Publication
Product Manager vs. Product Owner: Who’s Who?
https://www.toptal.com/product-managers/product-management-consultant/product-manager-vs-product-owner-who-does-your-business-need
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Douglas L. Ringer
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Columbus, OH, United States
Toptal member since April 16, 2020
Bio
Doug is a product manager with an R&D and manufacturing background and 30 years of experience helping small to Fortune 100 companies improve profitable growth. Focusing on increasing revenue, decreasing costs, creating dynamic strategies, and reducing risk, Doug has helped telecom, security, video, auto, and home health firms exploit growth opportunities and reduce costs. Doug helps dramatically improve revenue, profit, and productivity, so firms can compete more successfully today and tomorrow.
Project Highlights
Improving Revenue and Profit in the Commercial Electronic Products Market
Enhanced product development processes and supply chain efficiency which increased revenue by 17% and gross margin by 1%, despite the shortage of products and a weak performance by the company as a whole.
Decrease Product Development Cost and Time
Reduced investment by 95%, developed a new product in 1/3 of a typical cycle, decreased product cost by 50%, and increased sales volume by 50%.
Improved Market Share and Reputation
Returned the product line to positive revenue growth for the first time in five years, doubled the product line volume, and increased annual revenue 18% with a 20% per annum increase projected for another two years and with no new investment.
Expertise
- B2B
- Business Analysis
- Global Operations
- Product Management
- Product Marketing
- Product Roadmaps
- Product Strategy
- Technical Product Management
Work Experience
Senior Product Manager
2024 - PRESENT
NightOwl Security
- Managed end-to-end product ownership for a diverse portfolio of NVRs, cameras, and accessories.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop innovative products, reducing costs and enhancing time-to-market.
- Focused on delivering a competitive product line that significantly improved customer experience.
- Led product strategy and implementation that led to early wins against entrenched competitors.
Product Line Manager
2018 - PRESENT
CACI
- Developed IDIQ Product Pricing Proposals with complete cost support worth $3.1 million over three years.
- Composed a product forecast report in Oracle process providing real-time data and increased detail while reducing the time from eight hours to 15 minutes per week.
- Built product roadmaps for major LGS products—this has not been done for seven years.
- Constructed an analysis tool to assess financial, technical, production, and field risk for all proposed product changes.
- Developed custom functions within the Oracle-based reporting application (OMS) that provided accurate monthly and quarterly financial results for customer projects.
- Provided direction to application developers to improve the system to accurately and quickly provide customer quotes.
- Developed, maintained, and implemented pricing templates and quoting tools; created product cost estimates.
- Managed the product line structure and maintained database design and integrity.
- Co-authored the FFP Pricing Process used by LGS and other NSIS business units.
- Improved FFP quote accuracy and reduced customer response time by creating a collaborative tool to capture team comments, concerns, and decisions.
Executive Coach | Product Management Expert
2017 - PRESENT
Doug Ringer
- Consulted with organizations in diverse industries, including consumer and industrial products, security, technology, transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing to move faster to grow revenue, improve profits, and deliver greater customer value.
- Added profitable new products and services, improved organizational performance and customer experience, grew revenue & margins, and advised expansion through partnerships and acquisitions.
- Coached CEOs on topics including increasing revenue, organizational development, and startup funding.
Senior Product Manager
2021 - 2024
CalAmp
- Developed a strategy to recover $40 million in lost clients by working with Sales & Technical Support to prioritize client needs.
- Created new device concepts by differentiating products and solutions while emphasizing our technical strengths.
- Increased win rate by developing product and firmware strategy, eliminating unprofitable product, improving communications with clients and sales team.
- Promoted key value propositions and gained insights by meeting with key customers and prospects weekly.
- Reduced product line complexity by 60% while enhancing customer satisfaction.
Senior Product Manager
2014 - 2018
Pelco
- Generated $55 million in annual revenue by launching two product lines in less than 16 months.
- Collaborated with R&D, technology partners, and global supply chain to develop new products in less time and with lower costs.
- Reduced product cost by over 30% and increased margin by $9.5 million with two product lines.
- Set global pricing for a complex tiered product line that increased sales volume 25%.
- Developed a three-year product strategy—streamlining product lines and increasing flexibility and sales efficiencies.
Director of Product Development
2013 - 2014
LogicMark
- Led industrialization and stabilized the supply chain for four new products worth $2 million per year at two factories in Asia.
- Generated $3 million in annual revenue by creating and launching two new product lines.
- Selected a new engineering design firm for product maintenance and fresh designs, resulting in the release of the top-tier product.
Senior Product Manager
2010 - 2013
Meritor
- Increased revenue by 16% and margin by 25% by focusing on marketing programs and customer and sales training.
- Developed and launched two completely new product lines for adjacent markets, realizing over $2 million in revenue in the first year, exceeding the target by 300%.
- Collaborated with the sales team and supplier to develop and close a multi-year, $1.7-million sales agreement.
Senior Product Marketing Manager
2004 - 2008
Honeywell
- Delivered a new product line and 15% below budget in under 12 months by leveraging existing designs and global supply chain efficiencies.
- Grew business unit revenue 12% annually by developing and marketing new product lines.
- Reduced product line cost by over 20% while enhancing quality, performance, and delivery through improved supplier management.
- Increased product line revenue by 50% by improving marketing strategies, product quality, and availability.
Senior Program Manager
2001 - 2004
Ericsson
- Achieved telecommunications device product performance, quality, schedule, and cost goals for a $6.5-million development project.
- Increased product quality and efficiency as an in-house consultant to two engineering and manufacturing teams.
- Developed operating procedures for a new engineering maintenance organization—resulting in an effective, efficient, and respectful method of interaction between customers, R&D engineering, and production.
Senior Staff Engineer
1989 - 2001
General Electric
- Led a product engineering team as production volume increased 240% in one year.
- Reduced scrap from $71,000 to $1.5,000 per month by improving product design and supplier performance.
- Improved production yields 40% in less than five months by improving training and test procedures.
- Led technical, manufacturing, and quality personnel in root cause analysis processes that increased production yield by 25%.
- Improved customer acceptance rate from 79% to 97% in less than five months.
- Increased revenue by $600,000 per month by solving high-volume production facility technical issues.
Project History
Improving Revenue and Profit in the Commercial Electronic Products Market
Enhanced product development processes and supply chain efficiency which increased revenue by 17% and gross margin by 1%, despite the shortage of products and a weak performance by the company as a whole.
The Challenge:
A $250-million engineering-and-manufacturing company experienced a five-year decline in the revenue and profit from its largest product line while the market grew at double-digit rates each year. The vice presidents of marketing and R&D determined the large differences between industry growth and the company’s decline indicated an opportunity to improve performance if a clearly superior product could be implemented in record time.
How We Did It:
• Identified key product performance differentiators through interviews, observations, quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Assessed competitors’ positioning and technical capabilities.
• Selected an off-shore partner willing to meet aggressive schedules.
• Implemented an array of sales and marketing activities, including training seminars, pricing approaches, cross-product line selling improvements.
• Reduced product line complexity by 80%.
• Coached key leaders on the new product development team.
Decrease Product Development Cost and Time
Reduced investment by 95%, developed a new product in 1/3 of a typical cycle, decreased product cost by 50%, and increased sales volume by 50%.
The Challenge:
A $50-million product line of a Global 500 design and manufacturing organization required a complete overhaul to maintain competitiveness, regain lost market share, and to better support corporate strategic initiatives. Due to poor performance of the entire division, there existed large differences between product line needs and the budget available for product development. Also, the product line was at risk of becoming obsolete due to rapid changes in technology, so decreasing time-to-market was also a factor in future success.
How We Did It:
• Interviewed suppliers to determine the greatest leverage point for rapid product development at a reduced cost.
• Assessed competitor positioning.
• Created a dynamic product line strategy to support new corporate initiatives.
Create Dynamic Product Strategies
Provided a new, independent product portfolio and diversified the division’s income stream and opened markets for similar products which increased revenue and profit of the business unit by 4% in the first year and exceeded goals by 300%.
The Challenge:
A $550-million division of a Fortune 500 automotive components engineering and manufacturing firm experienced a flattening in revenue and profit. The General Manager determined the company’s results indicated the need to expand into new, adjacent markets.
How We Did It:
• Interviewed customers and determined the greatest opportunities for increasing our business with them was to offer high-quality, high-volume products they already purchased from other suppliers.
• Assessed competitors positioning and programs and realized our current sales and distribution model put us at a great advantage over their models.
• Determined that product quality was the primary differentiator for this new market and identified a driven, high-quality supplier who wanted to significantly grow its market share in North America.
• Realized the biggest challenge to winning-over the customer base was their concern over our technical experience, so I created comprehensive technical, marketing, warranty, and pricing programs that enticed customers to use our program.
Reduce Risk
Led the development of two new product lines that increased revenue projections 30%, doubled the product income streams with new, advanced product lines, and added a new engineering firm to the partner base that could be used for future development.
The Challenge:
An $11-million communications equipment firm sold products that from a single off-shore manufacturer; compounding this was that the manufacturer, not the firm, owned the intellectual property to the products. Therefore, the company was at high risk of losing both margins, and the complete product line.
How We Did It:
• Realized the core attributes of the current products were insufficient to maintain competitiveness, so I recommended product line enhancements for surpassing the competitors’ products.
• Determined that the current design firm was not sufficient for the project and recommended searching for a new partner.
• Conducted a search and assisted in the evaluation and selection of the new engineering design firm.
Improved Market Share and Reputation
Returned the product line to positive revenue growth for the first time in five years, doubled the product line volume, and increased annual revenue 18% with a 20% per annum increase projected for another two years and with no new investment.
The Challenge:
The largest, most profitable product line of a $150-million division of a commercial electronics manufacturer suffered from a rapidly increasing decline in market share due to a lagging reputation because of product performance limitations. The project was to improve the market share and reputation and provide a long-term plan for growing and maintaining the company’s flagship, and most profitable, product line.
How We Did It:
• Developed a comprehensive two-year product portfolio strategy.
• Aggressively promoted product performance enhancements as a key differentiator.
• Identified technologies to invest in, and those to exit.
• Dramatically improved the support to customers and field sales staff.
Other Experience
Education
2020 - 2020
Executive Education in Product Strategy: Discovering, Developing, Managing, and Marketing Products as a Business
Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management - Chicago, IL, USA
1986 - 1991
Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronic Engineering
The University of Akron - Akron, OH, USA
Certifications
MAY 1991 - PRESENT
Supervision and Management Certificate
The University of Akron
Skills
Tools
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, Jira, Skype, Skype for Business, Confluence, Slack, Google Docs
Paradigms
Requirements Analysis, Agile, Agile Product Management
Industry Expertise
Professional Services, Telecommunications, Radio, Telecom Equipment & Solutions, High-tech Startups, Automotive, Electronics, Utilities
Other
Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Team Mentoring, Technical Product Management, Product Owner, Coaching, Product Launch, Technical Project Management, Product Ownership, Product Development, Market Research, B2B Partnerships, Product Management, Strategy, Product Strategy, Videos, Security, Microsoft Office, Product Marketing, Product-market Fit, Business Analysis, Product Roadmaps, Requirements, Manufacturing, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Go-to-market Plans, Communication, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), User Research, User Requirements, Management, Mentorship, Product Strategy Consultant, Software & Hardware Maintenance, Roadmaps, Market Research & Analysis, Mobile, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Minimum Marketable Product (MMP), Product Vision, Stakeholder Management, Product Planning, Discovery Workshops, B2B, Business Coaching, Feature Roadmaps, Outsourcing, Global Operations, Supply Chain, Digital Product Management, Pricing Strategy, Product Discovery, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Arena, Project Management, Oracle, Pricing, Price Analysis, Cost Estimation, Cost Modeling, Government Contracting, Proposals, Writing & Editing, Process Design, Product Coach, Electrical Engineering, Integrated Circuits, RFID, Mentorship & Coaching, Startups, Lean Startups, Teaching, Business Consulting, Business Advisory, Technology Consulting, Management Consulting, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Business Processes, Digital Marketing, Engineering, Process Innovation, Wireless, Market Sizing, Market Fit, Market Risk, Telematics, Cellular, Mobile GPS, Tech Sales, Revenue Strategy, Product Descriptions, Internet of Things (IoT), SaaS, Cloud
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