Introduction and challenges
Over the past decade, product portfolios, both in the R&D phase and in service, have significantly increased in size. This is often due to the need to differentiate from competitors or to adapt to multiple needs of customers whilst failing to eliminate end-of-life products; the fear of losing a customer is ever-present. The multiplication of funding sources for these projects, the introduction of collaborative research and the acceleration of technological breakthroughs are other drivers of this increase.
It then becomes essential for a company to manage and streamline its portfolio of R&D projects to reduce costs, focus internal resources on the most profitable products or technologies for the future, balance development risks by assuming its leader/follower strategy and also to reinforce the impact of products on the customer by making the product range and perceived value clear.
Initiatives to streamline or manage the R&D project portfolio and the product portfolio represent up to 20% of the economic challenges of cost reduction plans.
How we can help
Argon & Co supports its clients in five main areas
- Review of the products and services offer, its segmentation, and analysis of the full cost of complexity
- Study of the R&D portfolio, its consistency with technological roadmaps, its financing, and analysis of the risk involved
- Streamlining and reducing the complexity of the product portfolio, based on validated scenarios and opportunities
- Permanent implementation of a management system for the R&D project portfolio or product portfolio and monitoring of its performance
- Implementation of digital roadmaps to manage portfolios