Twinings

Twinings and Co Ltd, an international manufacturer, used AchieveForms as an integral component in the creation of a global solution for the development of new products.

Business Web Software worked with Twinings to create an integrated, cohesive solution by bringing together flagship product AchieveForms and Microsoft technologies.

The Business Need

Twinings first started business in 1706, using their blending expertise to create high quality teas that now, nearly 300 years later, are enjoyed in over 100 different countries across the world.

Twinings constantly strive to innovate and create new beverages to meet consumer expectations and changing tastes. Having an effective New Product Development (NPD) process is essential to continuing this tradition of innovation and excellence.

Twinings needed to introduce a software solution for NPD approval and development to speed up the process of introducing new products and to highlight where bottlenecks occur within the process. By creating an internationally shared site to view the NPD pipeline, Twinings wanted to make it easier for International Marketing to optimise local and multimarket market strategies, plans and implementation. Twinings also wanted to introduce greater efficiency, tighter control over the delivery of new products and ensure data quality and standardization in product proposals.

The former NPD process involved the manual submission of unsecured word documents via email. This system had several problems; it lacked a structured workflow process, relied on insecure methods of data transfer (no managed privileges/permissions) and lacked control (e.g. time-sensitive data had no method of being tracked).

The Solution

The new solution revolutionises the way in which Twinings manage and control the development of new products.

AchieveForms drives the process from product conception to actualisation. The solution uses AchieveForms to be integrated with a number of technologies including workflow, integrations with SharePoint portal, WSS and SQL server to manage data and Active Directory for permissions.

The process gathers ideas from across its global locations on everything from new packaging formats to blend changes and even completely new products. These ideas are submitted through an AchieveForms form which then goes through 4 'gates' of analysis in determining feasibility from the 'Product Initiation Request and Approval' to 'Project Development Request and Approval', 'Project Launch Request and Approval' and finally 'Project Evaluation Review'.

At each gate additional details are added to the proposal so if the project makes it to the 4th gate, a large amount of information is available including details on pricing, design and technical information.

AchieveForms provides the forms-driven element within the process that triggers the necessary workflow and integrates seamlessly with SharePoint to deposit and retrieve information from SharePoint document libraries.

This solution establishes a structured and controlled delivery system for Twinings' new product development. Through a staged approach, the procedure now involves a secure, permissions-managed practice that enables new product development on a global scale. Twinings will benefit from faster delivery of products (the old process was done manually via word documents) cost savings and better security. The solution supports a business critical function and allows Twinings to maintain competitive advantage through continued innovation.

Speed of deployment was an important consideration in choosing AchieveForms. Developing a form with the necessary complexity to be used throughout the solution could only be achieved within the timescales by using AchieveForms. AchieveForms' rich functionality and integration with SharePoint was critical in ensuring that Twinings could meet their complex business needs.

The solution is now live with 200 users in the UK, USA, Central Europe, Western Europe, International Marketing and International Markets. Rollout to China, Thailand and the Philippines will be coming soon.

"Our new NPD solution has been successfully implemented and has already started delivering the desired benefits. The product, communications and training from Business Web Software were of a very high standard."

-- Rob Ellis, Project Manager