In the agri-food sector, companies must constantly renew their products to remain competitive. R&D teams, constantly under pressure, manage numerous innovation and renovation projects in parallel. Unfortunately, many of these projects fail along the way due to unmet criteria, such as excessively high production costs. The concept of Fail Fast (accelerated failure), or pre-feasibility studies, is emerging as an effective solution, allowing projects to be selected from the outset through simulation, thus saving valuable time and resources.
Optimizing the agri-food R&D process: how many projects launched succeed?
In the highly competitive agri-food market, companies must meet the demands of retail customers, new regulatory constraints, and consumer expectations. R&D teams in companies, particularly those producing private labels (PLCs), are overwhelmed by dozens of briefs and calls for tenders each year. Project managers often embark on the R&D process (formulations, testing, analyses) only to realize that certain criteria, such as cost price, are not being met.
❝ Salespeople send briefs to R&D by email, all projects go into formulation, testing, etc. without Go/NoGo. The R&D team is exhausted by all these developments, resulting in a high turnover: 7 project managers in 4 years! ❞
R&D Manager , Private Label Manufacturer of Dietary Products.
The pre-feasibility study: a crucial step. How to select projects from the start?
The pre-feasibility study is a crucial step in the new product development process for food companies. It helps reduce the financial risk associated with traditional R&D methods by assessing a product's feasibility from the outset. Working through simulations can ensure that the product meets the specifications, including the estimated cost price (ICP), before devoting additional time and resources to it.
❝ Being able to select projects based on price criteria saves us weeks! Previously, we would run trials only to find out at the end that the PRI was higher than the requirements. ❞
Development Manager , Private Label Manufacturer of Advanced Products
How to generalize the pre-feasibility study to qualify product development projects?
Upon receipt of briefs, calls for tenders or specifications, project qualification is mainly based on simulation using reliable and accessible data, to provide a rapid response to its feasibility: cost, deadlines, profitability, etc. It requires having the necessary information, easily accessible and up to date.
The first step is to gather data on raw materials, packaging, and recipes in a structured and controlled database that guarantees their reliability. A centralized, structured product data repository is the heart of a PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solution. The Keendoo PLM formulation module allows you to simulate the characteristics of a recipe, compare variants and their impact on the PRI, mandatory (INCO) or voluntary labeling information (Nutri-score, claims, etc.), before mobilizing teams on a project. All simulations, projects, products, and their history are stored in the PLM, thus becoming the company's R&D memory. This saves time by drawing on feedback from past projects and avoids redoing abandoned and forgotten projects.
PLM to accelerate innovation and facilitate the daily lives of R&D teams
Additionally, implementing a PLM tool designed to manage product development (innovations, renovations, updates) saves on testing, raw materials, and analysis. This allows teams to focus on the most profitable product developments while reducing time to market.
By generalizing pre-feasibility studies (Fail Fast concept) using a high-performance PLM solution, such as that offered by Keendoo, companies in the agri-food sector can optimize their product innovation process, responding more effectively to market requirements.
