Quick Start Guide (NPD Accelerator)

Quick Start Guide (NPD Accelerator)

This section contains the following topics:

Workflow Steps (NPD Accelerator)

Access Rights (NPD Accelerator)

Workflow Steps (NPD Accelerator)

The NPD Gate 1 Idea Review Process

The following roles are involved in the NPD Gate 1 Idea Review process:

• Idea Submitter: The user who enters the new idea.
• Process Manager: The user who oversees the idea review process and gate score management.
• Gatekeepers: The users who provide scores for the idea and the project.
• Project Manager: The user who manages the potential project that is derived from the idea.

Workflow Steps:

1. The idea submitter creates an idea and assigns a process manager and a project manager.
2. When the idea is ready, the idea submitter submits it for approval.
3. The Idea Review process starts when the idea is created. When the idea is submitted for approval, the process manager receives an action item to review the idea.
4. The process manager evaluates the benefits of the idea and decides to either continue the idea or kill it. A continued idea follows the idea screen steps or is fast-tracked.
5. To start the idea screen steps, set the following fields in the Gatekeepers section of the idea. If you do not define the Gatekeepers, the process manager receives an action item as a reminder.

   Gatekeepers: Gate 1

   The users who are assigned to provide a gate score to the project. This field is optional if a resource is assigned to the Gatekeepers: All Gates selection.

   Gatekeepers: All Gates

   The users who are assigned to provide a gate score to the project. This field is required if more than one gate approval step exists, or if no resources are assigned to the Gatekeepers: Gate 1 selection. The gatekeepers are carried over to the project and remain gatekeepers during later stages in the process.

6. To fast-track to project creation, select the Fast Track check box.

   The project creation process starts which triggers the NPD Stage Gate Process.

7. The process manager selects one of the following options for the action item:
   • Go. If the Fast Track check box is not selected, the Idea Screen steps start. The idea passes through the Gate Score process before becoming a real project.
   • Kill. The idea status is set to Rejected and the idea submitter is notified. The Idea Review process restarts.
8. The Idea Review process creates a gate scoring for each gatekeeper. The gatekeepers receive an action item to score the idea through the gate scoring. All gatekeepers provide a score for each gate factor and select the Scoring Complete field when they finish evaluating the idea. The NPD Gate Score Process starts when the Scoring Complete field is checked. The Gate Score process locks all Gate Scoring fields, including the Gate Factors. The process also increments the score counter and sets the NPD Gate Trigger to the corresponding stage. In this case, stage one. The gatekeepers are not required to mark the action item done when the scoring is completed.
9. The process manager is notified when all gatekeepers finish scoring the idea. The process manager reviews the final Gate Score, which is the average calculated gate score from all gatekeepers. Based on the gate score recommendation, the process manager decides the following:
   • Go. The Idea Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers. The idea status is set to “Approved”, the Gate Decision is set to Go, and the idea is converted to a project. The NPD Stage Gate Process starts.
   • Hold. The Idea Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers. The idea status is set to “Rejected”, the Gate Decision is set to Hold, and the idea submitter is notified. The process restarts.
   • Kill. The Idea Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers. The idea status is set to “Rejected”, the Gate Decision is set to Kill, and the idea submitter is notified. The process restarts.  

The NPD Stage Gate Process

The following roles are involved in the NPD Stage Gate process:

• Project Manager: The user who is assigned to manage the potential project.
• Gatekeepers: The users who are assigned to provide scores to the project.
• Project Stakeholder: The user who is assigned to review the project and make the gate decision for each stage gate.

Workflow Steps:

1. After the project is created and the NPD Stage Gate process starts, the project manager receives an action item to create the project cost plan. The project manager must associate the project to an entity before creating financial plans. When setting up the cost plan, any combination of grouping attributes can be selected as long as it includes the User Value 2 grouping attribute. Each grouping attribute requires a default value that can be entered in the NPD Gate Processing section of the cost plan properties. This section becomes available when the cost plan is created. The User Value 2 does not require a default value. After creating the cost plan, the project manager can mark the action item as done.
2. The NPD Stage Gate process automatically creates a detail row in the cost plan for the Scoping stage with the information from the idea. The NPD Stage Gate process also updates the Project Gate Score Factors with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers in the originating idea. The Gatekeepers defined in the idea are copied to the project. The project manager can keep the same gatekeepers defined for the idea or modify them, selecting a gatekeeper for each stage gate, for instance.
3. The project manager performs the usual project management activities, such as, reviews the project plan, deliverables, financials, issues, and also defines the Finance and Governance stakeholder. The process will fail if the Finance and Governance stakeholder is not defined.
4. When the project activities are completed and the project is ready to advance to the next gate, the project manager marks the Go to Business Case milestone as completed. When the milestone is marked as completed the NPD Gate 2: Business Case Review sub-process starts. The NPD Stage Gate Process automatically creates a detail row in the cost plan for the Business Case stage.
5. The NPD Gate 2: Business Case Review process creates a gate scoring for each gatekeeper defined for Gate 2 and All Gates. The gatekeepers receive an action item to score the project gate through the gate scoring. All gatekeepers provide a score for each gate factor and select the Scoring Complete field when they finish evaluating the project gate. The NPD Gate Score Process starts when the Scoring Complete field is checked. The Gate Score process locks all Gate Scoring fields, including the Gate Factors, increments the score counter, and sets the NPD Gate Trigger to the corresponding stage. In this case, stage two. The gatekeepers do not need to mark the action item done when the scoring is completed.
6. The Finance and Governance stakeholder is notified when all gatekeepers finish scoring the project gate. Based on the gate score recommendation, the Finance and Governance stakeholder can decide the following:
   • Go. The Project Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers, at the milestone and the project levels, and the Gate Decision is set to Go. The NPD Gate 2: Business Case Review process ends and the Business Case phase starts.
   • Kill. The Project Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers, at the milestone and the project levels, and the Gate Decision is set to Kill. The project manager is notified and the sub-process restarts.
   • Hold. The Project Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers, at the milestone and the project levels, and the Gate Decision is set to Hold. The project manager is notified and the sub-process restarts.
   • Recycle. The Project Gate Score Factors are updated with the average of the Gate Score Factors provided by the gatekeepers, at the milestone and the project levels, and the Gate Decision is set to Recycle. The project manager is notified and the sub-process restarts.
7. When the project activities are completed for the Business Case stage and the project is ready to advance to the next gate, the project manager marks the Go to Development milestone as completed. When the milestone is marked as completed the NPD Gate 3: Development sub-process starts. The NPD Stage Gate process automatically creates a detail row in the cost plan for the Development stage. The steps 5 and 6 described above are repeated.
8. When the project activities are completed for the Development stage and the project is ready to advance to the next gate, the project manager marks the Go to Testing and Validation milestone as completed. When the milestone is marked as completed the NPD Gate 4: Testing and Validation sub-process starts. The NPD Stage Gate process automatically creates a detail row in the cost plan for the Testing and Validation stage. The steps 5 and 6 described above are repeated.
9. When the project activities are completed for the Testing and Validation stage and the project is ready to advance to the next gate, the project manager marks the Go to Launch milestone as completed. When the milestone is marked as completed the NPD Gate 5: Launch Gate Review sub-process starts. The NPD Stage Gate process automatically creates a detail row in the cost plan for the Launch stage. Steps 5 and 6 repeat.
10. The NPD Stage Gate process ends when all five stages are completed.

Access Rights (NPD Accelerator)

The following rights are required by the NPD Stage Gate processes for each role. These are the minimum access rights required by the processes. The user groups included with the accelerator for NPD have examples of extra access rights that can be granted for each role. Global rights can be replaced by OBS Units rights depending upon the security implementation.

Idea Submitter

Idea submitters create and view ideas. The following access rights are required by the NPD Stage Gate processes.

Process Manager

Process Managers edit ideas, gate scoring instances and manage processes. The following are the access rights required by the NPD Stage Gate processes.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeepers view ideas and edit gate scoring instances. The following are the access rights required by the NPD Stage Gate processes.

Project Manager

Project Managers manage project properties, schedules, and resource allocations. The following are the access rights required by the NPD Stage Gate processes.

Stakeholder

Stakeholders view projects and gate scoring instances. The following are the access rights required by the NPD Stage Gate processes.