Maximizing Value Using a Digital Mindset

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Really that whole journey was about us maximizing the value we can provide to the market, leveraging a digital mindset and digital manufacturing, which is quite a bit different than the traditional mindset.

Brian (00:12):

This allows us to approach a product market without the same requirements or constraints that an injection molding market would have. Getting to market on time, setting a date, and reducing any sort of expansion of that time period, that is what we do. It’s what we love.

Speaker 1 (00:28):

Solutionology is about being unyielding with perseverance to get to the solution.

Brian (00:35):

Welcome to the Solutionology podcast. Today we are clearly in a different space.

Speaker 1 (00:40):

It’s a set for our consumer products business that we sell products direct to consumers. And this show is about a little different topic. It’s not about the products that we’ve got on the table here, but it’s about manufacturing, using additive manufacturing.

Brian (00:54):

We’d like to share some tools that we use today in our process to using this digital manufacturing, to accelerate our product launch and to give us an edge and how we’re able to customize these products to meet client’s interests, client’s expectations, and give it the feel that we want it to have.

Speaker 1 (01:13):

So this is a little bit unique because we’re sitting on both sides of the line. We’re the manufacturer of the product, but we’re also the product developers and the product managers. So we get to share our experience as the product owners and then also our experience as producing the products for the market. While we’ve got lots of different products and there is a component that’s mass customization, this is really about leveraging additive manufacturing for volume production and then capturing the value, the value opportunities that exist or better said, providing the value to the market.

Brian (01:51):

We’ve got two segments of how we use digital manufacturing. We’ve got the new product development, the timeline that leads us up to the launch phase. We have our alpha internal testing, making sure the product works. We get to the step where we’re beta testing product, we’re getting it in client’s hands, we’re getting feedback. We’ll start there. And one key aspect of beta testing for us, is making sure that having that product in hand is one of the most important parts, early phase for product. Because if you have a product that doesn’t quite meet expectations, there’s a gap there. So we shore up that gap with digital manufacturing.

Speaker 1 (02:33):

And then providing an example of that specifically with this product, we identified when we started this whole program with the direct-to-consumer products, we identified a problem in the marketplace. And the problem was the details don’t really matter for this discussion, but we’ll get into it a little bit, the problem was an automotive key fob that the consumers really didn’t like. We identified that problem when we experienced ourselves. So we came in and developed these alpha and beta solutions really quickly with, we did the designs and then we manufactured those alpha and beta examples to be able to test the solutions and see if they solved the problem. And through that beta experience, we launched an initial run of product to the marketplace so that they could test it and then provide us with feedback. And that whole journey from initial alpha or identification of the problem to initial alpha to the beta, happened really, really quickly. And it wouldn’t have been possible had we been on a journey powered by injection molding or traditional manufacturing.

(03:40):

But the ability for us to get this beta set of products to the market in volume really quickly, was really powerful because it allowed us to test and then iterate.

Brian (03:51):

And the feedback that we received on that initial release was there was clear indicators that there were certain types of looks and feel of the product, some individuals come to us and say they want a different texture, this doesn’t feel right. And we’re able to modify in real time, recreate that variation with the adjustments made and then re-release it. What’s the feedback now? So that led us down this journey of honing in the product to make it as effective as possible for the clients who were using it.

Speaker 1 (04:25):

It’s really interesting because as I think back, I don’t think we were focused on mass customization. We were really focused on solving a problem, and the problem started with me. So I had a very specific vision of what the solution needed to be, and it was pretty basic actually. But as we got the beta out and then iterated and got more early prototypes out or late prototypes out, we continued to capture this user experience data from our customers that Brian was talking about, that allowed us to iterate and then diversify the product mix within that specific product solution. So what started with, let’s just solve a problem, we can manufacture it quickly with additive manufacturing, became a learning experience where we learned that the market wanted a whole lot of different types of solutions, which drove us down the path of mass customization.

Brian (05:20):

So where mass customization plays a different role in the new product development process, as we’ve found, than typical product development, as we think about a normal product development workflow, we’re designing a product to have a functional use case, maybe a structural use case. It’s got to have the right aesthetics, it has to meet all of these requirements. That design has to be ready for manufacturing at the end. What happens with this mass customization component is just before we get to the end, we design all of that with the intention to have variation applied to a certain component of the product. And then we have a workflow that we’ve developed that allows us to adjust and modify that particular part of the geometry to whatever scale that we’d like to modify to. If it’s 1000 variations, if it’s 10 variations, we’re able to produce and design those from a digital to physical workflow rapidly, which is with standard tools today, it can be done.

(06:25):

For instance, SOLIDWORKS’s really effective at designing that front end part of the product. But when you get into the customization side, it doesn’t have the horsepower to manage the highly complex surface textures that are expected.

Speaker 1 (06:37):

So in total, we have thousands and thousands, over 10,000 SKUs today of these different products that we have developed based off customer feedback, and we essentially develop the engine that creates all those different variations. And the key aspect of that is before you put the product into the design engine, you have to identify what those variables are. What do the customers want that are different? We identify those variables, we plug that into that design engine, and then it creates all the variations. So it requires a lot of intentionality and strong market feedback to understand what do people want? In a traditional product design cycle, you’re understanding what do the people want, and then you’re picking out the things that are like capture 90% of the market, but in this case it’s quite a bit different because we’re segmenting it and then identifying those different aspects so that we can vary them. So there’s a big difference there. It’s something that we learned that required the development of that design engine.

Brian (07:42):

This approach allows us to approach a product market or product segment without the same requirements or constraints that an injection molding market would have, where you’ve got to have a minimum market size and potential to invest in tooling and go down that journey, that full investment. This allows us to sidestep some of that focus on more niche markets and be able to serve those markets with agility. Feels like there’s a lot of that transition that’s occurring today in the market.

Speaker 1 (08:16):

And it’s a big transition internally too as you assess the opportunity, because with injection molding, you’re assessing the capital expenses of the tooling and all of those things and trying to maximize that, spread it out over the volume. But in this case, we don’t have those capital expenses, but we do have design and digital workflow expenses. So for us, it’s about identifying how can we distribute those expenses across the product mix. There are still considerations about managing expenses and distributing those, allocating those over the products, but it’s different. It’s different than traditional manufacturing. And as I think back to the journey that we’ve taken focused initially on additive or digital manufacturing for the production resource and then getting into mass customization and then realizing the challenges and the digital workflow and then taking a step back from that, really that whole journey was about us maximizing the value we can provide to the market, leveraging a digital mindset and digital manufacturing, which is quite a bit different than the traditional mindset.

(09:27):

So whether we’re talking about all kinds of different product mixes or we’re talking about a flexible iterative solution, it’s really about taking a product to market, understanding what the market wants, and then tailoring the product to what the market needs are. We found that there’s a really strong pull into the marketplace with an approach like that where a product is tailored to specific customer segments.

Brian (09:54):

And it takes a few tools to pull this off. Of course, it takes the digital workflow in order to create all the digital assets and to be able to continue to develop those digital assets over time, but also takes the physical workflow. For us, we use the Multi-Jet Fusion HP machines that has the detail and resolution. We have finishing processes that allow us to seal the product, have a semi-gloss look, feel, and finish, that we’d want to have on the exterior or internal of a vehicle. So it takes that whole tool list from digital to physical to bring this to life.

Speaker 1 (10:35):

It sounds simple as you say those things, but it’s taken a tremendous amount of effort to finally dial in each of those aspects, both on the physical and digital. And so we’ve been doing this, specifically on this type of list level of activity, we’ve been doing this for several years now, and we’re continuing to refine the process. But looking back to what we knew and didn’t know back at the beginning, there’s a lot that we’ve learned and it can be overwhelming stepping into this and trying to explore how to leverage digital manufacturing for end-use products. We’ve developed a lot of experience and knowledge in that base.

(11:16):

So as you are exploring this type of approach, maybe it’s not mass customization, but maybe it is using digital manufacturing for end-use products, we have developed quite a bit of knowledge and experience in that space and can really help accelerate the launch of products for you leveraging digital manufacturing. We know where the dead bodies are, so to speak, the dead bodies.

Brian (11:41):

This sort of workflow supporting new product development, this is the sort of activity that we support our clients on a day-to-day basis. We’re working with them hand-in-hand. We’re collaborating. We’re pushing them to do better. They’re pushing us to do better, and we assist our clients in navigating that journey to not hit the dead bodies to avoid disruption in the new product launch timeline, which is one of the biggest challenges in any product. It’s getting to market on time, setting a date, and reducing any sort of expansion of that time period. That is what we do. That’s what we love.

Speaker 1 (12:21):

And that’s really why we’re here. We’re strong advocates. We’ve seen the power of changing the paradigm by developing and manufacturing products in this way. We’ve seen the benefits of that. And so we’re strong advocates and we’re also passionate as Brian’s saying, we’re passionate about it. So we’re really happy to be guides, if you want to call it that, to help others be able to experience the same sort of benefits and serve the market in unique ways. And that’s what we’re doing with DI Labs, is we’re supporting customers, clients, in that way.

Brian (13:00):

If you’re a product owner, if you’re a product manager, if you’re a business owner and you’re navigating this development journey today, or you’re curious about it and how additive can support your efforts in launching your product, we encourage you to reach out. We’re very curious. We love exploring new opportunities. Even if it’s a call to do an introductory direction, is the right thing happening? We tend to be able to scope out projects rapidly and provide direction in the early phases. So please reach out. We’d be happy to hear from you and support you on your project.