Innovation Network

Enterprise, manufacturing

A five-year strategy built through remote sprints

A leading UK consumer goods manufacturer

Agile and design thinking applied to remote collaboration during the pandemic, producing a five-year vision, an innovation pipeline and a factory-of-the-future concept.

01

Organisational context

The move to remote working during the pandemic disrupted coordination across teams and time zones, lowered morale and threatened the momentum of innovation at a leading UK consumer goods manufacturer.

02

Capability challenge

Keep strategic work moving, and keep innovation alive, when nobody could be in the same room.

03

Roles involved

  • Leadership team
  • Strategy and innovation teams
  • Operations and manufacturing leads

04

Pathway or intervention designed

Training in virtual collaboration and agile practice, followed by a series of remote sprints designed to use the strengths of digital tools rather than replicate a physical workshop online.

05

Live challenge addressed

Three sprints: a five-year vision and strategy, a five-year innovation pipeline and a concept for the factory of the future.

06

Evidence and work products

  • A documented five-year vision and strategy
  • A five-year innovation pipeline
  • A factory-of-the-future concept covering automation, digital twins and connected operations

07

Decisions and outcomes

The organisation produced a shared strategic roadmap and an innovation pipeline entirely through remote sprints, and kept using agile methods in day-to-day operations afterwards.

08

Capability retained internally

Agile methods remained in daily use, giving the organisation a scalable model for collaborative work.

09

Next stage

Portfolio governance for the innovation pipeline and specialist delivery modules for the factory programme.

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