TRACKING NEW PRODUCTS - A PRACTITIONERS GUIDE

New product sales are a key innovation measure for many corporations. More important, new products grow far more rapidly in sales than older ones, potentially providing a surprisingly large boost to a company's growth rate. Tracking new product sales can be straightforward, but attention must be paid to definitions, relevance to the businesses, consensus-building, analysis techniques, and communication mechanisms. This attention permits simple data gathered over a number of years to illuminate directions for improved new product success. Monitoring of new product sales at Air Products has resulted in significant actionable conclusions regarding the impact, life cycles, and returns from our innovation programs.