Analysis of new products development in a consumer goods industry

Abstract

This Final Degree Project is based on an Internship experience at the Kraft Foods Company. Kraft represents a global snacking powerhouse. It is an American multinational confectionery, food and beverage based business. The company manages well-known brands from all categories, starting from snacks such as Oreo or Chips Ahoy to gums and candy like Trident or Halls. The Project is focused on the Gum and Candy department located in Spain (Barcelona) and it is based on the Product Change Management Team (PCM) role that serves the entire Iberia region (Spain and Portugal). At present, launching a brand-new product may seem simple and not very puzzling, although, the process involves a laborious and troublesome background which requires a careful analysis and observation. Therefore, the principal objective of this Final Degree Project is to analyze the current Kraft Foods process of developing a new product and to propose improvement opportunities that could be implemented to ameliorate its efficiency from a PCM perspective. The methodology used throughout this Project to accomplish the main objective is to; describe the execution of the Kraft Foods product development process, analyze the obstacles that have occurred using a real product development example and propose improvement alternatives to increase the probabilities of success. The proposed improvement opportunities throughout the project have strong probabilities of ameliorating the efficacy in the performance of the process. All in all, leading the process of a new output calls for an accurate organization, an optimized way of working and the aptitude to solve the issues that may come up along the journey. This Project represents a new efficient proposal to overcome the current obstacles and to guarantee the success of the product development.