June 1, 2024
IpX Chief of Transformation
"We don't have time to follow the process, but somehow, we have time to do it twice."
- An unfortunately well-known expression
Robustly assessing product changes is crucial for several reasons, impacting the success, efficiency, and sustainability of a product or project. Here are some key reasons why conducting a thorough assessment of product changes is important:
First and foremost, a thorough change assessment ensures the organization is deploying scarce resources progressing the right opportunities. A robust and holistic assessment drives a deeper and more complete understanding of the impacts of the proposed changes from multiple perspectives.
Identifying potential risks and challenges early on allows for proactive mitigation strategies. This can prevent costly mistakes and project delays.
Rigorous cross-functional assessments contribute to maintaining or improving product quality. This is essential for customer satisfaction and loyalty.
A detailed assessment promotes accurately estimating the costs associated with proposed changes. This is crucial for robust budgeting, resource allocation, and ultimately, decision-making.
Ensuring proposed changes comply with relevant regulations and standards is essential. Robust change assessments help identify and address compliance issues.
Assessments may reveal opportunities for innovation and improvement beyond the initial scope of the proposed changes.
Conducting robust assessments can be time-consuming and resource intensive. Scaling assessments to be change-appropriate, can avoid delays in implementation timelines.
Many changes involve complex technical details, making it challenging for non-technical stakeholders to fully grasp the implications and add value.
There is a risk of overanalyzing changes, especially if the assessment process becomes excessively detailed. This can lead to diminishing returns on the invested time and effort. Accounting for unpredictable future factors, such as shifts in market trends or emerging technologies as 2 examples can bog down the assessment exercise.
Perhaps the most important key to success in conducting robust change assessments is scaling the assessment to meet the needs of the proposed change. Ideally, this serves to optimize the investment of time and resources required to identify a robust way forward. Often it is best to assign the role of defining a fit-for-purpose assessment on a per-change basis.
Clearly articulate and document the goals and objectives of the proposed change. This provides a focused direction for the assessment - particularly impactful for complex changes - and helps in identifying key performance indicators.
Involve stakeholders from impacted functions as required, including engineering, marketing, finance, supply chain and manufacturing / operations. This ensures a comprehensive evaluation and considers diverse perspectives.
Evaluate the impact of the proposed changes on various aspects, including product performance, production processes, supply chain, and customer satisfaction. Consider a structured, checklist-based approach. This analysis helps in understanding the full scope of the project. Consider the entire product life cycle, from design and production to distribution and disposal. Assess the environmental impact, sustainability, and potential for future upgrades or modifications.
Conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to assess the financial viability of the proposed changes. Consider both direct and indirect costs, along with potential revenue gains.
Document all aspects of the assessment, including methodologies, findings, and recommendations. Communicate the results effectively to all stakeholders, ensuring transparency and understanding.
After the product changes are implemented, conduct a post-implementation evaluation to assess the actual outcomes against the predicted ones. Learn from the experience for future assessments. By incorporating these best practices, the effectiveness of the change assessment process and increase the likelihood of successful product changes can be improved.
With more than 35 years at APTIV (formerly Delphi) as a cross-functional leader, Janeen brings a wealth of experience across Operations, Purchasing, Engineering, Product Line Management, Portfolio Management, Configuration Management, and Contract Manufacturing. Her previous roles as Program Manager, Systems Engineering Manager, and Global Configuration Management Manager consisted of managing and training international teams, complex problem solving, driving increased cycle and production times, and providing detailed customer engagement.Janeen's most recent position as Global PMO Manager and Launch Excellence Manager included performing escalation management for senior leadership and creating risk management processes. She supported more than 200 project managers and leaders in 14 global design centers along with training, coaching, process assessment, project reviews, global project coordinator leadership, and launch readiness. Janeen holds a Master of Science Degree in Manufacturing Management from Kettering University, completed Six Sigma Black Belt training, and a CM2-Comprehensive certification.
