Companies need “new” today more than ever because all the older products are “used” and resold again and again on e-Bay and other sites.

“Innovation” and “new” keep companies fresh with something to sell that consumers can’t get anywhere else. It’s no wonder that we’re licensing so many new products nowadays.

Several friends of mine own large companies who have been juggling the impact of the Internet on the products they sell. One such company sells paintball guns. They’re the highest quality guns in the world, and yet sales have been declining because so many people are trading their paintball guns instead of buying new ones.

In an effort to have something to market, they’ve come out with their own line of less expensive paintball guns with variations on the same technology that is in more expensive guns – it has led to an expansion of their company’s business in the lower priced market.

The key is to come up with something new and better, so consumers demand it. And while there will always be a trader’s market for people who don’t mind buying used and dealing with the problems that come with used items, by focusing on innovation and new products, you protect your company’s vitality in the marketplace.

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!