The P3I programme

	Home   Creating wealth   Business success   Improving your    performance   P3I programme   Case studies   Do it like Toyota   Outsource to China?     Workshops   Newsletters   Useful publications   Related web sites   Contact us		You can dramatically cut the time and cost of developing your products
			- and produce knock-on effects throughout your whole operation that increases your products' added value, achieves better sales and reduces your cost base
			Read what participating companies achieved   How the programme works   Cost   Contact   Background - your costs and your competitiveness   Try these questions
			Over the past two years, more than 300 companies have completed this programme and started to reduce their companies' cost base. Read below about the results they have achieved.
			Most cost-cutting work reduces your capability in some way. But this programme is different. By tackling the fundamental causes right across the company, through cutting product cost, it reduces your medium and long term cost base.
			An experienced industrialist is appointed to work with you as part of the programme. They are key to your making fast use of its benefits. They help you identify the opportunities your company has, and assist you to start putting them in place.
			Enrol onto the programme - proven by more than 300 UK manufacturers in the first phase.
			They all achieved real benefits - see below what their managing directors said about the programme.
			The substantial development costs of the programme have been funded through financial support from the DTI, British Aerospace, British Telecom, Rolls Royce and the NatWest Bank. Your company is therefore asked to contribute a fixed fee of only £1,500 + VAT to cover the costs of your appointed facilitator delivering the programme to you, and the minor costs of administering the programme. Your fee is all inclusive of the programme materials, documentation and your facilitator's time: there are no hidden extra costs.

			You quickly recoup the small cost and permanently cut your company's future cost base.
			You re-run the programme continually to achieve long-term in-house cost-down. It will become a new way of how you operate your company.
			Read what these companies achieved
			The programme is confidential. The following contributors have agreed to share their experience of the programme subject to this confidentiality. Some of the companies will be well known to you.

			Case A - Mechanical components
			"We have halved our stockholding in less than a year"
			"Using the experienced facilitator allocated to us helped make really effective use of the programme. As a result of new understanding, we have reorganised the focus of our R&D. We now put 80% of our effort to cost-down projects and 20% to new products. The effect on our costs has been dramatic. By re-configuring products, we extended cell manufacture and have halved our stockholding in less than a year. We shall halve it again by mid-2000. An outstanding programme that I really recommend to other chief executives." (Managing Director)

			Case B - Electronics components
			"We have achieved more cost reduction that we thought possible."
			"The programme made us adopt a fundamentally different approach to developing new products. It was vital. By increasing our R&D spend by a factor of three, we have released more than four times that in cost reductions to our manufacturing operation. And we have been spurred on to invest in better equipment and skills. Every company needs this programme. The effect it has had on our costs is fast and dramatic." (Operations Director)

			Case C - Electronic/electrical components
			"It has boosted our sales and our image"
			"The programme made us review our entire approach to developing products. It has resulted in new products, launched mid-99, that have achieved far better sales that we expected. Our margins are up and our costs are down. Our new products are changing the perception of our customers and have boosted the market's interest in our firm. We plan to launch more new products in 2000. The programme has spurred a real transformation of our fortunes." (Managing Director)

			Case D - High technology mechanical products
			"It has transformed our fortunes"
			"This programme has completely re-oriented our outlook and ambitions. As a result of the programme, we have organised two grant-assisted projects to improve our technology; more than halved our tooling time by learning how to use CNC die cutting equipment at a local facility; and have persuaded Group to get us new CNC equipment to cut lead time in getting new business. When I first met our facilitator, I was really despondent about our future. But I took the programme home and worked my way through it. I had no idea what it might do for me - I thought probably not a lot - maybe about smartening a few procedural points. As I mulled over its contents, it began to dawn on me that I didn't just have to sit here and feel depressed. It made me understand that there was so much more I could do - it was up to me: there were a load of ideas that I could use. So I got up and did it. The day our facilitator visited me is indelibly marked as THE turning point. I'm delighted - I reckon every product developer should run this programme. It's really excellent. It has transformed our fortunes." (Managing Director)

			Case E - Storage systems
			"It is doubling our rate of new product introductions"
			"Traditionally we had never really considered our product strategy as being that important. It was more opportunistic than aiming at a target. The programme really stirred us up and made us think with a vengeance what was possible. We really got the bit between our teeth. We realised that we could do so much more by applying some guided analysis and thought to our future direction. As a result we are re-orientating what we do ourselves to only those activities that generate the uniqueness of our products. As a part of that, we've also identified the product areas we should be in but aren't. We are putting the rest out to collaborating suppliers to develop - conventional stuff that one of several manufacturers could develop with us The result is releasing internal capacity so we can multiply our rate of developing new products; we shall be able to do twice as much without increasing our internal spend. And it's made it apparent that we must also create new in-house skills to complement what we have already. This has lead us to reappraise our manufacturing strategy. The programme has really transformed our direction and future potential." (Technical Director)

			Case F - Aviation defence products
			"For the first time ever we're starting to meet our time and budget targets."
			"We used to produce a three-year business plan. The programme changed all that. we now have wider participation and continual updating. The difference it has made to our performance is remarkable. Our product development is more effective, with far less risk and better justified. Our team is working far better and we're starting to meet our time and budget targets for the first time ever. A really useful, worthwhile programme with results far beyond what we imagined possible on our cost base." (Managing Director)

			Case G - Labelling equipment
			"It's like holding up a mirror and seeing yourself for the first time"
			"Running the programme is like holding up a mirror and for the first time seeing opportunities you had never previously thought possible. It revealed that we had significant shortcomings in a number of areas. But it also led us to how we could put them right. With the excellent facilitator seconded to work with us, we used the programme to re-evaluate what we were doing against a measured background. We are now far more cost-effective. It's a really worthwhile programme that we shall re-run periodically." (Managing Director)

			Case H - Process equipment
			"It has been a real tonic to our performance"
			"The programme helped us realign our strategy and objectives, which we now update regularly. The key outcome has been to rapidly realign our product range to steer us away from an inevitable head-on collision with a really powerful competitor. In particular, we have improved our added-value performance throughout our product range. By spreading the culture throughout the company, our key staff now understand our products and customers far better. It has been a real tonic to our performance. Sales are better and so are costs and margins. And we can see them steadily improving further as we make even more progress. I wish we'd been able to rune this programme years ago - just think where we'd be now if we'd been able to!" (Managing Director)

			Case I - Electrical industrial products
			"We identified new product opportunities that had far higher added value."
			"Our problem was that the mature market severely limited our scope for increasing sales. The programme made us realise that we could exploit new areas by altering our customer focus. We identified new product opportunities that had far higher added value. The programme also motivated us to spread far greater awareness of our product activities throughout the whole company. as a result, the rate of useful new suggestions increased radically. The programme achieved far beyond what we imagined was possible. And it's feeding through to our results amazingly quickly." (Managing Director)

			Case J - Footwear and industrial products
			"The programme made us challenge everything we were doing"
			"The programme made us challenge everything we were doing and really spurred our transition to a highly efficient company, serving world-wide markets. 80% of our product range was under threat from low wage-cost Far-East companies. We knew we needed to diversify. But the real catalyst was the programme and the experienced industrialist appointed to help us. We identified areas that were feasible for us to exploit and the result has exceeded our expectations. Although our sales have grown by only 5%, we have reduced our 80% exposure to under 30% and decreasing. It has catalysed better planning and implementation that we would never have achieved on our own." (Managing Director)

			Case K - Special machine tools
			"The programme more than fulfilled our expectations."
			"We grasped the programme immediately we saw it. the opportunity to compare how we operated with the best, guided by an experienced facilitator, was too good to pass up. A business school study had revealed that 'two companies in five will go out of business in the next five years and only one in ten will grow.' We wanted to make sure we were one of the one in ten. The programme more than fulfilled our expectations. We introduced team-working, focused on reducing machine set-ups by revising aspects of our products, and on work handling and design for manufacture. All made possible by our new focus on the way we go about developing the products. By far the most useful part of the programme was the role of the experienced facilitator. He directed our attention to the key areas we needed to improve. And its starting to show in our results. A really worthwhile programme." (Managing Director)

			How the programme works
			What is the programme?
			It is a structured support programme for the CEOs of manufacturers that develop their own products. It identifies new opportunities for cost saving and performance improvement.
			Does it work?
			The programme employs the cost and time saving practices proven by the world's most successful product developing manufacturers. You also benefit from some 300 UK companies that took part in the first phase. Their experience has added further levels of refinement to the programme.
			How the programme operates
			An experienced manufacturing facilitator is appointed as your contact. They work with you: they visit you to explain the programme and lead you through the evaluation steps.
			During a short initial visit, he explains the programme and guides you through the process. You then perform a self-appraisal which, overall, takes no more than 2 days.
			With the help of the facilitator you then interpret a series of practical benchmarks which evaluate your company's development performance and highlight the areas that will benefit from improvement.
			He then works with your management team over several days to schedule activities that will reduce costs and development times in your operation.

			How the programme tackles cost
			The programme's main focus is the costs that result from the way you run the business procecesses that develop your products. These costs include:
			your development programme costs; the direct costs of materials and labour; your manufacturing overhead; manufacturing support costs; quality and reliability costs; the costs of funding your operation.
			The programme examines in detail how you develop products and how much your development programmes should cost. It examines how well the products that you develop match your competencies and the product and project costs that result. The programme also explores the suitability of the products to their markets and their ability to achieve a premium price. The better their sales success, the better your margins.
			The benefits that participants achieve
			Almost every company that has participated in the programme states they have achieved significant benefits. The case studies above are just a few of many examples.
			You will achieve faster development times and lower production costs. The cost savings feed directly through to your productivity. In fact, the benefits will extend into every area of your operation.
			How much of your time does it take?
			You invest as much time as you wish. But the deeper you explore the programme, the more your company gains. In phase 1 we found that the more competent the company, the more time it spent and the more it benefited from the programme. By contrast, the less able companies spent less time; and the worst couldn't even see the point of the programme!
			Your management team also benefits greatly from exposure to the programme. When you have started, you will be able to guide their activities from a position of greater strength and knowledge.

			The programme
			More than 300 companies took part in the first phase. Their achievements, together with requests from other companies who now want to take part, has opened a second programme phase in which your company may now participate.
			The programme has been developed by the Royal Academy of Engineering to help firms in the UK develop more successful products, of higher added value, in a shorter time.
			The Royal Academy of Engineering, the Government Department of Trade and Industry, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME-UK), and the UK Lean Enterprise Research Centre are supporting this project to help UK manufacturers like yourself. The programme is also backed by British Aerospace, British Telecom, Rolls Royce and the NatWest Bank.
			In-house assistance
			When you book on the programme you receive in-house assistance. An experienced manufacturing facilitator spends several days with your company. Initially you receive a visit to explain and set-up the programme. Subsequent visits help you put your plans into action. You also receive information about follow-on support opportunities.

			Why you should take part
			The way you develop your products determines your future sales, cost base and profitability. It is the major determinant of your costs and shareholder value. And a key factor of your future competitiveness is the time it takes you to bring new and upgraded products to market.
			For most manufacturers this process is a medium-term activity. They expect results within a year or two. But in today's fast moving marketplace this is nowhere near fast enough.
			The fast-track programme has succeeded in cutting development time and cost for the first phase companies, some substantially.
			You get results in months not years. And the programme doesn't just cut your time and cost of development: it permanently cuts your manufacture and component costs as well.
			Increased speed of development means that you introduce new and upgraded products earlier and more often. Add all these factors together and you win a substantial cost and sales advantage over your competitors.
			Your investment in the programme is recovered quickly, usually within months.
			The programme will lead you to better security and profit growth. Your investment quickly repays you with higher sales and lower production costs - year after year. It will help your company become more robust and competitive - for long term survival and growth. You cut he cost of manufacturing your products: do more with your existing budget and people - and cut your development costs - to do it in less time so you can introduce upgrades faster and more frequently to increase your sales.
			Are you eligible?
			This programme is offered to the Executive in charge of a manufacturing company that develops its own products in the UK. The programme is run by the chief executive or site director.

			Cost
			The substantial development costs of the programme have been funded through financial support from the DTI, British Aerospace, British Telecom, Rolls Royce and the NatWest Bank.
			You are asked to contribute a fixed fee of £1,500 + VAT to cover the costs of your appointed facilitator delivering the programme to you, and the minor costs of administering the programme.
			Your fee is inclusive of the programme materials, documentation and all your facilitator's time.
			Registration
			200 companies can take part in the second phase of the programme. There are no plans for a third phase.
			Please note:
			The first programme booked quickly.
			If you feel that you would like to take part but you need time to discuss the programme with your management team, we still recommend that you apply immediately to book a programme place subject to confirmation.
			Contact
			Dr C B Mynott Limited are the programme project managers. Dr Colin Mynott will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. For more information contact
			Dr Colin Mynott on:
			Phone:   (01788) 822 313   Fax: (01788) 822 040 or   e-mail: P3I@Mynott.com

			Background - your costs and your competitiveness
			Your products are the direct or indirect cause of the bulk of your costs - all of your direct costs and most of your indirect cost. And their success influences your costs too: if you could make better sales, your margins would be even better.
			Forty years ago, Taiichi Ohno, Shigeo Shingo and their collaborators realised that there was a better, far less costly way to manufacture. Their logic lead to huge cost reductions - halving floor space, reducing stock to almost zero, developing products faster and cheaper, reducing bank borrowing - and more.
			When you apply these philosophies to your product methodology, you mirror those savings across every area the product touches. But only a handful of companies world-wide have heard about and really understand the vast opportunities. Why? Because know-how is mainly propagated by people. That's why we appoint an experienced industrialist facilitator to help you.
			Developing products is a medium-term activity. you expect to get results in a year or two of starting your programmes. But a fast-track programme can get results in months not years. How you go about developing your products determines your future sales, your future cost base and your future profitability - all dependent on the way you organise and do it.
			The aim is to improve not just your ability to survive and expand in an increasingly hostile competitive environment, but to help grow your company's profitability.

			Why companies find it hard to gain a product advantage
			Most companies can afford only a modest product development investment and a small product team. Perhaps insufficient to add up to a winning performance. But many companies in the UK and abroad, of your size and with only a modest development investment, lead the world with their own products. How do they do it? Not just once, but continuously. But more important, how do you copy their success?
			This programme takes you step-by-step through the tools and techniques that successful product developers exploit to reduce development time, cut manufacture cost and increase their market success.
			Will you be one of the survivors?
			A study predicts that as many as two UK companies in five will go out of business in the next five years. And only one UK company in ten will manage to grow. Your competition comes from high quality value-for-money products and components from a revived Eastern Europe, SE Asia and China. How will this affect you?

			Why you must test your skills
			You make far better margins from products you develop yourself than from making those designed by customers.
			And if your customers are original equipment manufacturers, you risk being excluded from future contracts if you don't continuously improve your product development skills. In many sectors this is vital to long term survival.
			You are also in a supply chain. This programme gives you the opportunity to share problems and solutions with other companies in your sector or chain.
			These contacts also open opportunities to network and develop new customers, collaborate in product development programmes, reduce cost through resource sharing and access improved production methods.
			This programme opens the door to many valuable opportunities.

			Try these questions:
			Are your manufacture costs for your type of products among the lowest and most competitive in your market? Are you aware of how the lowest cost, most competitive producers achieve their low costs? Can you easily identify all the costs that any product incurs - even "hidden" costs? Do you design lower manufacture cost into every new product and improve sophistication of features at the same time? Do you use all the tools and techniques that cut time and cost? Do you know what they all are? Do you know which ones the most competitive firms use and and how they apply them? Do your product development projects always keep within their development budgets? Do you know all the ways to reduce your development budget without compromising customer appeal or skimping detail? Do your development projects always finish on time? Do you keep reducing the time it takes to develop your new or upgraded products? Do you exploit the best way to monitor progress and make sure you're never late or over budget? Do you always manage to avoid making changes after production release? Do you steal your competitors' customers by selling products that are as good as theirs but cost less? Do your out-sell your competitors by having products that customers prefer? Do you know how your competitors generate and screen their new product ideas? Is your business process for introducing products as good and as well managed as your best competitors'? Are you satisfied with your present product range?
			...the programme leads you to the answers - fast.
			Dr C B Mynott, Managing Director, TICS Limited