A Case Study in Product Improvement

Updated: Dec 9, 2021

A large, global manufacturing company was experiencing a product issue that they

estimated was costing them $11 million annually in product repairs and maintenance. They

wanted to develop modifications to their existing product that would not only solve this

issue, but would generate new value through 1) marketable improvements, and 2)

protectable solutions.

The team wanted to find actionable solutions fast, so through a half-day custom Innovation

Works® recipe, this company was able to leverage knowledge from engineers and sales/

marketing experts to focus on rapidly producing numerous solutions.

Working in small teams, participants collaborated to develop, refine and pitch their best

ideas. Teams then took these initial concepts through additional iteration cycles using the

same innovation process.

“This experience, which allowed cross-functional teams to rapidly generate solutions,

ultimately produced seven concepts that were sent to the company’s patent attorneys. The

process generated the marketable and protectable improvements we were looking for, and

the team had fun.”

- Senior Staff Engineer

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