Stifled by in-house constraints? outsource to make innovations real

When you’re a big company, in many ways it’s hard to be a disruptive innovator. Time and again, I’m reminded of how challenging concept development and testing can be for big companies. It’s not that our clients don’t see the benefit of making products real in order to test them. Rather, they’re limited by existing supply chains and manufacturing systems.

For example, recently a client approached us to help develop a nut-based cracker where nuts would take the lead as the primary ingredient. They wanted the product to be different from existing products where nuts are secondary. There was a noticeable gap in the market for this kind of cracker.

We delved into the formulation process, working through various iterations and variations with walnuts and almonds as the leading ingredients. We did multiple rounds of specialized concept creation, creating product samples for internal discussions, research, and preparation for large-scale production across three different SKUs.

What made outsourcing this project more feasible than handling it in-house? Primarily, it was limitations in their existing supply chain and manufacturing systems. We helped them address three key challenges (all common for big companies):

1.      Speed. We managed to create samples and conduct comprehensive research, all within a tight three-month timeframe.

2.      Novel ingredients. The second hurdle was integrating a novel ingredient outside the client's typical manufacturing scope. The client’s supply chain revolved around corn. Working with almonds and walnuts was uncharted territory. To add to the complexity, there was the allergen consideration. Even if allergies weren't a concern, they simply didn’t have the infrastructure for a pilot run with these unique ingredients.

3.      Co-manufacturing network. If our client were to go with internal options and seek guidance from their existing team, they'd get stuck. The contacts they have are mainly large-scale manufacturers dealing in millions of units, whereas we have connections with co-manufacturers specializing in producing hundreds or thousands of units. We successfully negotiated with co-manufacturers to craft smaller batches, taking advantage of the flexibility and adaptability of our network.

Creating prototypes for a cracker and producing a small number of units for research purposes is a nearly insurmountable task for clients like this. To help them go beyond industry norms, we tapped our network, producing small runs that would not have been possible in-house. Ultimately, these prototypes gave us the information necessary to keep the innovation process moving forward.  

Curious about how outsourcing could give your company an innovation advantage? Reach us at hello@mission-field.com.