The process of launching new products to the market for an FMCG company

For an FMCG manufacturer operating in several countries, a project was implemented to optimize the process of creating and bringing new products to market (NPD). Prior to the project, the NPD process differed across countries and divisions, which slowed down product launches and led to inconsistencies and unclear areas of responsibility. The company's merger only exacerbated the problem, and implementing change was often met with resistance from employees.

Our approach began with an audit of the current state of the processes and identification of bottlenecks, which allowed us to optimize the steps to bring products to market. We offered process variation for different types of products (local, export, packaging) and provided for the possibility of modernizing production if necessary. Instead of formalizing the entire process (1000 operations), we focused on problem areas.

The new process is more transparent and efficient, with clear criteria for each step. We developed a single process for all countries, preparing it for future automation, which improved consistency between offices. Internal agreements between teams through SLAs were also fixed, speeding up work and reducing errors.

As a result, employees and departments have clear rules of interaction, which has increased the speed of product development and launch. The process became more transparent, with clear decision points and success criteria. The company's management got a complete picture of new product development, which accelerated the processes and improved the quality of product launch.