Toll Credit

Problem: Today going through tolls people either use easy passes or cash however today is a "plastic soceity" and not everyone carries cash. The easy pass is a good solution but people traveling across regions the pass isn't always excepted at every toll. Also many people only get one easy pass and then use it for more then one car, however this can cause a problem for them if caught and fined.

Solution: I have come up with an easy solution to making toll easier and faster to travel through. I would install a POS system  at each toll booth so no struggling to find exact change or make sure you have the easy pass in your car. All you have to make sure you have is a credit card.

Development Journal: This idea came to me when i was on vacation this summer and having to travel through plenty of toll booths. We were lucky to have an easy pass but others were sitting in lines. I'm sure they were looking for exact change so they wouldn't have to deal with those sometimes not so nice tellers. Then this got me thinking there has to be an easy way to get through the tolls safe and easy.

Idea Generation: Now days most people hardly carry to much cash especially on vacation(due to safety) so why not have a POS system at tolls just like every other establishment in America. This product would make it much easier to travel in  America.

Idea Screening: In this stage you take all ideas generated and narrow it down to a few select good ideas. Because we were only instructed to come up with one idea this stage has already been done.

Concept and testing: In this stage the product is explained to the consumer and how it will benefit them.
Concept: A way to easily use a credit card at a tooth booth.
Concept test: I would use a picture with a description. The picture would be of a toll booth that has an easy accessible POS system where you would grab a ticket or put change. The description would be... "Can you imagine driving up to a toll and simply swiping your card ad your on your way? No hassle digging through cup holders for loose change or remembering the easy pass."

Market Strategy Development: In this stage you are coming up wiht a plan to sell it to consumers.
target market: the state department of transportation who are looking to modernize, simplify, and quicken travel time through tolls.
The cost would be a basic fee for installing the POS system
Distribution: nation wide
Market budget for the first year: since I'm not selling to the mass it would me small.
In the long run I would like 100% usage of toll booth in the county. I would start selling to high volume toll booths looking to shorten lines.

Business Analysis: This product would reduce congestion, customer and employee satisfaction, and reduce traffic accidents. The cost would be just the initial installation and transaction fee.

Product Development: This product will not be sold  directly to consumers except to departments of transportation.

Test marketing: I would test my product on the George Washington Bridge before offering to other departments of transportation nation wide because the bridge has a fixed fee. I would local advertising to people so the more people that swipe a card rather then use cash or easy passes it would show other departments of transportation to install the POS system in their toll booths.

Commercialization: If the George Washington Bridge test was successful then the product would become available to all the toll booths in the country.

How the product would work: Customers pull a ticket to enter on the road, bridge or turnpike just like they do now. But then when exiting they would hand over ticket and for the payment just swipe their credit card and then they are on their way. If a customer wants a receipt they can go to their email and it would be there.

New Product Development Project

Idea Generation:  I am an Administrative Support Assistant at Tobyhanna Army Depot.  The job I have consists of three job roles in one position and this is because the organization I work for is much smaller than a lot of the other organizations at Tobyhanna but it is a lot of work for one person to maintain.  The biggest problem I run into is making sure that every single task I am handed is completed.  I usually get them done on time however it’s a very fast-paced environment and it can make your day very stressful trying to get a bunch of things done.  I used to think eight hours was a long work day but now I feel like there isn’t enough time in the day and usually end up having to work overtime.  We use Microsoft Outlook for our email, to schedule meetings, and to email the tasks that we need to have completed.  A lot of the tasks I am given are through email but when you receive over 100 emails a day this can be very hard to keep up with.  I think email is a very unreliable source to ensure people are aware of and can complete all the tasks that are assigned to them and I really think there could easily be a better system to maintain this.  I think there should be a software program that maintains only the tasks that are due sort of like Microsoft Outlook except with no email or meetings involved at all.  Instead of sending an email to someone, you will write up what the suspense is and attach it sort of like you would to an email but have it work somewhat like a shared drive where people can open the spreadsheet or word document, make their updates and save it so that when the suspense is due the person consolidating the information can just go in and clean up the work without having to open a bunch of emails containing a bunch of different spreadsheets or word documents just to copy it all into one finalized version.  My product is going to be a computer program that maintains only tasks and suspenses that are due in an organization and in this program employees will be able to attach whatever assignment they need to complete and have it all updated in one place so that when they are ready to send it out they have all the information they need and just need to review or clean it up before sending out the completed task.  I think it would be great if this program looks just like a weekly calendar in Outlook where you can print out your day and it will tell you every suspense you have due.  I think this would make people more accountable, save time employees would have spent searching for a bunch of different emails containing all the different responses, and make them more productive by being more organized about all of the work that is due.  In addition, if an employee is out sick his/her boss or replacement for the day can go into their daily tasks and ensure that everything that was to be turned in that day is still done instead of having to wait the next day until the employee returns.

Idea Screening:  I definitely think organizations all over have a real need and desire for a program like this and they will definitely utilize it.  The organization I work for has over 5,000 employees and I would say the biggest problem that we come across is people missing tasks, actions, or suspenses because everyone relies on email.  All of the employees in administrative positions receive at least 50 emails a day which makes it very easy to overlook something that you may have missed when you got sidetracked.  I believe having all things that are due in one centralized location would be a much more reliable way for organizations to ensure there work is getting done.  I also believe that building the program so it can hold attachments that can be updated in one location would save the company time and money.  Some employees are more efficient or have more time so they can get things turned in right away, some may turn it in a day or two before, and others may wait until the day it is due to complete it so you are going to have several different responses over a period of days in your inbox and you are going to have to make sure you are very careful and find every email that pertains to that suspense so you don’t miss any of the answers.  The closest thing I have seen to this kind of idea in my organization is a “Suspense Tracker” which is supposed to maintain all of the suspenses but the problem is not everyone uses it and they start off well until finally the person handing out the suspenses decides to stop updating it and goes back to sending emails.  I think if there was a reliable program that could make this easier for everyone, could have all the answers ready for them in one place, and be available for everyone to use that organizations would find this very beneficial and definitely spend the money to implement the program.  This would also allow them to ensure they are not missing any suspenses and supervisors could even click into the suspense to make sure their directorate’s answers were submitted.  This program could make their organizations a lot more efficient, productive, and profitable because they will be getting their work out at a much faster pace which will allow them more time to get ahead of the game or allow them more time to come up with new ideas that can better their organization.

Concept Development and Testing:

·         Concept:  A program that will maintain tasks and assignments an organization is working on.  In addition, it will maintain the spreadsheets, word documents, etc. that need to be completed and allow them to be updated so that everyone’s answers are located in one place without having to search through a bunch of emails to find them.  This will allow organizations to ensure all employees are aware of assignments that are due, have access to the assignments, and that they are all done and completed accurately and on time.

·         Testing:  The testing will take place in organizations that would be able to utilize this program.  If it were an organization like Tobyhanna, I would probably test it within a directorate rather than the whole organization to be able to find out the flaws before it was implemented throughout the entire depot.  Once they were able to use the program for a while I would make up a survey asking users the following questions:

·         Do you think that using email to send out, track, and consolidate suspenses is efficient and always reliable?

·         Do you believe this new program will be able to track tasks and suspenses better than the current process your organization uses?

·         What advantages and benefits does this program have?

·         What improvements would you recommend we make before implementing this program throughout your whole organization?

·         What would be a fair price to charge for this kind of program?

·         Would you buy this program for your organization?

Marketing Strategy Development: The target market is large organizations seeking an innovative, compelling software program that will help their organization be more successful.  The software will be arranged to show how it can improve their company’s effectiveness and productivity all while saving them time and money due to its convenience. The company will aim to sell 25,000 software programs in the first year, at a loss of no more than $7 million dollars. In the second year, the company will aim to sell 50,000 programs with a profit of $13 million.

Business Analysis:  The expected cost for marketing is $250,000, research and development is $250, 000, and operations around $1 million.

Product Development:  The expected timeframe for the development of this software program is eight months.  Once developed, the Research and Development team will test the software program to ensure it is reliable and efficient as promised, user-friendly, and to work out any bugs that may cause issues once the software is distributed.

Test Marketing:  For this software program, the company would allow an organization that handles a lot of tasks and assignments to test the product and get updates from them as to what the advantages and benefits are or what problems they are encountering.

Commercialization:  The program will be introduced in the northern US states and in the Summer/Fall season.