"Caracal Consulting and Andy Taylor have given us a world class innovation management process, comparable with or better than those in blue chip businesses like Hewlett-Packard or Motorola, backed up with really practical implementation support. Andy has a deep understanding of how to manage innovation."
Simon Durrant - Director of Marketing and New Products
"We have a long-term relationship with Caracal and Andy Taylor, which continues to make a major contribution to our success. It is invaluable to have a consulting partner who really listens, and so understands us and our issues. Most of all, Andy is highly customer-focused and always conscious of the value of his service to us. I need to trust that in a consultancy, and it's why I never hesitate to pick up the phone and call him."
David Hawksworth,
Managing Director
"Andy has always shown an excellent ability to diagnose and recommend action on a range of business problems. He thinks around issues, identifying organisational blocks and takes action to shift them. He has worked with us to implement really effective solutions. I believe that he will always act in the interests of our business, ahead of any one piece of consultancy."
Claire Goulding-Mew, HR Director
"Having worked with Andy for four years on a number of projects, it is the rigour and professionalism of the work which keeps me going back to him. Moreover, he has a humility, which allows him to continually strive for the best possible result - and has helped foster our strong working relationship."
Craig Marshall, Strategic Project Manager
"Andy has helped us to make a significant improvement to our NPI processes which enabled us to reduce our traditional timescales for the development of complex new products from four years down to two years.
We enjoy working with Andy because he works from 'within', understanding the issues before proposing solutions, which tend to be custom designed for the business rather than being standard packages 'shoe horned' to fit. However, be prepared to have your organisation, thinking and processes thoroughly challenged!"
Alan Street, Technical Director
Typical project profiles
Most typically, Caracal clients are technology-based product businesses in UK or USA. We conduct around twenty to thirty assignments each year. Here is a selection of ten different problems we have tackled for ten different customers.
Global Mobility Products Business - $400m T/O
Innovative front end processes (six days)
An assessment of the front-end of product development to get to the bottom of why a professional new product process was leading to project cancellations late in the process and delivering products which were lacklustre in the market. The problems were diagnosed and a set of solutions worked out and agreed with the key VPs and the CEO.
Precision metrology equipment manufacturer – £200m T/O
Project management development programme (thirty days)
A project management development programme designed around the specific needs of the business and its 25 NPD project leaders. The programme de-emphasised IT and complex planning methods, and put across how to run a successful project based organisation and raised the standards of the human skills essential for project management success.
Scientific Instruments Group - £180m T/O
NPI process champion (one hundred days)
Reporting directly to the plc chief executive, led a long term groupwide programme to achieve new product excellence as a groupwide core competence. Included facilitation of a range of improvement assignments in all areas of product development across 6 individual businesses, and overall programme management, on behalf of the chief executive.
Capital equipment provider to semiconductor industry - £20m T/O
Innovative new product creation (fifteen days)
Facilitation of an innovation team and programme, to create, select and define a suite of strategic new products for a business, whose new product pipeline was previously dominated by single customer bespoke offerings. In six months, over one hundred ideas were worked, six entered feasibility and three had concepts developed using advanced voice of the customer practices, and were made ready for full-scale development.
Medical systems manufacturer - £100m T/O
Process-based organisation (thirty days)
Facilitation of an organisation redesign and restructure, from a functional organisation to a process based organisation, and with a 15% reduction in overhead cost. The new organisation included in integrated function for new products and order fulfillment. These were given full and clear accountability, and the end to end capability to deliver their process to meet customer requirements.
Medical consumables manufacturer - £20m T/O
Manufacturing process improvement (fifteen days)
Led a project team to put into control broken manufacturing processes in a poorly performing factory. Increased and stabilised factory yield to 97% grew output by 20% at 100% on-time delivery at a fixed level of resource. Left in place a lasting culture of process control.
Medical sensors start up business
delivering first repeatable product (three days)
Introduced a simple and effective project management approach required to deliver the business’s first repeatable product within one year. Mobilised the whole business team around the new approach and the company's goals.
Analytical instruments manufacturer T/O £30m
New products in new markets - learning review (eleven days)
An objective appraisal of a failed strategic new product venture. Examined the challenges of highly innovative development of new products in new markets. Helped the executive team work through the issues and learn from them - process, capability and political. Developed with the executive team an implementation plan to avoid recurrence.
Scientific systems manufacturer T/O £40m
Pipeline velocity and throughput (twenty days)
Worked inside a mature product development organisation, which needed to deliver more and faster throughput of new products for its investment in R&D. Project execution and lean strategies were applied to the product development process, eliminating waste,increasing pace and introducing product focused, end to end organisation streams.
Precision bearings manufacturer T/O £15m
Stage gate introduction (one day)
Designed and led a workshop to establish a working stage gate NPI process. Included defining the process, and the responsibilities and management framework, for both new product and technology projects.