3-D's
/At our company we follow a simple process for product development that we call 3-D's
Read MoreSakonnet DesignWorks Blog:
What Could Go Wrong When Outsourcing Product Development?
/As I think about how we approch new product development (NPD) several things stick out. First and foremost, we work through a process and try not to deviate from our approach so that we can keep to schedule, budget and deliver what our customer wants.
Read MoreWhen to outsource your Mechanical Design
/As a New Product Development (NPD) company we are asking our customers two leading questions that usually lead to other important questions.
Read MoreUnderstanding Lumens
/Historically if you wanted a certain amount of light you would buy bulbs based on their wattage rating.
Wattage is a measure of energy. If you wanted bright lighting you might choose a 100 watt bulb because you knew they generated a lot of light. The measure of wattage was a simple way to quantify light when there weren’t many choices in bulb technology. When everything was the standard incandescent bulb, using watts was a great “rule of thumb” for comparison.
Read MoreOut of the Morass
/The significant response to my last column, The Zero Sum Society, didn’t surprise me, but the number of positive comments did.
Along with the usual wingnut name calling, an astounding number of readers seem to understand the Zero Sum Society, at least as I define it. Most readers suggested various paths to change, including prayer, which I actually do fairly frequently. Others suggested solutions as varied and unlikely as taxing the rich and asking me to run for office (even more unlikely). So, rather than respond to the wingnuts, this month I will tap into whatever creaky optimism I have left, and perhaps suggest some way out of the morass.
Read MoreCool running LEDs
/Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) don’t like heat. Heat shortens their lifetimes. It also damages brightness, ruins efficiency and diminishes color.
“Heat is death to an LED,” says Joe DeNicholas, Lighting Business Unit director for National Semiconductor. “There’s widely published data suggesting that if you keep the junction temperature of an LED at about 100 degrees Celsius, it will last for 80,000 hours. But if you let it go to, say, 135 degrees Celsius, the lifetime drops down to about 20,000 hours. That’s why we have to keep them cool.”
Read More5 Confessions/Lessons Learned from a Product-Design Entrepreneur
/True confessions: I started a business; mistakes were made. Lots of them. Now I’d like to share my five small-business tips for product-design entrepreneurs, so you can learn from my blunders.
1. Do Your Homework. Last October, our Chinese manufacturing partner warned us about something called “CNY,” which I assumed was a heads-up that the calendar year was ending. I chuckled to myself that our partners thought we were big enough to care about the accounting impact of Dec. 31 versus Jan. 1. So, I lagged on some go/no-go decisions because of a packaging issue.
Imagine my surprise when I learned what CNY abbreviates. Grab a pen. You will want to write this one down.
Read MorePatent Quality Precedes Quantity
/It was good while it lasted. We used to think that we would always own the innovation game. Heck, American giants like Edison, Morse and the brothers Wright practically invented the modern art of innovation. Even though we were appropriately nervous when our manufacturing base began shifting overseas at the end of the last century, in our usual fog of overconfidence, we always assumed the U.S. would own the future.
Well, we ought to be thinking of a back-up plan.
Read MoreWell, we ought to be thinking of a back-up plan.
Why the NPD Process Works
/The spark of insight that produces a successful product does not come from a group, but from an individual mind.
Much is written about the idealized NPD process, but most of it focuses on groups, teams, organizational structure, and activities. Seldom does anyone talk about why it works.
At the root of what we do is how we think. The spark of insight that produces a successful product does not come from a group, but from an individual mind. No matter how rich the environment or how big, smart, or motivated the group, it is the single mind that connects the dots. Understanding how that mind is nurtured by the process can help make your NPD path easier.
R&D Partners: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship
/Partnering with your customers on R&D.
KC Armstrong
TASTE TEST: Pieter deJonge of Cambridge Fine Foods (left) discusses a breakfast tart with one of his customers, Byron Ainsworth, president of Your Grocery Depot.
If you want your customers to see you as a partner, rather than a mere vendor, "let's build this together" is a superior proposition to "buy this from me." And who doesn't want to be viewed as a partner? So it's not surprising that joint research and development projects between customers and suppliers are on the rise. In its simplest form, joint R&D means that customers provide ideas and feedback while a product is being developed. They may also share costs and co-own the resulting intellectual property.