Putting big ideas into action

Research is a crucial, but often overlooked, part of the innovation process, writes Caroline Madden

'IF YOU want to have good ideas, you have to have a lot of ideas." So says John Concannon, managing director of JFC Manufacturing, on this week's visual case study (which can be viewed on www.eoy.tv), and he should know.

He started his business in the 1980s with a single idea - an innovative plastic feed bucket for calves. Now the company's entire product suite runs into the hundreds. "JFC is a hive of ideas," he says.

"Probably why the family of products has increased so much is through necessity," he continues.

JFC was hit hard in the late 90s and the early years of this decade by external factors, including the BSE crisis and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The company was forced to diversify its product lines in order to survive and it has grown stronger as a result.

"We can design, develop and manufacture new products and ship them to other countries faster and better, and at a better price, than they can do it locally," he observes. "A few simple things, but believe me they work."

JFC designs its products in-house but many start-up businesses, and indeed existing companies, call in the experts for some assistance when the time comes to develop a new product.

James Bourke, a consultant with new product development company Dolmen, explains the various stages involved in transforming a product from a germ of an idea all the way through to the finished article. The first, and arguably the most important stage, is research.

"Obviously you would research competitor products, you'd research whether the product had been patented before by somebody else [and that might prevent you from developing it], and you'd also research the suitability in terms of whether there is a market for what you're potentially thinking of doing," Bourke explains.

One of the most common mistakes made by companies when developing new products is failing to do enough research at the outset. Bourke has encountered aspiring inventors who have spent years, and tens of thousands of euro, developing a prototype of a product, only to discover it has already been patented by someone else.

Once the initial research has been completed, the next stage is to write a design brief outlining exactly what you want the product to be. A number of concepts that would fulfil that design brief are then developed.

Different features from the various concepts may be combined or amalgamated in order to come up with the final version. A 3D model of this is then developed using CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to allow the client to visualise the final product.

"If the client likes what they see at that stage, it'll go onto prototyping," he says. Inventors who appear on television shows such as Dragon's Den always seem to have spent years toiling away in their garden shed creating a handmade prototype of their idea, but not so for the professionals. Technology has simplified the process.

Dolmen, for example, simply e-mails the 3D data relating to the various parts of the product to a prototype manufacturer. If the prototype gets the thumbs-up from the client, it goes into production.

Even if the product turns out to be a huge hit, companies can't afford to rest on their laurels. They must constantly think about how the product can be improved and updated. This process is known as product lifecycle management (PLM).

According to Bourke, most products have a maximum lifespan of five years, and usually considerably less. To understand what he means by this, compare the mobile phone you had five years ago to the one you have now. Newer phones are already far lighter, more compact and more advanced technologically than those being produced even a few years ago. "Your product isn't going to last forever," he explains. "Therefore you have to be looking at the next generation after that."

Even if a company has just launched a new range of products, it must start planning now for the launch of the next generation in 2010, he advises. If they don't plan ahead, the competition will most certainly leave them behind.

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This week's case study ties in with the following areas of the Leaving Certificate business studies curriculum:

*Unit 2: Enterprise - John Concannon goes into great detail about his product innovation, and there are clear links here to the new product development process.

*Unit 5: Expansion - this case study looks at identifying business opportunities. There is clear explanation of diversification as a defensive reason for expansion.