I love that I feel like Escalent is part of my team. I can describe projects, and they understand how they fit into larger objectives.
When you are a leading pharma company with a reputation for innovative products, life is typically good. That is until the pace of innovation exceeds the ability to capitalize on market opportunities. Unfortunately, our clients found themselves in this position. It was a big problem for a market leader seeking to protect its reputation as an innovator and sustain revenue from innovative product releases.
The key to success was reframing the innovation process. So Escalent went to work to find the breakdowns in the current process. The client already had an elaborate database structure in place. However, we quickly spotted several kinks. First, there were inconsistencies with the methods used to document the vast volume of incoming innovative ideas. The criteria to advance initial ideas were not adequately supported by justifiable information. In addition, there wasn’t clear visibility into the timeliness and status of every innovative project at each stage.
After a full assessment of the breakdowns, we set to work addressing them. Escalent standardized the client’s pre-submission process for Innovative Ideas. Part of that standardization required research support to determine the viability of individual concepts. So we developed a platform that utilized existing client resources to report the innovative project status at each step.
The client implemented a nine-step innovation process, from idea inception to the final Go/No-Go decision. Nine steps might seem like a lot, but in fact, these clearly defined steps are driving innovation at a rate 10-15% faster than before. More importantly, ideas are vetted, researched, and moved forward with confidence. The client is capitalizing on more opportunity revenue as a result. As a bonus, the new process allowed the company to develop S.M.A.R.T. goals for innovation projects, resulting in increased productivity among the Innovation team members.
Talk to Escalent about optimizing your innovation process today.