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MEGA BRANDS Achieves New Product Development & Introduction Success
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries
- Consumer Goods
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
MEGA Brands needed to develop new products with superior quality within stringent cost targets. Additionally, to support continued growth, the company had to improve global coordination and visibility throughout the New Product Development & Introduction (NPDI) process with a specific emphasis on quality. The company faced significant global growth goals and fierce international competition, driving their new product innovation strategy and emphasis on quality and cost.
About The Customer
MEGA Brands Inc., formerly known as MEGA Bloks, is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It is a leader in high-quality, fun, and educational construction toys that inspire children and parents to play together. With over $600M in annual revenues, MEGA Brands is one of the fastest-growing toy brands in the world and is continually extending into new lines of business with innovative new products. The company competes in the construction toy market by delivering innovative, high-quality products that are both exciting and educational to kids.
The Solution
In 2005, MEGA Brands implemented the Aras Innovator solution for enterprise Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). This solution automated business processes critical to new product development, quality management, and brand introduction. During development, the Aras solution enabled MEGA Brands to create multiple Bills of Material (BOMs) for a specific product, allowing for the analysis of design cost structures. Different parts, materials, and production locations were compared to determine the best quality and margin configuration. At the point of release to manufacturing, the product manager selected the optimal BOM in Aras and locked in the product structure for the global supply chain. All new product information was managed online, providing the ability for MEGA Brands to communicate safety requirements and quality specifications to suppliers worldwide in a secure format over the Internet.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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