Monthly Archives: June 2012

New Invention heatboss To Reduce Heating Bill

June 26 2012 | leardonsolutions | All Posts, Business Tips, Customer Profile, Product Development | Comment

Leardon Solutions’ customer Okotech Ltd from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom have been in the news lately. This led us to the latest winner of the Invest Northern Ireland Propel Programme 2012 Company of the Year to share some of their product development and manufacturing experiences with their wireless heating control product named heatboss.

We met entrepreneurs Janette and Gary O’Hagan in Belfast in 2011 as they were wrapping up the heatboss prototyping phase and were ready to launch production plastic injection molding tools for heatboss. Janette and Gary have been working together for 2 years on their start-up company. Their wireless heatboss system helps customers use their energy more efficiently by controlling the radiator settings in rooms that are not in use, resulting in heating cost savings up to 30%. The team at Okotech Ltd has recently been diligently reviewing the performance data from their first two customers in the care home sector, an industry that requires continuous heating. They are now preparing to grow into other sectors that require continuous heating requirements in regions where the product can provide the most benefit such as Ireland, the remaining parts of the United Kingdom and Northern Europe.

Janette O’Hagan describes some of the ups and downs of developing products in her interview with Leardon Solutions.

Leardon: How did you come up with the idea for Heatboss?

Janette: The continuously rising cost of central heating fuel in the United Kingdom was the big trigger, closely followed by the frustration with contemporary heating controls’ poor usability and inability to control individual rooms. We started off by going round the house and turning off the radiators in the rooms which we weren’t using during the day and that’s when we realised we could develop something to do this electronically – that’s when the idea for heatboss was born.

Leardon: What was the most important thing you learned about the prototyping and new product development process?

Janette: We’ve learned many things throughout the heatboss product development process, but the vital lesson is recognising the importance of the design and prototyping phase – and also when you’re dealing with a new hardware product remember that everything takes far longer than you think it will. The software side of things pretty much stuck to the timescales, but hardware is a different beast – resolving one issue or sourcing a small part can delay you for weeks.

Leardon: What did you learn about manufacturing a product? Did you encounter any issues?

Janette: Manufacturing a product like heatboss requires many different people with different skill sets and managing all these people can be time-consuming. If these skill can be found within the one supplier this process becomes a lot easier and less time-consuming to manage.

As a new start-up company we encountered many hurdles, but the biggest was as a result of not prototyping enough. The benefit of hindsight tells us that spending adequate time and effort at this stage will save money and time in the long run and ensures a solid product. Our eagerness to move fast and, as a result, not do enough prototyping meant that we went into tooling without all the issues being spotted and dealt with. So in the end we had to fix a couple of minor issues after the tooling was produced – meaning additional time, frustration and costs – but it worked out ok – we have a well designed product that is saving our customers between 28 and 40% of their heating costs. We’ll definitely give prototyping more attention in Version 2 though!

Leardon: Why was Northern Ireland a good place to develop the heatboss?

Janette: There are a couple of reasons why Northern Ireland was a good place to develop heatboss. Firstly, the region is one of the best for new-start funding opportunities. Invest Northern Ireland’s support has been integral to the development of heatboss. Their Propel Programme has brought us on the journey from concept to commercialisation.

Secondly, in terms of testing a heating controls product, Northern Ireland is the one of the best test-bed environments – the cold, wet and windy climate doesn’t do much for Northern Ireland’s tourism but it means that most of us have our heating on almost all year round, so we have been able to test versions of the product all year round! The other advantage is that we can therefore save our customers fuel and money all year round. heatboss loves Northern Irish weather!

Leardon: What recommendations do you have for others with product ideas?

Janette: If you have a product idea, take the time to ensure that you have good suppliers who are commercially minded and who you can trust to deliver – those, like Leardon, who have a strong track record of delivering products with efficiency, professionalism and, probably most valuable, have the in-house knowledge and experience that enables them to understand your product and help you avoid problems.

If you are interested in learning more about the Okotech heatboss product, please contact Okotech Ltd. at info (at) okotech.co.uk.

Need more information on new product development or the manufacturing process? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com.

Tagged New Inventions, Products, Prototypes

I have found a manufacturer for my product idea. Now what? Part 2 of 3

June 19 2012 | leardonsolutions | All Posts, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Tips | 2 Comments

How to Qualify the Product

This is the second of three posts covering the steps that should be taken once a start-up company, entrepreneur, or inventor finds a supplier who can manufacture their product. The first step of selecting the supplier, described in the post How to Select a Manufacturer, should be done prior to moving onto the next step of qualifying the product manufactured by the supplier.

It typically isn’t possible to immediately start up production and manufacturing once a supplier is selected. Even a product that seem simple must be qualified with a number of tests and quality checks to be sure it is being made to the engineer’s specification and will function as planned across all the operating environments. For example, a simple product label that must be removed by the customer should be qualified in high temperature storage to be sure it can be removed once the customer receives the product and doesn’t leave residue.

Below is a summary of the steps to properly qualify a product with a manufacturer. Even though it might be tempting to take a slight risk and skip some of the qualification steps to save money, it is not recommended. A product can go through a diverse range of operating conditions (temperature, humidity, sunlight, altitude, etc.) and therefore the quick operational check done in the factory will not ensure that the product has been qualified for use by all customers.

Map out the qualification tests for the completed product. It is recommended that a start-up company, entrepreneur, or inventor work with an quality professional who understands the tests required for the product. This will depend on the expected operating conditions, countries of sale, method of shipment, customer use model, and government regulations. Once complete, review the test plan and determine how many products are required to fulfill all the tests. It is possible to reuse products for multiple tests. Typically, the test plan will require between 20 and 40 test prototypes.

Make the required number of prototypes using final production processes. The manufacturer should now produce the number of test units using the same processes that they will use in final production. Do not produce a large quantity of products at this stage as chances are high that these will need to be remade as issues and defects are found in the product and the manufacturing process.

Perform all qualification testing of your product. Execute the qualification test plan on the products that were produced by the manufacturer and document all the defects, failures, and issues that arise. These tests are done on calibrated test equipment where it is possible to measure the important variables such as temperature and force. Don’t attempt to run a high temperature storage test in a kitchen oven!

Determine required design changes. Review the defects, failures, and issues found in the last step with the engineering team to decide which require engineering design changes.

Review changes with supplier and implement changes into design. Revise documentation. The engineering team should meet with the manufacturer to review the changes that will be made to the engineering design and understand where it impacts the manufacturing process. Make changes to the manufacturing process where necessary and update all product and manufacturing documentation.

Evaluate any new pricing due to changes. Review any pricing changes with the manufacturer based on the changes that will be made to the product and manufacturing processes.

Remake the prototypes with the changes. Make the products again using the revised final production processes.

Perform final qualification testing to ensure the product functions as specified. Execute the product qualification plan on the new products to be sure that they meets all the required test specifications. Once all the specifications are met, the qualification phase is complete.

Product qualification and testing is a critical step in the product development life cycle. Be sure that the product passes the qualification tests prior to starting the final manufacturing and production. While this phase of product qualification might seem excessive and expensive, remember that one customer with a bad review of the qualify of the product could destroy a company.

Need more information on new product development or the manufacturing process? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com

Tagged Joe Donoghue, Manufacturing

5 Secrets Of A Crowdfunding Campaign

June 12 2012 | Cliff | All Posts, Crowdfunding, Product Development, Prototyping | Comment

With crowdfunding all the rage right now, we wanted to hop on the blog and let you in 5 tips that we’ve learned from product folks that have successfully raised funds through crowdfunding.

1) Know Your Audience - Picking the right platform for your crowdfunding campaign is the most important decision in the campaign. There are many platforms such as Kickstarter, Profounder, and IndieGoGo. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the specifics. Here is a recent post with a break down.

2) Plan For 3x – Veteran startup junkies will tell you that part of success is planning accordingly. When venturing into the unknown such as product development for the first time, it would be wise to use the rule of 3. Plan for 3x the money you think you will need and for the product to take 3x longer than you thought it would to get a final manufacturable product.

3) Under Promise and Over Deliver – Don’t sell yourself short by staying in your comfort zone and not innovating, but at the same time, don’t over promise on something you may not be able to deliver. Be ambitious, but be realistic.

4) Marketing 101 – Of the people we have talked to that have run a successful crowdfunding campaign, 100% of them said they spent much more time marketing their campaign than they had expected to. Prepare to fire up your social network, blog daily and take every opportunity available to get the word out.

5) Be A Story Teller – Like the participants on the ABC show “Shark Tank”, People love a good story. Give them a good beginning, middle and end.

Good luck on your campaign and please contact us with any questions.

Tagged crowdfunding, Investment, prototyping

I Have Found a Manufacturer for My Product Idea. Now What? Part 1 of 3

June 5 2012 | leardonsolutions | All Posts, Business Tips, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Tips, Product Development, Supplier Management | 1 Comment

How to Select a Manufacturer

One of the most common questions I receive from entrepreneurs, innovators, and start-up companies is about the manufacturer of their product. The question is typically something like “I found a great overseas manufacturer that says that they can manufacture my product for me. What do I do now?” or “How do I find a manufacturer that can make my product idea?” or “My manufacturer isn’t communicating well with me so what should I do?” Regardless of the exact question, the general topic of manufacturer management and procurement is a very important one to understand prior to venturing off into the world of product development and manufacturing. In this three-part blog series, we will discuss the steps required to ensure that you deliver a quality product to your customers and minimize the number of headaches along the way: (1) How to Select a Manufacturer; (2) How to Qualify the Product; (3) How to Manage Production Quality.

Here we focus on selecting the most capable manufacturer from the list of those identified as potential manufacturing candidates. It is expected at this point that initial communications have been made with the manufacturer and they have shown some interest in manufacturing your product. Before moving too far with one of the manufacturers, it is necessary to do some initial qualification of their capabilities to be sure they are the right fit to manufacture your product. It is also necessary to determine if they have similar working behaviors that fit well with your company’s culture and style. Below are three recommended steps to determine if the manufacturer is the right one.

How to do a preliminary manufacturer evaluation

The list of potential manufacturers for your product could be very long or short, depending on the amount of prior research. Either way, it is necessary to perform a thorough manufacturing supplier evaluation process to be sure that the manufacturer is the best for you and your product. The overall evaluation involves a preliminary evaluation and an in-depth evaluation. The reason for doing a preliminary evaluation is to quickly weed out those candidates that aren’t capable of manufacturing your product or aren’t a good fit for your company. Based on years of experience, here is a tried and true checklist to use for a preliminary manufacturer evaluation:

Ask the supplier to provide the number of employees, machines, and annual product output of the manufacturer. (This helps determine if the manufacturer is willing to provide company information. If the supplier is unwilling to provide this information or any of the data seems to conflict to anything found on the web, then consider removing the supplier from the preliminary list.)

Ask the sales representative how long they have been with the company. (This helps you determine if the representative knows much about the company and if employee turnover is high. If the company turnover is high, you should consider eliminating the supplier from the preliminary list of manufacturers since you might be working with too many people over the span of your product life cycle.)

Ask the supplier to communicate their manufacturing capabilities and specialties. (This will help you understand if the supplier excels at the manufacturing processes you need to manufacture your product. If the supplier specializes in processes different than those you require, you should eliminate them from the preliminary list of suppliers.)

Ask the supplier if they make any products similar to yours. (This will help you understand if they specialize in making products like yours. If the manufacturer doesn’t make similar products, then it is still acceptable to keep them on the preliminary supplier list but be sure to be diligent moving forward.)

Ask the supplier to send you samples of products they currently have in production (This will help you understand if the product quality level matches your expectations. If any of the products you receive are of poor quality or don’t function properly, eliminate the manufacturer from the list of suppliers.)

Visit the manufacturing facility if possible and eliminate any manufacturers from the list if they don’t allow you to visit their factory (Manufacturers typically put their best foot forward on these first visits, so take everything you see and hear with a grain of salt.)

How to get references for each manufacturer

It is always very difficult to properly do due diligence on suppliers, especially overseas manufacturers. Therefore, the best place to start is to ask the manufacturer to supply a list of customer references from companies who have used their services in the past to make custom products. Be sure to get a list of at least five references and check that the references are currently working with the manufacturer, are companies similar to yours in size, and have produced similar production quantities as you are planning. For example, it would not be appropriate to use a multi-billion dollar company producing hundreds of millions of parts as a reference for your start-up company that is expecting to make ten thousand parts in the first year. This wouldn’t be a valid reference since chances are high that this multi-billions dollar company is being treated very well. Ask each reference to provide insight into their experience working with the manufacturer. Be sure to ask the references to tell you both the good characteristics and the bad characteristics of the manufacturer. If the reference does not have anything bad to say about the manufacturer, then eliminate this reference from your list. Any customer who has worked with the manufacturer for an extended time will have some negative things to say about a supplier.

How to perform an in-depth manufacturing supplier evaluation

After the first two steps of manufacturing supplier selection have been completed, only two or three manufacturing suppliers should remain on the list. If a large number suppliers are still on the list, then go back and get more references to interview.

The final step in selecting the best manufacturer is to do an in-depth supplier evaluation. Large multinational companies have large internal teams to perform this task and some companies use consulting firms to do this final evaluation. If you don’t find it necessary to bring in external people to help you make the final supplier selection, follow the list of questions below to be sure that you address all potential issues and concerns prior to making the selection. Once each of these questions are answered for each of the remaining suppliers, it should be obvious which supplier should be selected as the final manufacturer.

Where will the products be manufactured? The place of manufacture will impact the costs of shipping and potentially import duties.

Ask the supplier to provide you with all the documentation that is followed for their internal quality processes. How do they ensure that the product is manufactured to specification?

How are the manufactured parts shipped? Boat, air, land? Does the manufacturer have strategic relationships with logistics companies to ensure products get through customs without any issues? What happens if the parts get stuck in customs somewhere in the world?

Does the manufacturer provide certifications of conformance of the products shipped including product measurement data, performance data, and raw material supplier information? Ask the manufacturer to provide certifications for products in manufacturing.

Does the manufacturer outsource any of the work to a third part? If so, what processes are outsourced and how is the quality managed?

Can the supplier provide any examples of product quality plans for products produced in the factory? This includes incoming inspections, quality inspections on all parts fabricated, assembly process checks, finished product testing, audits, and outgoing inspections.

What engineering documentation is required for the supplier to properly make the product? Typically this is a 2D dimensioned drawing done by a professional as well as a 3D CAD (computer aided design) file. Do not expect to get accurate quotations without these documents.

Ask the supplier to provide you with cost quotations for the product based on the engineering 2D and 3D files. Make sure the supplier quotes the quantity you require as well as multiple ranges of quantities above and below your expected production volumes. Be sure to get all costs including non-recurring expenses such as production tooling and variable costs such as the part costs.

What are the lead times for manufacturing the required quantities of your product?

This list provides the most important questions that should be asked when performing an in-depth manufacturing supplier evaluation. If the supplier selection process provided above does not result in a clear answer of the best supplier, then it might be best to bring in a professional who has years experience evaluating and selecting supplier.

Need more information on new product development or the manufacturing process? Please contact us with any questions or contact me directly at joseph.donoghue ( at ) leardon.com

Tagged Business Overseas, Joe Donoghue, manufacturing tips, product development tips