“STAGE GATE” PROCESS

What is a “Stage Gate” process? This is a very critical tool to develop and or to launch a new product / service in the market “right the first time”; one of the basics of Lean Principle. It creates a discipline for any organization to follow a methodology from innovation to launch and then follow-up. It has been proved time and time again that when a product and or a service is developed and ready to be launched, some critical things get over looked, which causes the corporations to delay the launch or back paddle after launching the product / service. This gives a bad image to the customers. I was working in an organization and they were launching a derivative product. The launching date was fixed, and the day the product was launched, the brochures were not available at the locations. When customers were asking about the product, a large number of company associates had no idea what customers are asking for. Major customer complaints where received and the corporation faced negative publicity. You can hear similar stories from organizations that are not practicing tools like the “stage gate”. I have used this tool myself and have seen results like:

Development time reduced in half.

Product / Service was launched right the first time.

All stakeholders knew the stage the product / service is sitting at.

Awareness in the business about the launch of new product / service. Let me walk you through the critical steps of each of the five gates. Each gate has a set of questions or tasks to be completed by the product / service champion and then signed off by the key stakeholders, who makes sure of smooth transition till the launch and also orchestrate removing any road blocks. The approval metrics might change a little bit by adding names that play an important role in down stream gates. You do not go to the next stage unless you completed the pervious stage. This is needed to keep the discipline in place and not forgetting any critical task that holds you back to launch the product / service. Stage 0 - Opportunity: This stage is the first and the most critical step of the process. This is the starting stage of the project and covers the basic information about the product and or service which needs to be launched. The questions are focused on the opportunity and developing a proposal to present it to the management. It covers the following tasks:

Product / Service concept

Product / Service features

Product / Service offerings & benefits

Market analysis

Competitive analysis

Rough cost analysis

Rough revenue

Product / Service launch date The above mentioned information or if your business has identified any other critical tasks to be answered, should be highlighted in this section. Now comes the approval metrics. Following is an example of key stakeholders’ approval signatures. This list is purely based on the kind of business / service your company is providing.

Product / Service Champion

CEO / Business leader

Manufacturing leader

Sales leader

Engineering leader

Information Technology leader

Human Resource leader Stage 1 – Investigation & Development: At this stage we start identifying, designing, and developing the processes, plans, operating procedures and communication plan. Following is an example of tasks to be answered:

Product / Service design

Process identified

Technology identified

Risk management

Departments involved

Draft SOP’s

Rough cost / unit

Marketing plan

First internal communication (high level) The approval matrices will remain the same or if some of the leaders want to nominate any one from their division / departments to be the signatory, it is fine. Stage 2 – Capability: This stage starts with doing the capability studies like testing the pilot test for design, process, measurements for key parameters, validation and training needs. Following are the examples of tasks to be completed: Pilot / Test

Process

Technology

Measurements (MIS)

Product / Service acceptance (internal)

First validation

Second Internal communication

Training designed and schedule The approval matrices will follow the same logic as previous stages.

Stage 3 – Commitment & Communication: At this stage things start coming together and moving at a faster pace. More frequent meetings are happening to follow up on the tasks. At this stage, following is the example of information to be documented:

Marketing material ordered and delivery scheduled

Procedures documented

Process validated and locked

Technology validated and locked

Risk assessment completed

Communication to all associates scheduled

Contracts completed

Product catalogue updated

Training completed All the concern parties sign the document. Stage 4 – Launch: Now the day has come to be proud of all the hard work done by every one. Before the actual launch date make sure that the following tasks are completed:

Media coverage ready

Market campaign ready

Celebration scheduled

Promotion material ready Concern owners will sign stage document to confirm the delivery. Last Stage: Product / Service is launched and now follow-up starts which is the most important part of the process and most often missed. Operational Excellence is not only delivering the Product / Service, but a complete satisfying experience to the customer. Now the Product / Service Champion will monitor the MIS, gets feedback and do change management to make it better.

About the Author: Farrukh Kidwai, Ph.D. is a “Six Sigma Master Blackbelt”. He is General Manager & Senior Consultant at BLUE OCEAN Management, Training & Consultancy in Dubai, UAE.