Using Action Learning to streamline the prototype-to-product transition process at engineering, technology development, and manufacturing company, SRC Inc.
Matthew Hill and his team, provide high quality support. By combining learning and application, the action learning approach contributed to solving our prototype-to-product (P2P) challenge while accelerating adoption across the organization.
Tony Stewart, General Manager of Manufacturing
The Opportunity
SRC Inc. had evolved from an R&D engineering company to an R&D firm with a manufacturing capability that could take prototypes into production.
In establishing this capability, SRC sought to streamline the prototype-to-product (P2P) process so that prototyping remained agile, while the transition to manufacturing yielded high quality, tested, and easily producible designs.
Matthew J. Hill was called in to facilitate an Action Learning project that would improve agility, coordination and handoffs in the prototype-to-product transition.
Defining the problem
Our starting point was to draft a problem statement with stakeholder input that laid out barriers to improvement.
A well-defined problem gets you 50% of the way to finding a solution.
The problem statement also included a research plan with data gathering, team member roles, and a timeline. We then conducted focus groups with key stakeholders from all of the impacted functional areas.
Process Improvement Workshop Outcomes
Synthesizing the Action Learning interview data, we facilitated a set of process improvement workshops that gathered knowledgeable stakeholders from across the enterprise. Working with the data, the participants agreed on a revamped prototyping process.
Agile R&D: By improving handoffs, design phasing, and parts acquisition, participants accelerated the prototyping phase, increasing the quantity and quality of early stage designs.
Transition to Manufacturing: They also agreed on an evaluative process so that only the best prototypes transitioned to manufacturing while creating a standardized set of steps that all viable prototypes had to pass through.
Improved Processes
Talking about the success of the project and Matthew J. Hill’s understanding of organizational culture and approach to Action Learning, Tony Stewart, General Manager at SRCTec shares:
“It is obvious through his work and extensive knowledge on the topic that Matthew spends time researching, observing, and diligently taking steps to stay informed and better coach leaders to develop a true understanding of their organizations culture, and what can be done to move it forward.”
“I’m happy that I was able to work alongside Matthew, who helped us finetune our business process problem solving.”
