Celebrating innovation under one of the most demanding product development schedules a design firm can ever face
ABC's hit show 'American Inventor' is one of the most compressed product development timelines a design firm may ever face. The development cycle starts with being selected only hours before participating on the show and ends in just 3.5 weeks.
"We were given a two sentence description for each of the different inventions the day before we met the inventors. From that, we created concept sketches of what we thought the different product ideas might be. We even went so far as to rough out some CAD models to start thinking about manufacturing approaches," said Tim Nugent, Pulse Global founder and partner.
"When we met the six different finalist teams the next day we presented our company's product development capabilities. The natural dynamics we had with some of the inventors caused us to stand out from the many different design firms competing for contracts that day."
"We were selected by two different teams to finalize design concepts for 'The Claw' bicycle storage mechanism and the 'Wrap-a-Way' gift wrapping station into production ready prototypes in just 3.5 weeks. The time compression was crazy."
Winning two contracts for the show doubled the demands upon Pulse Global and the eyes of the American TV audience were watching. In order to meet the show's demanding timeline, Pulse Global's other founder and partner, Alan Fujii, switched from using a history-based 3D CAD system to the Dynamic Modeling based approach of CoCreate OneSpace Modeling.
"Speed was required to do the show and I don't think we could have done what was needed using a history-based 3D CAD system -- it just takes too much time," said Fujii.
Fast, innovative design is what Pulse Global offers to their customers and 'American Inventor' put the design firm to test.
"Everything is about speed and how we compress the timetable for our customers. Key to our success is the ability to move and evolve an idea quickly. So in regards to the 'American Inventor' show, one product needed a facelift in 24 hours. We had originally scheduled 4 days for doing the 3D design but I knew that I could get the CAD work done overnight and buy more time for prototyping," said Nugent.
Evolving an idea quickly is critical to the innovation process, allowing companies to rapidly learn and respond within new product development. That comes from having the ability to rapidly perform multiple iterative design cycles within the development schedule.
"In order to be an effective source for innovation we have to be able to explore a multitude of ideas quickly, which requires tools having the ability to move fast," said Nugent.
'American Inventor' is a true test of a design firm's capability to perform under pressure while celebrating the spirit of innovation.
"One of the great things about American Inventor was that it allowed us to show how fluid our development process is," said Nugent.
"We did so many things in parallel to hit the timeline. Some people would be working on the design to finish mechanical components. Others would be taking CAD data to make parts on our in-house manufacturing equipment. While others would be creating quick prototypes to validate the design, as yet another would be creating the tooling."
"The timeline for American Inventor was so compressed that it really highlighted the strengths of OneSpace Modeling. We couldn't have done this without CoCreate. The 'American Inventor' experience made me a believer," said Fujii.
To learn more about Pulse Global, visit: http://www.pulse-global.com To read full story, visit: http://www.cocreate.com/rd/press
About Pulse Global
At Pulse Global, we innovate products and brands for our clients, that not only exceed the bottom line, but inherently raise the bar on brand experience.
Pulse Global represents a teamed partnership of award winning designers and engineers whom originate pioneering solutions for companies ranging from start up to Fortune 500.
As a design consultancy located in Southern California, we're on the cutting edge of design trends influenced by: Fashion, Architecture, Transportation, Consumer, and activities of lifestyle.
For more information, please visit: http://www.pulse-global.com.
About CoCreate(R)
CoCreate Software is for leaders in high-tech electronics and machinery, and other innovative companies facing intense time to market pressure. Many of the world's best known product development companies depend on CoCreate in order to achieve unprecedented speed and flexibility.
CoCreate's 3rd generation approach to product lifecycle management (3G PLM) streamlines the process of planning, developing and manufacturing products. As the world's #1 provider of Dynamic Modeling based software, CoCreate is the ideal platform for lean product development.
You can find CoCreate's award winning software, resellers, and services in more than 30 countries and on the Web at http://www.cocreate.com.
CoCreate and OneSpace are trademarks of CoCreate Software GmbH.
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http://www.cocreate.com/
http://www.pulse-global.com/