This is the third part of a series of blog entries around common situations in R&D.

This time we will have a deeper look into the drivers of development resources and how to steer them.

Part 3: Why resources do matter…

As part of the fixed costs of the P&L, R&D headcount plays an important part in company profitability. Developing profitable products with as little headcount as possible is therefore desirable.

On the other hand, R&D resources need to be robust enough to ensure functionality of product development for both average daily workloads as well as peak time workloads.

On a further note, R&D resources are also dictated by regulatory requirements and requirements stemming from standards.

The drivers of resources

One way to get a grip on how many persons are needed to keep an R&D function up and running is to break down the roles that need to be taken in order to fulfil the functions porpose.

The typical roles within an R&D can be describes as:

• Concept creation: Creation of theoretical product concepts based on subject matter expertise.
• Realisation: Turing the theoretical concept into a tangible products through prototyping.
• Documentation: Documentation of the theoretical and practical development efforts for the sake of knowledge management and compliance.
• Management: Management of the resources to make sure that the most important efforts get the largest resources and ensuring the required materials are available.
• Improvement: Ensuring the improvement of existing processes within a mindset of continuous improvement.

For existing R&D organisations it is advisable to visualise which person assumes which role(s). It is important to understand that one person may assume one or more roles and that  several persons may need to assume the same role. There is also no rule as to how many roles a person may assume or as to how many persons may assume the same role(s).

For new organisations starting with the roles may help you to determine the right people to hire.

On the robustness of R&D resources.

In an ideal world R&D resources are abundant, flexible and always adequate to quickly match the development needs. Unfortunately we are not living in an ideal world. This forces us to carefully consider the actual resources and to make sure they are used to the companies best benefit.

The exact amount of headcount of your R&D organisation is strongly depended on the fluctuation of the development requirements.

• Do you have sudden “high priority” requests of “fast track” development?
• Is there a seasonal fluctuation?
• How complex is your development process?

Are just a few of the questions one may ask.

External and internal factors determining resources.

There are also outside and inside requirements and expectations that are determining the resources needed.

External requirements may be standard towards which the organisation is certified. Thos standard come with dedicated requirements towards documentation and continuous improvement and the certified organisation needs to demonstrate compliance.

The impact of these standards on the resources need to be part of a corporation’s decision to comply.

Requirements coming from the inside of the organisation also play a crucial role. Some organisation require a 4 eyes principle on the realisation of a product concept with at least two persons independently signing off on the prototypes. Other organisations may have specific documentation requirements that need additional resources.

It is important for the managers of R&D functions to create an understanding in the organisation on the impact of internal requirements on the resources.

How to determine the ideal size of your R&D?

We hope your find this information useful so far.

As you have seen, on the topic, how much is sufficient there are so many factors to be taken into account that general rules of thumbs are inadequate.

In case you would like to know more about determining the size of an R&D organisation or you would like us to benchmark your existing organisation versus market benchmarks, please don’t hesitate to book a free strategy session by using the link below.

Book your free strategy session now.

Stay tuned

That’s it for today. Watch out for the next blog on R&D cost.

With Bessler Consulting we help R&D leaders find the appropriate answers to these questions and to develop their R&D towards shorter time to market and increased innovation rate.