MOSO: 30% shorter lead time through process improvement

MOSO’s R&D department was overloaded and a barrier to growth, not due to a lack of talent, but because of a lack of structure and unclear ownership.

Symbol provided the diagnosis and a targeted approach. Result: 30% shorter lead time and, for the first time in years, room for new product development.

Challenge

R&D department overloaded and a barrier to growth

Approach

Structure, prioritisation and ownership introduced

Result

30% shorter lead time

About MOSO

MOSO is an international company that converts bamboo into high-quality building products: flooring, cladding and street furniture. With its own R&D department, operations in more than 60 countries and a position as market leader, innovation is not a side issue but the core of the business model. This dependence on R&D makes it all the more painful when that department grinds to a halt.

The challenge

When Norman Willemsen took office as CEO, the diagnosis was quickly made. The passion and creativity of the people were present, but the internal way of working was holding back ambition. The R&D department was the most urgent bottleneck: overloaded, reactive and without prioritisation. All requests were lumped together, regardless of complexity or urgency. Sales was waiting for input, complaints were piling up and new product development had come to a standstill.
A senior consultant from Symbol came on board to support this. After interviews within and outside the organisation, his conclusion was: “The problem is not the people, but the way the work was organised.”

Our approach

The consultant deliberately chose R&D as the starting point, because improvement here directly affects sales, customer service and product development simultaneously. Not a reorganisation, but a targeted redesign of how the work is organised.

What was specifically done:

Prioritisation introduced based on complexity, urgency and risk. Fast-tracking what can be done quickly, focusing where necessary.
Improvement teams trained on-the-job. Employees take responsibility themselves, relieving the manager.
Work-in-progress made visible via digital tooling, set up based on input from sales as an internal customer.
Claims system established with structural registration and preventive analysis of recurring patterns.
NPD process redesigned: ideas assessed on a project basis and handled by multidisciplinary teams with a dedicated project leader.

“Our people haven't changed, our way of working has. And that makes the difference”

Results

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
Lead time R&D requests	Not measured	Significantly lower	−30%
Right first time	Low	Significantly improved	Quality up
Employee ownership	With manager	Independent within team	Secured
Claims registration	No system	Active system	Decrease visible
New product development	Stalled	Pipeline active	Restarted

The 30% reduction in lead time is the most direct measure
The broader impact lies in what is now possible: employees take initiative, teams independently improve their way of working and there is structural room for innovation.

Lessons learned

The situation at MOSO is recognisable for many growing organisations: a department that once functioned well but slowly grinds to a halt under the pressure of growth. Not because of bad people, but because of a way of working that hasn’t kept pace with growth.
Two insights that are broadly transferable. Firstly: you don’t solve a bottleneck by adding more capacity; the cause is almost always in how the work is organised, not in how many people there are. Secondly: ownership does not shift by itself. It requires a conscious redesign of who is responsible for what, supported by a way of working that actually makes that possible.

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Do you recognise this in your organisation?

A department that inhibits growth. Processes that slow down employees instead of supporting them. Improvement initiatives that don’t stick.

Symbol helps organisations find the structural cause and solve it sustainably. Contact us for a non-binding consultation.

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