10 Insights to Build and Drive a Growth Factory

Most leaders of companies want to do more than survive over the long term. They want to perform, and to perform they need to grow.

Nowadays, development and growth is about the accumulation of very large set of capabilities that go into making a very large set of possible products. A WEF video of Manufacturing for Growth indicates that there is some innovation that happens that allows us to substitute the scarce resources that are causing the problem for something new and different.

The Growth Strategy said that to building the new growth enterprise the companies must to alter the competitive landscape, and create entirely new markets that generate new demand.

Innosight Team explain that to build innovation capabilities is necessary overcome growth challenges by building an infrastructure for innovation. By systematizing innovation and aligning all efforts with its long-term vision of creating “purposeful” products that improve lives.

Moises Norena, Global Director of Innovation at Whirlpool Corporation, said that the benefits of innovation that help to build and drive a growth factory must be focus in impact on all the stakeholders: customers, trade partners suppliers, employees and shareholders.

According to some books, articles, systems and reports like Growth Factory, Driving Growth Through Innovation, Start Building Your Growth Factory, The next era of global growth and innovation , Growth Thinking ®, Innovation is the path to growth and differentiation, I am meeting the 10 Insights to Build and Drive a Growth Factory:

1. Build a common language: A common language is a key enabler of a systematic approach to innovation-driven growth.

2. Conduct a Detailed Assessment: Form a small team and task them with pinpointing the biggest accelerators and inhibitors of making innovation-driven growth systematic.

3. Work on Demonstration Projects: Look around your organization to try to find teams working on more expansive, disruptive ideas. Find ways to work closely with those teams.

4. Think in a “Growth Factory” system: To create growth through innovation there is four key components: a growth blueprint; production systems that translate ideas into booming growth businesses; governance and controls that track and allocate resources; and appropriate leadership, talent, and culture.

5. Innovation must be approached as a disciplined process: The companies need an overarching process in order to be able to capitalize on ideation sessions, and that’s where discipline comes in. There is only thing that separates a vanguard company from competitors, is the strength of innovation process: the ideas, knowledge, commitment and innovation skills of your people.

6. Innovation must be approached comprehensively: Innovation can´t be confined to one department or to an elite group of specialist performers who will be responsible for making new ideas happen. Innovation must be part of every business unit and every executive´s job description.

7. Innovation must include an organized, systematic, and continual search for new opportunities: Innovation disciplined companies promote a deeper understanding of social, demographic and technological changes in a continual, systematic search for tomorrow´s opportunities.

8. Innovation must be directed from the top and involve the total enterprise: There is one innovation success factor that companies must have: the leader is engaged, the leadership team is involved, the top team, including the CEO has bought in!. The companies must have the way to motivate their people to generate ideas and invest in building innovation capability, commonly called “idea management systems” to capture ideas.

9. Innovation must be customer-centered: Listening to customers in traditional ways. Creating new, exceptional and unique value propositions for customers is the only way route to success.

10. Innovations create new possibilities: A rich pipeline of innovations promises to create additional demand and drive further productivity gains across manufacturing industries and geographies. New technologies are increasing the importance of information, resource efficiency, and scale variations in manufacturing. These innovations include new materials such as carbon fiber components and nanotechnology, advanced robotics and 3-D printing, and new information technologies that can generate new forms of intelligence.

“Innovation for growth is about new ways of doing things that make a positive impact”      – Scott D Anthony.

images credit: innosight.com

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Geovanny Romero, is certified NPDP Plant Manager at Renovallanta-ContiLifeCycle, and Managing Director at NPD Strategy in Andean Region. A Member of PDMA International, his main interests are focused in Productivity, New Product Development and Lean Innovation Management. You can connect with him on Twitter @geovanny_romero