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Success Factors of a Product Inventor

September 15 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Program Management  |  1 Comment

There are many inventors in this world but unfortunately many of their inventions never see the light of day. Why is this? There must be some factors that determine if the inventor will create a successful company from the product idea or if the inventor will fail.

Leardon Solutions worked with Randy Hupp from EcoLeeser from the early days of his invention of a product that helps increase the chances of survival for released rockfish suffering from barotrauma. This invention named the RokLees is pictured below.

EcoLeeser RokLees manufactured by Leardon Solutions

Throughout the process of working with Randy, there were three success factors that contributed to the success of Randy’s invention and hence his company EcoLeeser.

(1) Proper prototyping and product testing: Even the best product ideas can fail if they are introduced to the market prematurely without the proper engineering and testing. Some inventors believe that the best way to develop their product is to go onto one of the outsourcing websites and hire an overseas company that makes similar products. Many times this leads to failure since product prototyping and qualification do not occur. Skipping the prototyping phases will definitely limit the ability to succeed.

Randy understood that in order to be successful, he had to provide a quality product that simply did what it was meant to do and did it well. In order to achieve this quality, multiple rounds of prototypes were necessary. He knew that he had to build prototypes and test them in the hands of actual customers. First, Randy built a Proof-of-Concept Prototype that proved his idea actually functioned properly. While this prototype wasn’t pretty or refined, it proved that his idea was feasible. Next Randy worked with Leardon Solutions to develop a Form/Fit/Function Prototype that not only functioned properly but also met his cosmetic and aesthetic goals. Randy was able to test this product in actual fishing conditions and fine-tuned the design to meet his needs. As Randy started production, he had a design that he knew would function properly across all operating conditions.

(2) Develop a trusted network of suppliers and professionals: Many inventors are worried that their product idea will be stolen if they discuss the invention with potential suppliers and professional service companies. As such, the worried inventor will try to do everything themselves, ranging from the engineering, prototyping, intellectual property, business planning, marketing, and website development. Fortunately for the inventor, most service companies are more interested in helping the inventors than in stealing their idea. The sooner the inventor realizes that there are trusted companies that can help them, the sooner they will be successful.

Randy new his limitations and began to develop a trusted network of suppliers that could help get his product developed and his company formed. Since Randy was new to the world of product development, he hired Leardon Solutions to perform the prototyping, product qualification, and manufacturing. Randy also understood that he had no knowledge in the areas of intellectual property and therefore hired Intercontinental IP to develop his intellectual property filings. These two professional services companies were only a small part of the trusted network that was developed throughout the process of creating the RokLees and EcoLeeser.

(3) Proper use of intellectual property: If an inventor is actually going to move forward and create a company around their product invention, it is important to protect their intellectual property. Many inventors feel that filing provisional patents, utility patents, design patents, or trademarks are a waste of money. When the intellectual property isn’t filed, what happens after the company invests time and money to develop a market for their product only to find that another company is selling a very similar product? All that effort developing the market has gone to waste and this other company can easily leverage the market development work already done. Intellectual property is a critical way to prevent this situation.

Randy filed a provisional patent application which provided patent pending protection for one year and two trademark applications, both of which have been approved by United States Patent and Trademark Office and are in the “publication” phase. As the expiration date for the provisional patent approaches, Randy will need to decide if it is important to file a utility patent in order to extend his invention protection. This will depend on the success of the RokLees product in the marketplace.

In summary, inventors with good product ideas should implement these three simple success factors into their operations to improve their changes of success.

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Alexis McCollom talks about developing the EquiStix product

September 2 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Customer Profile  |  Comment

Alexis McCollom, owner of Equus Athletics a woman-owned company in North San Diego County, discussed the process of developing the innovative EquiStix product with Debra Simpson on the North San Diego County Business radio show. Equus Athletics creates innovative products for both the horse and the rider. The EquiStix is a cost-effective deep-tissue massage tool for horses that allows owners to perform warmup and recovery massage and was designed, prototyped, and manufactured by Leardon Solutions.

EquiStix flexible massage tool by Equus Athletics

EquiStix horse massage tool by Equus Athletics

 

 

 

 

There are three success factors that Alexis describes:

  1. Product Differentiation: Alexis made sure that her product had feature differentiation from other products in this market. The EquiStix product helps recovery of horse muscles by conforming to the contour of the horse during use.
  2. Effective Prototyping: Alexis worked with Leardon Solutions to create two prototypes.  A Proof-of-Concept Prototype allowed Alexis to evaluate and tune the funtion of the handles and flexibility.  A functional and cosmetically correct Design Prototype was designed and fabricated so that Alexis could get customer feedback and validate her design.
  3. Time to Market: Equus Athletics took one year from product idea to receipt of inventory. This fast time to market allowed Equus Athletics to quickly start receiving revenue.

Please listen to the interview with Alexis in the player below or go directly to Meet Alexis McCollom, Owner of Equus Athletics.

Listen to internet radio with N San Diego Business on Blog Talk Radio

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Creating and Maintaining Successful Supplier Relationships: Part 3

August 23 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Supplier Management  |  2 Comments

In the last article on supplier management entitled Creating and Maintaining Successful Supplier Relationships: Part 2, it was shown that each of the Five Vital Characteristics of a Successful Supplier Relationship has a direct impact on the supplier commitment and capability. This article also described how the supplier manager should focus her efforts on implementing the improvement techniques for each characteristic, hence improving the commitment and capability of the supplier. In the end, this leads to an improved relationship.

The table below reiterates the Five Vital Characteristics of a Successful Supplier Relationship and the impact they have on commitment and capability. These characteristics were identified by the Leardon Solutions program managers after studying dozens of supplier relationships, both good and bad.

Leardon Solutions Five Vital Characteristics of a Suppiler Relationship

Five Vital Characteristics of a Committed and Capable Supplier Relationship

This concept of supplier relationship improvement can be communicated using a matrix of capability and commitment. The matrix graphic below shows the simple connection between commitment, capability, and supplier relationship success. There are four quadrants of the matrix and three states of the supplier relationship: Poor, Fair, and Good.

Leardon Solutions Supplier Relationship Management Model

  • POOR RELATIONSHIP: A Poor Relationship exists when the supplier does not commit to the relationship and is not a capable of performing the job at hand. In this case, the supplier must demonstrate some desire to increase their capabilities or their commitment, otherwise another supplier should be chosen. If the desire exists, the supplier manager should focus on using the improvement techniques for the vital characteristics.
  • FAIR RELATIONSHIP: A Fair Relationship exists when the supplier is either fully committed to the relationship or demonstrates good capabilities, but not both. It is possible for this type of relationship to be successful in the short term but typically the relationship will fall apart unless improvement is made. Again, this improvement will come through utilizing the improvement techniques for the vital characteristics.
  • GOOD RELATIONSHIP: A Good Relationship exists when the supplier exhibits full commitment to the relationship as well as demonstrates excellent capabilities. This is the pinnacle of supplier management and relationships in this quadrant are typically prepared for long-term success.

In the end, the objective is to improve the supplier capability and commitment by striving for improvement of the Five Vital Characteristics of a Successful Supplier Relationship: respect for individuals, partnership, growth and development, properly managed risk, and complementary capabilities. Implementation of these characteristics into the relationship by using the management improvement techniques will ensure an extremely productive relationship which will result in successful programs and projects.

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Creating and Maintaining Successful Supplier Relationships: Part 2

August 19 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Supplier Management  |  4 Comments

The first posting on the topic of successful supplier management entitled Creating and Maintaining Successful Supplier Relationships: Part 1 pointed out that a successful supplier relationship consists of five vital characteristics which result from a relationship that encourages commitment and capability. These five characteristics are shown in the table below.

Leardon Solutions Successful Supplier Management Characteristics

These Five Vital Characteristics of a Successful Supplier Relationship were identified by the Leardon Solutions program managers after studying dozens of supplier relationships, both good and bad. To reiterate, the premise for these vital characteristics is that the supplier manager must influence the supplier to believe that the relationship is worth the time and that their team can do what the manager requires.[1] In other words, the supplier must be committed and capable and if a supplier manager can improve the commitment and capability of the supplier, the relationship will improve.

Each of these vital characteristics impacts the supplier commitment, capability, or both. In order to improve the supplier commitment, the supplier manager should work on improving the Respect for Individuals and the Partnership. If the supplier manager focuses on creating a relationship that has Properly Managed Risk and Complementary Capabilities, then the supplier capability will increase. Finally, improvement of the characteristic of Growth and Development will improve both the supplier commitment and capability. This is better described in the simple table below.

Leardon Solutions Capable and Committed Supplier Characteristics

Five Vital Characteristics of a Committed and Capable Supplier

So how does a supplier manager influence these five vital characteristics for improvement of supplier commitment and capability? Below is a list of the improvement techniques for each characteristic that, when implemented in the day-to-day supplier management, have been shown to establish a good supplier relationship.

Respect for Individuals

  1. Create an environment where everybody has the upmost respect for people and their opinions.
  2. Provide open and honest communications regarding performance of individuals (both good and bad).
  3. Create an environment where team members have genuine trust in each other.[2]

Partnership

  1. Allow an environment of open and honest communications about the state of the business relationship.
  2. Provide consistent, stable work that enables the supplier to invest and grow.
  3. Provide an environment where the teams engage in respectful debates about critical issues.[2]

Growth and Development

  1. Provide continual development of the supplier through an active development plan.
  2. Minimize the employee attrition rate by showing commitment to supplier’s growth and development.
  3. Develop a capable resource pool at the supplier through training.

Properly Managed Risk

  1. Both the supplier and supplier manager decide what risks to take and the implications of such risks.[2]
  2. Provide a team member training program to minimize mistakes and eliminate repeat mistakes.
  3. Provide a rewards and recognitions program that motivates innovation.

Complementary Capabilities

  1. Understand supplier employee capabilities and balance capabilities of integrated teams.
  2. Continually evaluate supplier employees and ask the supplier to improve underperforming employees.
  3. Focus the team individuals on using their capabilities to achieve team results.[2]

Influencing these five vital characteristics using the recommended management improvement techniques above improves the supplier commitment and capability which results in an improvement of the overall relationship. Remember that if the supplier thinks the relationship is valuable, they will remain committed. And if the supplier thinks they can do what is required, then they have the capability to excel and improve.

[1] Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, page 132, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, and Ron McMillan, October 2007.

[2] The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, A Leadership Fable, Patrick Lencioni, Wiley, 2002.

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Product Cost, Scope, Schedule: Prioritize or Fail

August 4 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Program Management  |  Comment

Joe Donoghue, San Diego Prototyping, Patents & Prototypes, Live Web Show, Product Development, Engineering Services, Manufacturing, Entrepreneurial Product DevelopmentProduct development and commercialization can be summarized as a balancing act between the competing constraints of product cost, scope, and schedule. Thousands of decisions are made while a product is under development and the end result is typically a sub-optimal result of these decisions. A consistent theme exists as a team moves through the process of bringing a product to the customer: it is virtually impossible to optimize all the requirements of the program/product.

Since optimization is impossible, it is necessary to prioritize the objectives of the project in order to ensure success. Without prioritization, the individuals working on programs will be pulled in opposing directions and will be continually redirected during the project, resulting in failure. Proper prioritization of product cost, scope, and schedule will result in success.

The three objectives of a program are product cost, product scope, and program schedule.

Product Cost refers to the many financial metrics, including total budget, cost of goods sold, gross margins, or any other financial metrics used on the project.

Product Scope refers to the product features that will be designed into in the final product.

Program Schedule refers to the amount of time available to complete the project.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to change one of these objectives without affecting the others. The cost, scope, and schedule each act as constraints and therefore movement of one affects the others. This is typically referred to as the project management triangle by program managers.

How do you manage a project knowing that everything cannot be optimized? The management team at Leardon Solutions has managed hundreds of programs using a simple method of prioritization which requires that the team takes away the constraints that will cause failure. This method requires thinking of the cost, scope, and schedule in terms of three levels of priority.

a) Determine which of the three program objectives is the most important. This chosen objective will be the first program priority that must be constrained and cannot change under any circumstance. For example, if the product being developed is for the snowboard market and must be available two months prior to the skiing season, the program schedule should be chosen as the highest priority. The team must make changes to the product scope or product cost in order to meet the program schedule.

b) Choose one of the two remaining program objectives that can change but must be held within a range. After the top program priority that cannot change under any circumstance is chosen, there are only two objectives left. The second priority should be thought of as an objective that can be modified but should always be kept as close to the goal as possible. In the snowboard example, program schedule is the top priority and everything else must adapt to meet the program schedule. If all similar products in this snowboard product category have a retail price around US$50, this product might also need to be close to this retail price. It might not be possible to hit this price exactly because of the rigid schedule constraint, but the product cost should be optimized by minimizing the product manufacturing cost or modifying the gross margins.

c) The outcome of the last program objectives will be accepted as is. Unfortunately, since the first program priority was constrained and the second program priority was optimized, there is no ability to control the third program priority. The program manager must accept whatever results from the actions of constraining and optimizing. For the snowboard product example, the product scope is considered the third program priority. The product designer might have wanted to include a small injection molded plastic toe bumper on the front of the product to improve the looks of the product and prevent wear of the toe. But due to the schedule constraint (injection molding tool has a six week lead time) and the product cost optimization (this additional part adds cost), the design engineer should not include the toe bumper in the design.

Some hard tradeoffs need to be made when prioritizing the program cost, scope, and schedule. By performing this exercise and communicating the priorities, the product development team will be given very clear objectives that allow the members to make their own tradeoffs knowing the overall program priorities. This will result in successful programs for both large and small projects at companies of all sizes.

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How to Properly Define Your Product

July 28 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Program Management  |  1 Comment

Joe Donoghue, San Diego Prototyping, Patents & Prototypes, Live Web Show, Product Development, Engineering Services, Manufacturing, Entrepreneurial Product DevelopmentWhen an inventor, entrepreneur, or company has a great product idea, they typically start out by constructing a prototype to prove the idea is feasible.

While this might seem like the logical first step, it should actually be the second step taken. The first step should be to document the product features and functionality so that there are product goals for the team to pursue. Without first defining and communicating the product features, the product team will be moving forward blindly while wasting time and money.

Leardon Solutions follows a rigorous Product Development Lifecycle and commercialization process shown in the figure below to ensure all products achieve their product development goals and objectives. The first phase of this process, the Definition Phase, is sometimes thought to be the most important phase because it sets the stage for the success of the product. Without properly completing this phase, the team will be working without any objectives or goals for the product. A detailed list of the activities and deliverables that should be accomplished in the Definition Phase can be found in the Product Development Lifecycle presentation.

Leardon Solutions Product Development Lifecycle

Leardon Solutions Product Development Lifecycle. Copyright 2011 Leardon Solutions

To summarize, the goal in the Definition Phase is to do exactly what the title states: define the product thoroughly. An organization’s worst enemy in product development is vagueness and ambiguity. The engineers and designers need specifications and guidelines to properly complete their objectives and this phase provides the list of clear, concise, and measureable specifications. The two most important documents, the Product Requirements and Engineering Specifications, are described below.

Product Requirements: The Product Requirements, also known as Product Data Sheet or User Needs, is a list of performance, functional, and interface requirements that are focused on the customer’s point of view.  One way to compile a complete list of these requirements is to get the cross-functional product team together for a meeting and answer the following questions:

How will the product perform and what are the functional characteristics?

Will the product interface with other products outside of your control?

What are the industrial design requirements (the look of the product)?

What are the human factors requirements (the feel and human interaction of the product)?

Are there any installation, support, service, and maintenance requirements?

What type of qualification, regulatory, safety, and standards compliances are required?

Should the product be compatible with other products and if so what are these requirements?

What are the packaging, shipping, and labeling requirements?

This is just a short list of all the questions that will arise when compiling the Product Requirements document.  Of course, compilation of this document requires ample time and research but if it is done properly, it will be one of the most useful documents of the product development process.

Engineering Specifications: The Product Requirements document provided earlier is the first step in specifying the product with respect to the customer’s point of view. While this is very helpful for the product team, it does not typically provide an engineering team with enough detail to begin designing. Therefore, the engineering team needs to take these Product Requirements and translate them into Engineering Specifications. The engineers will use this document as they move through their design and development stages.

The simple example below demonstrates how to construct the Product Requirements and Engineering Specifications.

Leardon Solutions example product requirements

Leardon Solutions Product Requirements and Engineering Specifications Example

The effort required to generate the Product Requirements and Engineering Specifications might seem too detailed for such an early stage of product development. These documents are valuable resources that will be used throughout the product development lifecycle and will save the team valuable time and money by focusing the team on the proper goals and objectives. This is definitely a step that should not be skipped.

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Form, Fit, and Function Prototype

July 18 2011  |   leardonsolutions  |  All Posts, Prototyping  |  3 Comments

The last prototyping post titled Why a Proof-of-Concept Prototype? reviewed the reasons for designing, fabricating, and testing a Proof-of-Concept Prototype of your innovative product idea. If you followed this advice, you now have shown that your concept functions properly and there is a feasible technical path to develop your product. With this accomplished, what should you do next?

Leardon Solutions Form Fit Function Prototype

Intubation Design Prototype by Leardon Solutions

Leardon Solutions designs, engineers, prototypes, and manufactures products for the medical devices and diagnostic, health and lifestyle, commercial, consumer electronics, and active sports industries. Every project, no matter how simple or complex, follows the rigorous Leardon Solutions Product Development Lifecycle.  This ensures that all the program objectives and project requirements are satisfied. The third phase of this lifecycle, referred to as the Design Prototype Phase, requires the completion of a prototype that meets the form, fit, and functionality requirments.

You might be asking yourself “What is the difference between this so-called Design Prototype and the Proof-of-Concept prototype mentioned in the last blog posting?” The Proof-of-Concept Prototype was developed in order to prove that the product idea was technically feasible and functioned as expected. There was no work done to make the prototype look aesthetically pleasing or to meet any of the human factors (feel) or industrial design (look) requirements. This next stage of prototype requires that the functional requirements are implemented into an engineered prototype that is looks, feels, and operates the same as the final product. The only difference between this prototype and the final manufactured product is that this Design Prototype is fabricated utilizes low-volume prototyping techniques.

A Design Prototype requires more engineering and design skill than required for the Proof-of-Concept Prototype. The reason for this is the fact that the prototype needs to look and feel like the final product. Therefore, the engineer designing the prototype must have some knowledge of the final production methods so that it can be designed with the intention of using these fabrication methods when finally going into production. The engineer also needs to generate the proper engineering documentation such as 3D models, 2D drawings, and electrical schematics so that the manufacturer can properly fabricate the parts to the proper engineering specifications. While it isn’t absolutely necessary, it is recommended to hire a design engineer during this prototype phase.

The Design Prototype usually requires more manufacturing and fabrication skill than what was used to produce the Proof-of-Concept Prototype. This is due to the fact that this prototype is fully integrated with all the proper features. This integration usually results in more complex parts which are more difficult to fabricate using prototype methods. Due to schedule and financial constraints, this prototype will not be fabricated using high-volume production techniques such as injection molding or progressive die metal stamping. Instead, the prototype will be made of parts that are fabricated with low-volume prototype techniques such as machining, resin molding, laser cut metal parts, and quick turn printed circuit boards.

Leardon Solutions Form Fit Function Prototype for APT Innovations

Apt Innovations Floe Design Prototype by Leardon Solutions

Once this prototype is complete, there are many important uses for this prototype, all of which are equally important. First, since this Design Prototype was made to have the look, feel, and function of the final product, this is an excellent prototype to show to potential investors for raising money. A functioning and aesthetically pleasing prototype will have a much better impact in an investor presentation than showing a business plan.

Even though this prototype will look as if the product is complete and ready for manufacturing, there is still a long way to go before reaching the production stage. The second use of this prototype is for working out the design and manufacturing details. As the prototype is assembled and operated, important feedback will be gathered which will be fed forward into the future design revisions.

A third use for this Design Prototype is as a tool in getting valuable feedback from customers. Prepare a set of questions for target customers and let them use your prototype. This feedback is important to verify that your product satisfies the customer needs and will have commercial success when introduced.

Finally, this prototype will be very useful when pitching your product to potential distributors, buyers, and retailers. Since the product meets all the functional requirements and has the final look and feel, these meetings will be much more valuable as the intent of the product will be easy to communicate.

The Design Prototype is an necessary step in the development and commercialization of a product. The design and fabrication of this prototype will allow you to validate your customer segment, determine if the product has an acceptable look and feel to customers, and will prevent expensive production and manufacturing changes down the road.

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