Project Description:

1. Designers can see each project's status and check milestones at a glance.
2. A product cost estimation tool helps designers keep their designs within scope.
3. A custom "portal" interface lets design teams view information specifically tailored to their needs and project requirements.
4. Integrated reminders and to do's keep all of the design activities on track and on time.
5. Rapid access to necessary forms, contact information and assistance with specific tasks is centrally located.

Based in East Aurora, New York, Fisher-Price is the number one brand in infant and preschool toys. They are recognized worldwide for designing and manufacturing high-quality, imaginative toys for children from infancy to age 5, as well as innovative products that help parents care for children, such as highchairs, strollers and car seats.

Fisher-Price's toy designers work in a fast-paced, highly creative and competitive environment where they must bring toy designs from concept to sketches to market. Managing multiple toy design efforts throughout the design life cycle under a rigorous review process means communication between designers, managers and marketing must be seamless to avoid duplication or misappropriated effort.

Ariel worked quickly to help Fisher-Price create a strategic vision showing how a single, e-business system could support design teams by opening communications and streamlining processes that required manual effort.

By providing their designers tools for calculating production costs, monitoring and prioritizing their projects and providing daily progress reports, Fisher-Price can radically streamline their design process and increase profitability while eliminating many of the traffic jams that reliance on informal communication can cause.