LIP - generator for continuous growth

Kners around the world realize significant surveying and documentation tasks in earth, land and cadastral surveying, engineering and mechanical construction, civil engineering, industrial metrology, telecommunications and security technology with system solutions from Leica Geosystems. These systems consist of a compact combination of sophisticated technologies and must operate extremely reliably in all climatic zones and even after long transports. To stay ahead of the competition in the global market, permanent innovation and cost-effective integration of the latest technologies such as laser, GPS and software are prerequisites for success.

The LIP concept

With LIP, an instrument was developed with which a continuous flow of new products and services is conceived, developed and introduced to the market. LIP thus provides crucial support for the company's ambitious growth targets.

Graph 1 shows the four key features of LIP, namely:

• Effectiveness: The timely identification of market opportunities and new technological possibilities is the primary key to effectiveness. Only the right balance of these two elements ensures that the customer always receives the right products and services. The focus on success also requires a permanent focus on costs, both in the development, in the production and in the distribution of the products. Based on clear cost targets, the realization of these target costs is permanently monitored and proactively controlled.
• Reactivity: Fast and precise fulfilment of customer requirements is at the heart of every product development. Early involvement of customers, suppliers and all important internal departments ensures that a clear picture of the new product is created in the specifications. The shortest possible lead time significantly increases the ability to react. This is because short timeframes minimise the risk of customer expectations or competitive situations changing.
• Learning: Well-developed controlling provides the necessary measured values and control variables to evaluate the quality of the innovation process and, if necessary, to derive the necessary improvements. The learning process includes the accompanying further development of the employees involved in clearly identified areas of competence.
• Rules of the game: The three axes of effectiveness, responsiveness and learning are underpinned by a set of rules of the game. Only these rules, agreed upon with all participants, make it possible for many projects to travel the "rail network of the innovation process" simultaneously and almost without collision.

"Right of way" for interdisciplinary project teams

Process orientation in product development has a pronounced influence on the way responsibility and competence are distributed. For the innovation process, this means that the interdisciplinary project team is given "right of way" over the line functions. The project manager steers his "project locomotive" on the rails of the innovation process. If speed is a key success factor, no functional barriers should be allowed to slow down the journey. Therefore, the following applies: What has to be done when and where on the "product development construction site" in order to meet all customer expectations can only be evaluated and decided within the project team. However, this is not a free pass. "Empowerment" means on the one hand the transfer of competencies from management to the project team, and on the other hand the willingness of the project manager and his team to take on these responsibilities. In the LIP, both take place according to agreed, transparent rules of the game. Such rules of the game control the risk management in the innovation process in a level-appropriate manner. The LIP management model represents the top level of these rules (see Figure 2) The process manager (PM) with his team is responsible for the quality and continuous improvement of the innovation process. He has to design and maintain the process in such a way that the project managers (PL) can carry out their projects as efficiently as possible. In order for the PM to be able to fulfil his mandate, he needs a suitable set of instruments to be able to efficiently measure the quality of the process.

Project planning on the "rail network

The project manager is responsible for the planning, implementation and controlling of the project assigned to him. He is responsible for the results of the agreed project goals. The product to be developed is specified by the responsible product manager who, as the client, also repeatedly reviews the project results at agreed milestones (for example, project and business plans, validated design, validated processes and functionality). Based on the suggestions from the project team, a decision is then made on how to proceed.

The innovation process is, in a sense, a busy rail network on which the most diverse types of projects (preliminary projects, core projects) run. Such a multi-stage innovation model ensures that market innovations do not remain "rare" events and that Leica Geosystems generates a continuous stream of new products. Permanent innovative presence in the market is the result.

Controlling with compass and in the cockpit

"What gets measured gets done," you often hear. Leica Geosystems is convinced of this. Measuring also means that the measurement results are made available to the right people in the right form. At Leica Geosystems, the project manager receives all the necessary information about his project in the so-called "Compass", and the management team obtains a consolidated summary of all projects in the "Cockpit". Ultimately, only the results count in the form of a continuous stream of successful new products. One of the key measures of the quality of the innovation process is the timeliness of the product range. Example: How much revenue is generated with products that reached market maturity less than two years ago?