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4D Products ‘iTENS’ project was recently featured in the Medilink NW ‘update’ publication.

“New products could be set to appear on the shelves of Boots thanks to the highly successful innovation day designed by Medilink NW to offer enterprising businesses a unique opportunity to meet managers from the prestigious blue chip organisation.

Held in Nottingham in partnership with Medilink East Midlands, the event provided an opportunity for delegates to hear directly from the Boots team about their focus in consumer healthcare in the short to medium term.

A number of businesses had also applied for 1-to-1 sessions with Boots staff and six from the North West were selected. One of these was start-up company, iTENS Ltd, which presented an innovative technology in the field of pain management. Medilink NW is closely involved with the company with an advisory role, acting as non executive director of its board, sitting alongside representatives from majority shareholders 4D Products Ltd.

The new technology originated from an internal project at 4D’s product design studio and the company is currently applying for further grant funding for a one year collaborative Research & Development phase, bringing together expertise in material science, physiotherapy, and design.

The Boots team was impressed by the innovative concept of the system, and expressed an interest in retailing the range of products when they become available.

Said iTENS and 4D Products director Iain McCall

‘The Medilink-organised event was a great opportunity to get face-to-face with a market leading organisation. We were at a relatively early stage in the R&D process, but were able to sit around a table with influential members of the Boots development team, who were very positive about our technology and full of useful advice.’

iTENS was invited to another meeting with Boots in May 2010 where they met with members of the OTC medicines team and updated them on progress since the initial meeting. Again, the feedback was really positive, and some useful suggestions were made regarding the commercial strategy moving forward. Ongoing communication with the Boots team will allow their expertise to be accessed to aid the development of what they have described as a ‘gem of an idea’.”

James was recently asked to contribute some thoughts on clients and the designers relationship with clients. 12 years Design Consultancy experience informed the article which appears in Design Week 5th August 2010.

Over the years I’ve worked with a variety of clients from one-man bands to large multi national organizations. Here I will share some of my thoughts and experiences of working with such a variety of clients.

Regardless of size and experience the most important factor to building a successful relationship with our clients is, in my opinion, the personal side of things, the relationship between you and them. In my experience people like dealing with people, and people they like, trust and feel share the same objectives.

Whether you’re working with an individual who has saved up their hard earned cash to develop their idea or, you’re working with a board of directors from a large wealthy company, your client needs to feel they trust you to be diligent and provide value for money. Even more so in the current economic climate.

Product Design in particular is a very personal service, you’re not selling a physical product or a proven output, you’re selling your ability to create something that maybe doesn’t exist.  You have to work hard to demonstrate your capability give confidence and assure people you have the personal abilities to see it through, deliver the goods so to speak. Funding Product Development and innovation is a tough call for many clients, with the greatest respect novice clients sometimes don’t appreciate the effort or value attached to the design process itself, “Can’t you just draw it?”. Other clients who have been through the process before, or have a little more experience appreciate that if you allow time for a process and you facilitate it with time, money and resource you will no doubt produce something of value. So long as you specify what it is your looking to develop in the first place.

A specification is key to your engagement with clients, as is managing expectations. Even the most experienced clients can get excited during the development process and request extras, “ If we could do that as well that would be great.”, maybe not realizing the implications of introducing, developing, testing and realising the new features. As product designers we have a duty to our clients to give them the best service possible, be flexible, innovative and commercial. A duty to ourselves to develop and push ourselves forward, continue to innovate and add value to our business. And to educate our clients that investing in Design is a worthwhile exercise and allow time to develop and progress.

In my experience retaining clients is far easier than winning new ones in today’s world. We’ve recently engaged with a reasonably sized, well-experienced company. After what seems a lifetime of chasing, we eventually got the opportunity to submit a proposal for a project. After several months of careful deliberation and negotiating on their part, they embarked on a development project, quite cautiously it must be said. The project ran like clockwork with the initial investigation and conceptual stages producing some fascinating results, with time to develop and engineer these ideas properly. The result is a product that the client is really excited about, they feel they have contributed hand in hand to its development, and their initial feedback from the market couldn’t be better. As a result we’re now discussing several more jobs with the same client. Now they have the confidence, see the value and understand the process more, we’re valued more, respected more and resourced better to continue the work and help our client reach their ambitions within their industry.

Internal design and engineering teams are an interesting client in their own right too. Some employees welcome input from external consultants, some react in the opposite way and I can only conclude they feel threatened by the presence of another that is effectively taking work away from them. As a consultant you have the job of converting negativity into positivity, get people on your side, prove to them you are capable and can make their life easier, take away problems they have and ultimately pull together to deliver a better solution that can build the value of the organization.

A situation we’ve experienced more often in recent times is one where clients are prepared to share equity and/or pay a royalty later on if we can design their product for free or for a reduced fee. Several independent situations have gone something like “We’ve spent all our budget on IP and can’t afford to pay for the design.”. Our response to this is clear, if you cant afford to design it you certainly can’t afford to manufacture and promote it.

I can recall a project where a similar situation arose; this particular client had a Patent in place based on their design. They had spent years in the shed perfecting what they thought was the best offering possible. They raised some money and got a patent, all was good, they were going to be rich…. We were tasked with taking their hand made models and producing manufacturing data for mass production. At an initial meeting they demonstrated the product to help us understand what it was, how it worked etc. I recall a conversation where we suggested, “what about if you do it this way?”, “Oh no we can’t do it that way, that’s not covered by our Patent!”, “But won’t your competitors do that which will result in a product easier to use, and cheaper to manufacture?” Silence. The resulting conversation lead to a redesign of the entire system, another Patent, and a well sewn up product offering, now in manufacture. Again education to the process is key to make sure you are developing, protecting and manufacturing the best product you can to deliver. Did I have a duty to say what I said to my client, upset him for a bit then develop a better solution? Or keep my mouth shut, go with it then find out he’s out of business. Its not just about Design, politics, budget, its about a relationship of trust, straight talking and delivering what you say and hopefully you’ll do this time and time again and be in business to share these experiences.

4D Products attended a recent Liverpool Chamber of Commerce event at the top of the landmark Beetham tower in Liverpool.

A 7.30am start for breakfast networking in a privately owned penthouse suite on the 38^th floor of the tallest building in Liverpool. The property is owned by one of the developers responsible for the Beetham towers in Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool, and was opened for a small group of business owners and members from Chambers of Commerce.

A rare opportunity to view the city from such a height, four floors above the public galleries at the Panoramic restaurant. Even on an overcast day the view was amazing and you really get a feel for the relationship the city has with the Mersey.

Are you looking for funding for your business or creative product development project? Take a look at the following link which may be of interest.

http://www.creative-choices.co.uk/find-funding/1099/

Iain visited the Media Factory at The University of Central Lancashire

4D Products recently gained a permanent presence at Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus. We have made connections with innovative businesses working on campus and are active in the regular networking and pitching events. It is a great community to be involved with and will raise our profile in the North West and beyond.

“Daresbury SIC General Manager, John Leake said: “The surge of activity in the first quarter of 2010 is typical of the amount of interest the Campus generates within the high-tech community. It is the ready access to Daresbury SIC’s collaborative networks, the Campus’ ability to effectively assist the commercialisation of science and innovation, and the fantastic environment, that continues to strengthen Daresbury’s place on the regional and national map.””

We look forward to delivering innovative design and development of new products during this exciting time.

http://www.daresburysic.co.uk/news/edid=4729

4D Products was represented at the Re:Think Product Design lectures recently organised by Liverpool John Moores University.

Experienced designers from the likes of Seymour Powell, Black + Blum, and Berg gave an insight into how they communicate through product design in todays multi media connected society. All kept in check by the editor of Design Week, Linda Relph-Knight. It was interesting to swap stories with the delegates over a glass of wine on the roof terrace overloking a sun drenched Liverpool, and discover that consultants face the same issues regardless of size or location.

4D Products get a mention in Design Week magazine for recent innovative product development work.

4D Products visited the MedTEC exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. A great event to keep up to date with new products and services specifically relevant to the medical device design sector. We uncovered some great new suppliers for microfluidics and  sterile packaging, whilst catching up with some old contacts in injection moulding and rapid prototyping. A 4D designed vacuum cast prototype was also spotted on the Paragon stand!