Expert Article

USING KANBAN BOARDS

TO FACILITATE NEW
PRODUCT LAUNCHES
THE CHALLENGE WITH NEW PRODUCT
LAUNCHES
For many small to medium sized food companies,
launching new products or refreshing current
products is part of the day-to-day work. For some
companies, a consistent pipeline of new products
is a differentiator for their business. One company
we worked with was launching four to five new
products every month. If your food or beverage
company is launching or implementing new
products or new packaging more than two times in
a year, the following process may be helpful.

GOOD COMMUNICATION IS THE

Teri Jennifer Amy
Danielson Herrick Yukas
Operations and Marketing Consultants
NW Food Solutions
Teri, Jennifer, and Amy have been helping clients
implement improvements with new product
launches for over twenty years, bringing marketing
and operations expertise from leadership roles at
companies like Starbucks Coffee Company, Tazo
Tea Company, Pacific Foods, and Smith Teamaker.
FOUNDATION
Effective implementation of any project requires
good communication. Good communication means
we understand the information and outcomes that
others on our team need to do their job effectively.
This is where new product implementations can
Agricultural Development & Marketing Program
635 Capitol St, NE | Salem, OR 97301-2532
503.329.9799 | Oregon.gov/ODA
sometimes become challenging. How do we know
what others on our team need to do their job
effectively? If you work at a company with one or
two other people, it might seem intuitive. But as your
company grows, it gets harder for any one person
to know what others in the organization need. New
product launches have an inherent challenge in that
these projects are usually highly cross-functional in
nature. Here is an example of how things might get
off track without good communication:
We have seen communication issues like this derail
new product projects repeatedly at both small
and large companies. So how can we improve
the communication when working with a team to
launch a new product? One method is to make
the project information visual and increase the
frequency of verbal communication. There are a
couple lean manufacturing tools called “Kanban
Boards” and “Daily Huddles,” which when used
together can be very effective at ensuring a timely
and error-free new product launch.

WHAT IS A KANBAN BOARD?

Sara is a marketing person A Kanban Board is a way to visualize work at
various stages in a process, facilitate the flow
responsible for launching a of that work and limit work-in-process to a
new granola into grocery. manageable amount for the team. Kanban boards
She is working with a product can be created on a physical white board or can
developer, a raw material be virtual. (There are many good Kanban board
apps on the market). Before starting a Kanban
purchasing person, the sales board, identify the team that will be working on
department, and manufacturing the new product project and get together with
to launch the product in three the team to create the board using the steps
months. One month into what below. Generally, it will be helpful to have one
person responsible for bringing the team together
she assumed would be a and facilitating the process.
straightforward project, she
learns that packaging lead
times are 16 weeks and sales
needed samples a week ago
to get the product slotted
at a major grocery chain.
“How did we miss this?” she
asks the team. It turns out
that purchasing did not have
visibility to the launch timeline.
Also, the product development
process took longer, and no
one considered how this would
impact grocery slotting until
it was too late. This resulted
in the timeline being pushed
out. Does this scenario sound
familiar to you?
1. FIRST VISUALIZE YOUR NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH WORKFLOW:
PRODUCTS AND PURCHASE MATERIALS PRODUCT PRODUCT
SPECIFICATIONS MATERIALS RECEIVED MANUFACTURED SHIPPED

2. NEXT DETERMINE WHAT WORK OUTPUTS ARE EXPECTED AT EACH STEP:

Below is an example of potential outputs from each Step. Outputs are usually tangible items needed by
someone later in the process.

PRODUCTS AND PURCHASE MATERIALS PRODUCT PRODUCT

SPECIFICATIONS MATERIALS RECEIVED MANUFACTURED SHIPPED

• New Product • Purchase Order • Production • Customer Order

Tangible
Outputs
formulation
• Estimated lead schedule
• Shipped Paperwork
• Finished product times for all • Finished product
specifications purchased items
• Produce Test
• Raw material
specifications
• Packing
specifications

3. NOW THINK ABOUT WHAT TASKS NEED TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT WEEK TO
MOVE THE PROJECT FORWARD AND DELIVER ON THE IDENTIFIED “OUTPUTS.”
Write down the tasks that need to be performed on cards and put them on the board, along with who is
doing the task:

PRODUCTS AND PURCHASE MATERIALS PRODUCT PRODUCT

SPECIFICATIONS MATERIALS RECEIVED MANUFACTURED SHIPPED

• New Product • Purchase Order • Production • Customer Order

Tangible
Outputs
formulation
• Estimated lead schedule
• Shipped Paperwork
• Finished product times for all • Finished product
specifications purchased items
• Produce Test
• Raw material
specifications
• Packing
specifications
Weekly Tasks
Taste Test Write raw
Product material
A&B specs
Lola Ariel
4. IF YOU HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES AT YOUR COMPANY, YOU CAN REFLECT
THIS BY LIMITING THE AMOUNT OF WORK AT A GIVEN STEP: (see red below).
If you are running multiple new projects at the same time, you can reflect these on the board using a
different lane for each product.

PRODUCTS AND PURCHASE MATERIALS PRODUCT PRODUCT

SPECIFICATIONS MATERIALS RECEIVED MANUFACTURED SHIPPED

• New Product • Purchase Order • Production • Customer Order

Tangible formulation
• Estimated lead schedule
• Shipped Paperwork
Outputs
• Finished product times for all • Finished product
specifications purchased items
• Produce Test
• Raw material
specifications
• Packing
specifications
PRODUCTS 1

Weekly
Tasks Fruit Bar Received Test new
– pkg by pkg on the
Launch Tuesday line
3/1 Emil Jorge

PRODUCTS 2

Weekly
Tasks Granola Set Work Limits
– Max 2 tasks per week
Launch
Taste Test Write raw
5/1 Product material
A&B specs
Lola Ariel

5. ANOTHER WAY TO USE A KANBAN BOARD FOR NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH IS

TO STRUCTURE THE BOARDS TO COMMUNICATE LEAD TIME INFORMATION
AND WHEN A NEW PRODUCT PROJECT IS AT RISK OR ON TRACK:
NEW PRODUCTS AND PURCHASE RECEIVE PRODUCT PRODUCT SHIPPED
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS MATERIALS MATERIALS MANUFACTURED TO CUSTOMER
Lead Lead Time Packaging Lead Receiving Lead Production Lead Shipping Lead
Times 6 weeks Time 16 weeks Time 4 hours Time 5 days time 2 to 5 days

Raw material
Lead time 4
weeks

Fruit Bar Received

– pkg by
Launch Tuesday
Test new
3/1 Emil pkg on the
line
Jorge

Granola Taste Test Ask for

– Product expedited
A&B LT for PKG
Launch
Lola Larissa
5/1
Boards can be structured in many other ways and
can include whatever information the team needs
to be able to visually see what is happening in the
process. The most important thing a team can do
is to use the boards regularly and consistently and
keep improving them with new learnings.
HOW DOES DAILY HUDDLE SUPPORT
THE PROCESS?
A key part of implementing a Kanban Board is to
hold a daily huddle with the team at the board.
The daily huddle is the team communication of key
information. When everyone works in the same
location, huddles can be onsite around a physical
Kanban Board. When teams work remotely, Kanban
Boards can be electronic, and huddles can take
place virtually. Daily huddles should be 15 minutes
or less. Typically, one person facilitates the team
and updates the board. At a daily huddle, the
facilitator typically asks three questions:
01. What tasks were completed since last huddle?
02. What tasks will be completed by the next
huddle?
03. For any tasks we did not complete since last
huddle, what got in the way?
The purpose of the huddle is to identify obstacles
getting in the way of tasks being completed and
work to remove those obstacles, so the project
continues to flow.
The most important part, no matter what kind of
board or tool you use for visual communication,
is consistent and regular verbal communication
within the group doing the work.
There are usually a lot of tasks associated with
any new product launch and teams working
on these launches are by nature, cross-
functional. Using a Kanban Board and daily
huddle to communicate during a new product
implementation and launch can help facilitate a
smooth process across departments that happens
on-time and with fewer errors.
NW Food Solutions helps food and beverage
companies safely, effectively, and successfully
bring out the best in their business. With more than
50 years of food industry experience, NW Food
Solutions equips companies to improve culture,
maximize operational health, create systems for
sustainable growth, and stimulate innovation.