Driving Organizational Growth

Challenge

Although few people outside of the baby products industry have heard of them, Goodbaby is the largest baby stroller maker in the world. Despite manufacturing 70% of the strollers sold in China and 40% of those sold in the USA, the company wanted to be internationally known as a quality baby products brand. Goodbaby wanted to move from making strollers for other companies to becoming a trusted global name in its own right, with a cohesive identity. To do this, they had to grow new organizational capabilities and processes.

To facilitate this growth, Goodbaby hired CBi to undertake a customized design management consultation project.

Process

Needless to say, this was a sizable engagement. CBi worked daily with senior management over several months to help them improve their R & D and design management capabilities.

The project included setting up new R & D processes, creating a framework for utilizing external design resources, advising on the hiring of foreign designers, and applying for government funding for a new R & D center in Kunshan.

Outcomes

As a result of our cooperation, the company has smoothly expanded its R & D team in Kunshan from 80 to 150 people. The company has purchased real estate for its new R & D center in Shanghai and expanded its number of international design staff and
support to aid its global push. In the process, the company has begun to compete on the global stage and win market share from other international competitors.

The company has expanded aggressively into multi-category designs and other baby products, including the launch of retail stores. As Goodbaby CEO Song Zhenghuan says, "Our core is our R & D and marketing; Goodbaby isn't about the factory". Goodbaby holds 2,300 patents in China and over 40 overseas. Its competency in R & D makes it capable of delivering a new product every half day.

The company’s revenue has gone from 2.5 billion RMB in 2005 to RMB 5 billion in 2009.