Turning Ideas into Innovations

Great ideas often stay as just an idea unless they are taken through important stages in the process of innovation, which will transform your idea into a manufacturable and marketable item. Each person and idea is different, and requires a custom approach. We will discuss with you which of the following steps might be applicable in order to help get your product to market:

• Initial Feasibility Assessment
• Design & Development Assistance
• Producing Prototypes & Models
• Market Testing
• IP Protection Strategies
• Presentation & Packaging
• Identifying a Manufacturer
• Low Volume Orders to Get You Started

See more detail on these steps below:

Initial Feasibility Assessment

Before you spend hard earned dollars on any development work, we can sit down with you and find answers to question such as:

• Is the product likely to work in the way I intended?
• What will it look like?
• Who will buy it?
• What will they pay?
• How will I sell it?

Armed with this knowledge, you can then confidently assess whether you progress to the next stage.

Design & Development Assistance

Depending on whether you have a sketch on a napkin, or a working prototype, we can assist you to:

• Refine the design,
• Produce specifications and drawings, and
• Find an innovative way to produce what you need.

With a good quality set of specifications, you’ll know that your product can be made to the right standard every time. As the owner of the design, you need to ensure that your product meets local Australian standards. We can assist you in this process so that you have confidence in your product’s safety. At this stage it’s worth considering if you might ever sell your product overseas. If so, it’s good practice to make sure your product meets, or can be easily changed to meet other international standards. This will help you to avoid a complete redesign of the product if you expand your business later.

Producing Prototypes & Models

Before investing in production moulds or tooling, we have some quick and inexpensive ways of producing mockups or prototypes, which will allow you to confirm your design is on the right track. In cases where we have done 3D CAD drawings, we can take advantage of the latest advances in 3D Printing to produce life size and in some cases, complete working items that you can hold in your hand. These can be particularly useful in the next stage of Market Testing.

Market Testing

The best product in the world is nothing without some form of distribution sales channel, to get your product in front of paying customers. One way to quickly access mass distribution is through direct approaches to the national buyers of retail chains. We have a direct marketing option, which we can tailor to your needs. Taking input from you, we will identify and make a pitch to key buying personnel. You may wish to include some international buyers into the process, from the US or Europe, in order to access larger or more finely targeted markets. Through tapping their knowledge of the buying habits of their customer base, you will have the potential for access to high volume sales channels, plus valuable feedback on how well the market will receive your product.

IP Protection Strategies

Nothing will ever prevent someone from copying your idea, but there are plenty of good practice steps you can take to discourage it, minimise the chances of it happening it and prevent it from continuing if it does occur. At our first meeting, we can provide a Non Disclosure Agreement for us to both sign, or we are happy to sign yours. We pride ourselves on keeping your information confidential. At this point we will discuss Patents, Trademarks and Design Registrations with you and offer some affordable options to take out the protection that suits your needs and budget. Before we hand over any of your design to a factory, we often get them to sign a custom Non Disclosure Agreement. It’s important that it is drafted in the language of the country you are working in, in order to make it enforceable under their legal system. There are some additional steps we can take to protect your product by carefully choosing which components are made in which location. Some customers will choose to retain one key component of their manufacturing in Australia, while others are happy to split the product into separate parts, made in different offshore factories. The product can then be assembled in a third party trusted warehouse, or back in Australia. Whatever methods you choose, we will work with you to find a level of IP protection that you feel comfortable with and which allows you to operate safely in the markets you choose.

Presentation & Packaging for Retail

Through our network of industrial and graphic designers, we can assist with how your product is presented and whether it needs barcodes, blister packs or display units, so you can have an end product that looks great on retail shelves.

Low Volume Orders to Get You Started

We specialise in finding the right factory to work with, based on your initial projected order size. This is particularly relevant for innovations, to avoid the situation of having a large amount of stock with nowhere to sell it.

Identifying a Manufacturer

Once all of the above is sorted out, it’s time to look for a reliable manufacturer. We have a portfolio of factories that we have worked with in Australia and across Asia. If we need specialist skillset that we haven’t accessed yet, we can search for a good match for you and your product. Click here for more details on Affordable Manufacturing Options or contact us today.