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Smaller, Better, Smarter, Faster. How High-Performance Motor Control Applications are the Product Solution You’ve Been Looking For
Posted: March 17, 2021It's now possible to build smart ESCs (IoT-enabled Electronic Speed Controls) and brushless DC motors that can handle more than twice this many amps and generate up to 20 units of horsepower — all in a product that fits in the palm of your hand. Moreover, these motors far outperform those found in the fastest stock vehicles, going from 0 to 60 in 1.6 seconds and pushing speeds upwards of 170 MPH. (Move over, Tesla.)
Market Demand and Sales are Not the Same
How to Successfully Translate the First Into the Second
Posted: March 3, 2021
Before developing any product, it's essential to determine the difference between whether your target market will view your product as a need vs. a want. This question needs to be addressed from several angles, which we'll explore in this piece:
1. We'll discuss the distinction between wants and needs. 2. We'll examine the role of product development in successfully translating the first into the second. 3. We'll look at the sales and marketing piece of the equation.
Midwest Manufacturing:
Why it’s a Winning Bet for Your Business
Posted: February 24, 2021
You’ve spent months or even years developing your product, and now it’s time to start looking for a manufacturing partner. Or maybe you haven’t yet begun to develop your product and are looking for an integrative partner who can take you from conception to launch, handling everything in between.
The search for a manufacturing partner will need to include considerations of cost, quality control, and scope of experience. It will also need to include considerations of technological investment, ease of communication, and site access. Let’s look at how each fits together in an integrative model and why a midwest manufacturing partner can be an incredibly advantageous choice.
Wholes vs. Heaps: Do You Know the Difference?
Posted: February 10, 2021We’ve all heard the expression that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” but what exactly does that mean, and why is it crucial to understand for successful product development?
A “whole” is different from a “totality.” A totality is a collection of parts (a “heap”), whereas a “whole” refers to the relationships and synergy between them. A heap is a box of puzzle pieces; a whole is what happens when you put them together. We all intuitively understand this, but in practice, putting the puzzle pieces together to create the bigger picture can be challenging for even the smartest of people.
Cyber Attacks in Manufacturing – Here’s How to Protect Your Company
Posted: February 3, 2021Manufacturers are the number one industry target for cyber attacks. Is your product and company data safe? That’s a question you need to ask since the 2020 State of Encrypted Attacks identified manufacturing as the industry most vulnerable to malicious browser breaches. (It found that 38.6% of attacks were targeted at this sector.)
Manufacturing’s unique vulnerability lies in its tendency toward fragmentation and technological obsolescence. Fragmentation refers to the fact that the various facilities of single manufacturers are rarely on the same page. More often than not, each facility is using different systems and IT infrastructures with no coordinated oversight, integrative processes, or policy enforcement between them.
How Predictive Maintenance Makes for Better, Faster, More Cost-Effective Product Development
Posted: January 27, 2021The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or what we know as Industry 4.0, has been barreling down the tracks and picking up speed for more than a decade. But the digital transformation accelerated by COVID-19 has turned the locomotive of Industry 4.0 into a high-speed bullet train. For product developers, deploying the most competitive combination of digital technologies is now the price of entry for the race to success. Among these technologies, predictive maintenance plays an essential yet often underestimated role. Let’s take a deeper dive into how essential this role can be.
Product Managers and the Need for Data, Design, and Complexity Management Experience
Posted: January 21, 2021Product managers have always worn multiple hats to bring together the many pieces of the larger product development puzzle. But as the digital world continues to pick up speed, the role of a product manager is complexifying. Product managers must focus on more than execution and timely delivery, striking an optimal balance between day-to-day product development processes and non-product related tasks.
Top Three Technology and Operations Trends in 2021
Posted: January 7, 2021As companies navigate for market position in 2021, they’ll need to focus on exploiting three rapidly growing trends. Let’s look at how understanding these trends can help your company capitalize on market demand and harness disruptive change to drive growth.
Agile: The Path to Antifragility
Posted: December 30, 2020Nobody needs to be told that 2020 has been a year that will go down as one of the most disruptive, unpredictable, and pivotal in history. In what can reasonably be anticipated as a new normal of unprecedented risk, leaders need a new paradigm for not only withstanding disruptive change but benefitting from it. This new framework may be best understood through the concept of antifragility.
