Succesvolle innovatie komt steeds vaker tot stand door partnerships van meerdere partijen. Maar hoe selecteer je potentiële partners?
Is het een zoektocht naar de prins op het witte paard? Hoe verdeel je de taart? En is cultuurverschil te overbruggen met een klef broodje?
Quintijn Innikel deelt zijn ervaring en inzichten over het creëren van vruchtbare partnerships en zet de belangrijkste uitdagingen op een rij.
Jan Witte already had extensive experience in product development, including for major clients such as Heineken and Unilever. YouMedical, turnover over 10 million euros, has 15 employees and exports to 40 countries. ‘I am responsible for the daily management and also for developing the physical product, i.e. packaging, holder and dispenser. For example, we have developed a patented system to freeze warts very locally, without affecting the surrounding skin.’
The rise of Agile working, Lean Startup and Design Thinking has had a great impact on the practice of innovation management. Does this mean that Stage-Gate is obsolete? To find out, as a graduate student I first studied the theory of these processes. Then I analyzed 150 BEACON innovation projects for the methodologies used. With the goal of identifying which approach works best for different types of innovation projects. My conclusion is that the Stage-Gate process is still relevant as the backbone of the process.
In eight months we developed a product, a machine and smart packaging, whose new technology has been patented. Even in the world of software development and lean startups, this is an extraordinarily high speed. Let alone for the world of hardware. BEACON is responsible for organizing the technical product development of our startup. The basis of our successful cooperation is trust and strong commitment. Meanwhile, things are looking promising, on April 1, MILQMOR will be officially presented at the expo in China.
‘To scale up a medical product in six months from a laboratory test to a system with 10,000 clinical tests with test subjects, that is the assignment we are working on with the Verhaert Masters in Innovation group. It involves the development of a point-of-care testing device, a testing device that can be used at, for example, a general practitioner’s office.
The corona pandemic caused supply chain disruption in many industries. Even before that, there were disruptions from, for example, the trade war between China and the US. And recently the Evergreen blocked the Suez Canal. Besides long delivery times, we have to deal with rising raw material and container prices. A wake-up call for many companies to refocus on their supply chain strategy. What are the implications of this situation for the product development process? To reduce risk and remain agile, we will have to start thinking and anticipating more ahead. What strategies are out there?’.
Normally I would literally get the participants moving, sticking post-its, drawing on whiteboards and collectively creating an overview on a large brown paper. With a large group, it is helpful to split into smaller groups during the workshop and then briefly pitch the insights to each group. In any case, everything is offline, precisely without digital tools. But online? Yes it is possible. Here are some tips to successfully organize and facilitate such an online workshop.
Standing together in front of a whiteboard I see as a very valuable method of working when managing innovation projects. If a project team member no longer has an overview, or if team members disagree, it works well to create a common picture.
Robin Radar Systems is a fast-growing scale-up with a lot of emphasis on innovation. As the company has grown rapidly recently, we needed more structure in the innovation process and in how we market products.
The fact that a product technically works is certainly no guarantee of success. After all, did you create the right thing? Is the customer waiting for it? And is it also marketable, at the right price?