Success Record: The Dow Chemical Company
With headquarters in Midland, Michigan, Dow Chemical began using Planned Innovation in 1984. A large number of management teams in the US and Europe were involved, and many individual “opportunity analysts” were trained over the next 10 years.
Mr. Greg Stevens, a former opportunity analyst at Dow, and now president of WinOvations, Inc. of Midland, Michigan, had the occasion to independently quantify the sales and profits resulting directly from Planned Innovation® services at Dow Chemical over a ten-year period. His findings were as follows:
- Opportunity analysis (OA) was conducted on 277 major projects by 73 different individuals in diverse business units (after opportunity selection criteria had been defined).
- Following OA, 34 of the 277 projects received positive recommendations for development, and 33 of these 34 projects developed were commercially successful. 33 of 34 projects equals a 97% commercial success rate.
- The cumulative profits earned using the Planned Innovation process exceeded $200 million over a ten-year period, and were rapidly climbing.
- In addition to a 97% commercial success rate, virtually all (95%) of the successful products developed by the businesses moved The Dow Chemical Company in the strategic directions desired by top management.
Based on his analysis, Mr. Stevens concluded that:
- These results show that it is possible to determine with near certainty which opportunities to develop, even when commercializing substantially new products.
- It is clear from [this] analysis that it is possible to virtually eliminate major mistakes in new product development, while simultaneously developing substantial numbers of commercially profitable new products that fit the company’s strategies. The projects identified as winners virtually all won.
