For many manufacturers, it's the shape of things to come that matters most.
Identifying and acting upon the next big idea that turns into the next big-selling product is top of mind, especially in high-tech and consumer product goods industries, where product lifecycles are short and supply lead times can be long. Finding the perfect — and profitable — balance between these two conditions is of the utmost importance because making and selling too much of the wrong type of product isn't good for business.
Take Kodak, for example. Several years ago, when it was trying to transition its business from a chemical company that makes film to a consumer electronics company, it heavily promoted an inexpensive digital camera with docking station for printing. As a result of its marketing effort, the cameras were flying off the shelves. It looked like a success, but Kodak started running low on cameras. And, the chipsets it used in the cameras needed to be ordered several months in advance. Suddenly, sales were at a standstill.
"They found that they didn't have their sales and marketing promotion strategy aligned with the production plan," says John Bermudez, senior director of planning product strategy at Oracle Corp., who worked with Kodak to ensure that it didn't repeat this problem.