Example Reflection – Learning Launch

Challenge

I am working as a process/ technology engineer in my organization and I am concerned with developing  new process or technology that integrates with our production lines, and that can deliver products within  the tolerance of the product formulation. I am not directly involved with or close to our product  consumers, my customers are the manufacturing and the R&D department within my origination who rely  on my process/ technology solutions. The challenge I choose here is to develop a novel way of packaging  our product that is much more appealing to our consumer than other competitions out there, while also  satisfying our manufacturing team by delivering a robust packaging process solution and limited to  internal budget. The project team would include packaging process team (3 people), manufacturing  representative concerned with packaging (1 person), R&D department (1 from product, 1 from packing),  finance department (1 person). The focus on process development is important because whatever the  solution is, the process team has to eventually enable it on the production line which is robust and  repeatable. Our key customers are R&D and Manufacturing team.

Selection

In our organization production line time is expensive and whenever we have to conduct experiments for  even a couple of shifts the line downtime comes at a very high cost because we are unable to produce  any products that can be sold to our consumers (raw materials and time used to produce these products  is lost) and has to be blocked from reaching the warehouse. Therefore I am choosing the learning launch  tool so that if the solution does not work then we will at least fail fast and cheap.

Application

After we have a set of ideas from the consumer data collected by our R&D colleagues and production data  from our manufacturing colleagues, we will filter these ideas based on its feasibility, timeline to execute  and if it fits into our budget. We would then gather these filtered ideas and work with our process  engineers to develop quick solutions that could be executed on the production line within 8 hours (1 shift).  This execution should be planned in such a way that the line operators are involved and are pre-trained  regarding the changes being made, because their feedback on ease of use the new process/ equipment is  critical in learning launch phase (remember, manufacturing is also our stakeholder, right down to the  people on the floor who operate the equipment). The top focus should also be reapplication of any similar  process from other business units within our organization so that we do not have to develop it from  scratch, thus saving time and money.

Products from each of this experiment is then taken to learn further in the next stage of learning launch  process, which is with our actual consumers. With the help of R&D colleagues we can get first hand insight  of this new packaging concepts from our consumers, by either setting up stalls in the retail shops or by  inviting our consumers to our testing centers. This is where we will confirm if our design assumptions  were true and if the solution meets our consumers’ needs more than our competition, if not we make a  list of the disconfirming facts.

Insight

With an end to end approach, involving all our key stakeholders in this design thinking process, we will be  able to figure out if the key assumptions we made were true or not. The design solution we are going to  choose is not only going to affect our consumers, but also the workers on the floor who will be using this  process/ technology. Their satisfaction is also equally important one we have locked our design solution  and rolled-out it out on the production lines. This way we can ensure our consumers and all our  stakeholders needs are met. The best design solution then can be chosen and scaled up with confidence  that it is not going to fail at later stages.

Approach

In a big organization that I work in, I would really like to keep my team small, streamlined and motivated.  The team has to still involve all the key stakeholders in approaching any of the design thinking stages. I  believe for the same challenge I mentioned above, the mind mapping stage would be really critical and  has to execute efficiently. This is where we will be looking for patterns and insights within the large data  we have collected to layout our key assumptions. In an organization with such diverse teams and  stakeholders, looking for patterns and connecting the dots to arrive at key assumptions will pose a real  challenge.


Example Reflection – Learning Launch Challenge I am working as a process/ technology engineer in my organization and I am concerned with developing new process or technology that integrates with our production lines , and that can deliver products within the tolerance of the product formulation . I am not directly involved with or close to our product consumers , my customers are the manufacturing and the R&D department within my origination who rely on my process/ technology solutions . The challenge I choose here is to develop a novel way of packaging our product that is much more appealing to our consumer than other competitions out there , while also satisfying our manufacturing team by delivering a robust packaging process solution and limited to internal budget . The project team would include packaging process team ( 3 people ) , manufacturing representative concerned with packaging ( 1 person ) , R&D department ( 1 from product , 1 from packing ) , finance department ( 1 person ) . The focus on process development is important because whatever the solution is , the process team has to eventually enable it on the production line which is robust and repeatable . Our key customers are R&D and Manufacturing team . Selection In our organization production line time is expensive and whenever we have to conduct experiments for even a couple of shifts the line downtime comes at a very high cost because we are unable to produce any products that can be sold to our consumers ( raw materials and time used to produce these products is lost ) and has to be blocked from reaching the warehouse . Therefore I am choosing the learning launch tool so that if the solution does not work then we will at least fail fast and cheap . Application After we have a set of ideas from the consumer data collected by our R&D colleagues and production data from our manufacturing colleagues , we will filter these ideas based on its feasibility , timeline to execute and if it fits into our budget . We would then gather these filtered ideas and work with our process engineers to develop quick solutions that could be executed on the production line within 8 hours ( 1 shift ) . This execution should be planned in such a way that the line operators are involved and are pre - trained regarding the changes being made , because their feedback on ease of use the new process/ equipment is critical in learning launch phase ( remember , manufacturing is also our stakeholder , right down to the people on the floor who operate the equipment ) . The top focus should also be reapplication of any similar process from other business units within our organization so that we do not have to develop it from scratch , thus saving time and money . Products from each of this experiment is then taken to learn further in the next stage of learning launch process , which is with our actual consumers . With the help of R&D colleagues we can get first hand insight of this new packaging concepts from our consumers , by either setting up stalls in the retail shops or by inviting our consumers to our testing centers . This is where we will confirm if our design assumptions were true and if the solution meets our consumers ’ needs more than our competition , if not we make a list of the disconfirming facts . Insight With an end to end approach , involving all our key stakeholders in this design thinking process , we will be able to figure out if the key assumptions we made were true or not . The design solution we are going to choose is not only going to affect our consumers , but also the workers on the floor who will be using this process/ technology . Their satisfaction is also equally important one we have locked our design solution and rolled - out it out on the production lines . This way we can ensure our consumers and all our stakeholders needs are met . The best design solution then can be chosen and scaled up with confidence that it is not going to fail at later stages . Approach In a big organization that I work in , I would really like to keep my team small , streamlined and motivated . The team has to still involve all the key stakeholders in approaching any of the design thinking stages . I believe for the same challenge I mentioned above , the mind mapping stage would be really critical and has to execute efficiently . This is where we will be looking for patterns and insights within the large data we have collected to layout our key assumptions . In an organization with such diverse teams and stakeholders , looking for patterns and connecting the dots to arrive at key assumptions will pose a real challenge .