organisation in the longer term was needed as well as a way to get different departments on the same page moving forward.

They also wanted a more structured product release process; in the past, feedback from individual customers would result in a number of new product developments, multiple incomplete projects and a long time to market which was proving costly in terms of technical resource.

Following a recommendation, they looked to roadmapping and the IfM for help in overcoming the challenges faced.

The solution

T-Plan (technology plan) roadmapping focuses directly on product-technology planning and details a product’s potential functions and features and the specific technology solutions for developing them. The approach facilitates the development and communication of a product-technology strategy, with an integrated view of the market, meaning the evolution of a product is focussed on market drivers and customer needs. Multidisciplinary participation by both technical and commercial functions supports communication, linking technologies, capabilities and resources with products and services, through business and market drivers.

Try before you buy

Members of the Senior Management Team initially attended a roadmapping course to understand roadmapping but also about working with the IfM. Attending the course gave them confidence in the IfM’s methods as well as gaining reassurance when meeting other organisations on the course, who were facing similar challenges, that it was the right approach for them.

The ‘fast-start’ approach to roadmapping, developed at the IfM, provides a quick, efficient way of evaluating the potential benefits of roadmapping. Initially focussing on one of the their new products, they used the ‘fast-start’ approach to test technology roadmapping before committing further resource, significantly reducing the risk for the organisation.

Getting others on board

Following the workshops, and to keep momentum going, the new findings from the roadmap have been communicated to the wider organisation through a series of small group workshops as well as embedding updates in quarterly sales meetings. The workshops have aided further discussion with teams that may not have already been exposed to the process, helping more individuals feel part of the process and also bringing new ideas to the table.

Further to this, some teams in the organisation who were previously uncertain of the method have begun to develop their own roadmaps which have been adding valuable ideas and thinking to the original roadmap.

Not the end of the road

Although the initial ‘fast-start’ approach was complete for one product, our client’s roadmapping journey had only just begun. The initial ideas and actions presented in the first roadmap were considered by the Executive Board, including which products to invest in and what additional resource was going to be required. It became apparent that further product roadmaps were going to be needed for all of the organisation’s product portfolio before the Executive Team could make any final decision and plan resource accordingly.

They were able to quickly apply the roadmapping techniques they had learnt for their other products, further customising the process further to get the results they needed. They adjusted the timeframes and worked through some sections of the workshops quicker as they had a better understanding of the process and which parts were relevant to their specific products. They also adapted the participants in the workshops, involving the Executive Team only in workshops one and four, meaning they were there for the kick off discussions and the presentation of the findings. The core team was therefore made up of on-the-ground staff with each stage of the workshops being documented ready to present back to the Executive Team at the end.

For our client the roadmap is not a finished article by any means, it is a topic for continuing conversation for them to have about their products and how they think about future technological investment. Now working through the roadmapping process for other products they have a more joined up approach to their product-technology planning.