From One-Stop Shop to Individual Item
Some companies come to us with an idea, others with a fully developed product for which only small-series production is missing. That's why we take on as much of the development as you want to hand over.
A product begins with an idea. In the best case, this journey ends with the sixth generation of a profitable product. In between lies a long process, which, following Cooper, is thought of in phases separated by clear decision points – Cooper's gates – from idea to launch, decision by decision.
Every product goes through this journey; the only open question is who covers which section. That is precisely where we fit in, to the extent you determine.
The whole way – or part of it
You can explain your idea to us in a few words, and we take on the entire process. At agreed milestones, we show you where the project stands and what comes next, until the last one is reached and you hold your idea in your hands.
Or you want to save costs and use us selectively. We deliver the concept development, your team gets a work-package plan and develops the product. Now you want to produce a small batch? We come back in here. This is selective sourcing: you divide the process into modules and only assign those you cannot or do not want to cover yourself. Ideally, the packages are defined so that each one remains economically viable on its own. Not to forget: there are transaction costs, and communication also comes at a cost!
Without personnel risk
You have to find, train and keep an employee occupied, while remaining bound by deadlines and obligations. We too have to familiarise ourselves with your subject matter. The difference is: you engage us when you need us, and end the collaboration abruptly at a defined point in time – exactly the moment your employee returns from sick leave or your design engineer returns from parental leave.
Every unexpected absence puts the project at risk, and the question you have to ask yourself is a question of risk: an order that isn't fulfilled and a milestone that isn't reached cost resources – not only money, but also reputation, which is harder to quantify but carries a value just the same. Weighing these values against the cost of an external service provides a solid basis for decision-making: if the threatened costs of failure exceed the additional cost of the service, that additional cost is the price of securing the delivery date and your reputation.
Building your own know-how
If you want to bundle competencies in-house, we support you with that too. We accompany the development together with you, as closely as you wish. We create training materials, help build up your own production capacity, and work with you to clarify which manufacturing equipment you need and how you can carry out prototyping yourself. We don't just deliver hardware, but also the process for getting there.
Especially where many iterations and many prototypes are necessary, our clients often prefer to take testing into their own hands. We help ensure that the results are properly logged and documented.
Sources
- Robert G. Cooper – Stage-Gate Systems: A New Tool for Managing New Products (Business Horizons, 1990) – the process from idea to launch in phases.
- Medina Serrano, R., González Ramírez, M. R., Gascó, J. – Should we make or buy? An update and review (European Research on Management and Business Economics, Vol. 24, 2018) – on the selective outsourcing of individual modules.
IDEA e.U. · Determined Innovation