I never realized that 20 years in R&D would take a turn into the school curriculum industry, but that’s one of the great things about inventing. When you invent something, usually there are lots of additional uses that come your way when you’re successful. 

We’ve been hard at work for over a year developing a new curriculum to help high school students understand how things are made in this world. After running it by about 45 teachers, principals and superintendents during an in-service in Inventionland, we know we’re on the right track. The curriculum was well received, and getting their help and input to make additional improvements is invaluable.

It turns out that the process of developing a product is really very similar to developing curriculum. First, you do your pre-development work, identify the needs of the marketplace, brainstorm out a solution, then work through a series of concept models until you eventually get the direction that seems best. Then you put forth a great deal of effort to build the finished product, or curriculum in this case, which then gets reviewed and tested prior to product launch.

In today’s curriculum environment, teachers are finding it more and more difficult to capture the imaginations of young people. Our project-based curriculum will enable students to be actively involved in the process of developing new inventions.

By having students go through the sequence of successful products on store shelves, they can see how the development process works and can get an overall picture in their mind that functions as a “how to” map, which builds a belief system in young people. Once you see how a process can be applied to an idea you see it isn’t magic – it isn’t unorthodox guesswork; it is a process you can apply to any invention to get it developed.
 
Currently we’re working with state and local (and soon, federal) representatives on making sure the next generation grasps one of the most basic roots of our economy for the last 200 years – how inventors build the economic model of the U.S. I hope that we’re able to do our part, so that we can continue to lead the world toward the innovation frontier.

It seems amazing to me – We invent a line of packages that enable the consumer to easily try on a motorcycle helmet in the store without taking it out of the box, and it is so well received that now all the motorcycle helmets in Wal-Mart are the ones in our packages!

Well, it’s happened again – Just when I was getting over the shock of replacing all the helmets in Wal-Mart, another grand-slam homer gets smacked out of the ball park!

We did development work for the same company in the automotive seat cushion area. As a result, the company landed 12 more products in Wal-Mart and, once again, knocked its competitor off the retail giant’s shelves.

It just seems too good to be true – not only will we be collecting royalties on all the helmets Wal-Mart sells, now we will be collecting on all the seat cushions they sell, too. It’s a royalty bonanza!

Besides that, it’s just wonderful to go to stores and see our big, blue “D” on the products and packages that we have created. So, the next time you’re shopping, turn over some packages and look for the big, blue “D” – you’re sure to find it!

Regarding the current economic situation, Rahm Emanuel said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Whether or not this is good government policy is debatable; but nothing could be truer in the field of New Product Development.

At Davison, we are seeing more new product acquisitions and licensing right now than we have in over a year. That’s because many corporations are seeking to be more innovative so they have more to offer than their competitors during the economic downturn.

For anyone who’s ever gone to retail buyer meetings, you already know the first thing buyers ask is, “What’s new?” We’re thrilled that is the foremost question because our corporate clients are ready with answers. They are perceived as companies of innovation when they license new products from us.

The word “stimulus” is thrown around again and again from a government perspective, but it also has significance from a retail perspective. In other words, retailers want to provide consumers with some stimulus, such as the opportunity to see and purchase cutting-edge new products when walking down the aisles of their stores.

When we start seeing orders for 90,000 Party Travelers and thousands of Meatball Bakers (ideas of individual clients that we converted into licensed products) right out of the gate, that is a major stimulus going on!

Retailers and marketers are looking for innovative new products that will help them capture market share. In other words, “out with the old and in with the new.” Everyone seems to be up for change right now, and that’s a breath of fresh air when you’re in the new product business.