Montie Design Blog » Product Design http://blog.montie.com Mechanical Design & Product Development Services Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:29:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Montie Design Expands Product Realization Toolset with Addition of Rotational Molding http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-expands-product-realization-toolset-with-addition-of-rotational-molding/ http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-expands-product-realization-toolset-with-addition-of-rotational-molding/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:29:36 +0000 dave http://blog.montie.com/?p=580 (Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, has expanded its product realization toolset with the purchase of a rotational molder. The new equipment allows the firm to produce prototypes of small rotationally molded parts and follow up with limited production runs of client parts.

“We’re known for our experience in product design and prototyping of metal-based products across a multitude of industries, and these additions to our in-house workshop will enable us serve our clients in a new and valuable way,” said Montie Roland, company president.

Providing design flexibility, rotomolding allows for the creation of prototypes with consistent wall thickness, strength and durability, stress-free parts, and low initial tooling costs. Rotationally molded products are highly sought-after in a wide range of industries such as agricultural and industrial; material-handling; and recreational and sporting goods.

Montie Design has just completed its first rotationally molded prototype for an anti-fog device used in snowmobile helmets. The parts were recently sent off for client testing and evaluation.

“The ability to quickly and inexpensively create prototypes using the rotomolding process opens up new design directions for client projects; there are very few companies in the U.S. that offer rotomolding on a prototype basis. Initially, we embarked on this addition to our services as a way to serve one client, but the lack of vendors that are capable of using the rotomolding process to prototype parts indicates an under-served market,” Roland explained.

The Montie Design toolset offers core competencies in mechanical engineering, industrial design, prototyping and product commercialization. The firm is active in numerous design and engineering groups and organizations throughout North Carolina as well as the North Carolina Defense Business Association.

Additionally, Montie Design is hosting a Winter 2012 Student Design Contest for aspiring product designers in community colleges, four-year colleges, or high schools from North Carolina and Virginia. Contest participants will be tasked with developing outdoor, shooting, hunting, archery, and camping products.

For more information on Montie Design, visit www.montie.com.

About Montie Design
Montie Design is an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm with core competencies in mechanical engineering and industrial design. Implementing a collaborative approach to partnering with clients, Montie Design balances vision with usability in realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Southeast’s innovation hub, the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, with its wealth of industry-leading technology, resources and customers. For more information, visit www.montie.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-expands-product-realization-toolset-with-addition-of-rotational-molding/feed/ 0 Montie Design Announces Winter 2012 Student Design Contest http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-announces-winter-2012-student-design-contest/ http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-announces-winter-2012-student-design-contest/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:28:35 +0000 dave http://blog.montie.com/?p=578 (Spring Creek & Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, today announced it will be holding a Winter 2012 Student Design Contest for aspiring product designers in community colleges, four-year colleges, or high schools from North Carolina and Virginia. Initial submissions are due on Feb 1, 2012 with final submissions due on Feb 29, with full details available online at www.montie.com/contest.

“We’ve had tremendous interns at Montie Design through the years, with several coming on board after participating in previous student design contests,” Montie Roland, president of Montie Design, said.

The firm hosted its first design contest in 2011, helping students to build their portfolio and gain invaluable real-world experience working with professional product design engineers.

Contest participants will be tasked with developing products that fit the mold of existing ones in the Montie Gear line of outdoor, shooting, hunting, archery, and camping products. This year’s focus is on gear related to camp cooking, washing or equipment storage and organization. Montie Gear products share the traits of being extremely high quality, high performance, long life and very portable.

In addition to cash prizes of $500 and $250, winning designers will be considered for a summer internship in Spring Creek, N.C., during which time they will help move their design to production and train the local workforce to manufacture their product. Winners will receive a two-year commission on any products that go to market within two years of the submission date, even if they are not a first- or second-place winner.

“One of the unique things we are doing with this particular contest is laying the groundwork for developing manufacturing in the greater Spring Creek area,” Roland said, explaining that Montie Gear products are tested at the nearby Troublesome Gap location, an area he is familiar with.

“I grew up around Asheville, and met fantastic people from Marshall, Mars Hill and Hot Springs. There is a workforce-in-waiting there that we’d like to help bring some business to,” he said.

Roland, who recently participated in a manufacturing roundtable sponsored by Capital Area Workforce Development Board, has continually hosted educational Lunch and Learns at Montie Design to share best practices in product design and engineering and regularly speaks at product design events throughout North Carolina. He is also an officer in the Carolinas Chapter of the IDSA.

For information on the Winter 2012 Student Design Contest, visit www.montie.com/contest or email montie@montie.com. To learn more about Montie Gear visit www.montiegear.com.

About Montie Design
Montie Design is an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm with core competencies in mechanical engineering and industrial design. Implementing a collaborative approach to partnering with clients, Montie Design balances vision with usability in realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Southeast’s innovation hub, the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, with its wealth of industry-leading technology, resources and customers. For more information, visit www.montie.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2012/01/30/montie-design-announces-winter-2012-student-design-contest/feed/ 0 Montie Design’s Summer of Design Comes to An End – Part 2 http://blog.montie.com/2011/10/08/montie-designs-summer-of-design-comes-to-an-end-part-2/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/10/08/montie-designs-summer-of-design-comes-to-an-end-part-2/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:14:40 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=516 Earlier in the year we sponsored a student design contest for students in NC and Virginia. Josh Little was the first place winner. Josh is an Industrial Design student at NCSU. It worked out that Josh was able to spend the first part of the summer commercializing his entry, a locking rack for assault rifles. His design allows owners to safetly exhibit their rifles while keeping them secure and out of the hands of unauthorized users.

autolever_450px wide

We don’t have a prototype to show you yet but the document below helps explain where we are headed with the design.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/10/08/montie-designs-summer-of-design-comes-to-an-end-part-2/feed/ 0 Cutting the New Montie Gear Conference Table with a Water Jet http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/26/cutting-the-new-montie-gear-conference-table-with-a-water-jet/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/26/cutting-the-new-montie-gear-conference-table-with-a-water-jet/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:07:11 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=484

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/26/cutting-the-new-montie-gear-conference-table-with-a-water-jet/feed/ 0 Getting Feedback from Customers http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/25/getting-feedback-from-customers/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/25/getting-feedback-from-customers/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:27:12 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=455 The landscape of the average person is a very connected one.  As consumers, we are constantly bombarded with requests for our time and attention.  Surveys and focus groups only capture a sliver of the wealth of ideas and opinion that your customers already have.  Customers have amazingly valuable opinions and ideas for improving your product and customer service.  Maybe customer A has an idea for your next ground breaking, earth shattering product.  The dilemma is how do you engage your customers in a cost-effective manner.

Napkin Labs has risen to the challenge.  They are offering a service that provides a collaborative framework for customer engagement.  It even rewards participants using a point system.  Why not give your customers the opportunity to become super customers in the eyes of their fellow customers.  I like the idea.  Here are a couple of videos that describe the Napkin Labs approach.

Introduction to the Napkin Labs Way

 

Tour of the Napkin Labs User Interface and Overview of the Workflow

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/08/25/getting-feedback-from-customers/feed/ 0 Dennis Johnson of Stowaway Speaks Innovation http://blog.montie.com/2011/05/06/dennis-johnson-of-stowaway-speaks-innovation/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/05/06/dennis-johnson-of-stowaway-speaks-innovation/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 14:41:27 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=391 Dennis Johnson is the man bringing the Stowaway Attic lift to the market (and a Montie Design client).  Here is his company’s creation:

This morning he had a great addition to the standard definition of innovation.  He said:

Innovation is not giving people what they asked for.  It is delighting people with something they never dreamed of.  Dennis Johnson, Stowaway, 2011

Its a great way to think about measuring the effectiveness of your innovation by the results. Never discount the “wonder” factor in your work or design.

Have a great day!
Montie

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/05/06/dennis-johnson-of-stowaway-speaks-innovation/feed/ 0 Test, Test, Then Test Again http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/07/test-test-then-test-again/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/07/test-test-then-test-again/#comments Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:01:09 +0000 semonna http://blog.montie.com/?p=371 Product Design 101

Here at Montie Design, we believe it is important to test, test, and retest a design. This process allows us to identify, and modify potential issues in a way unlike traditional sketching or modeling. Michael Laut of Laut Design said it best, “There’s just no simple way to tell what collides, pinches, abrades, stretches, etc without actually feeling what it’s like to use the product yourself.”

We couldn’t agree more. The evaluation stage plays a pivotal role in our ability to produce high quality products for our customers. Shown below is an example of a collaborative project with Laut Design. Here, the shooter’s posture, aim, and balance are paramount. Thus, we are testing a rifle setup on a flat surface to ensure that the preceding points are addressed.

Montie Design Product Design 101

We’d love to hear from you. What is the most important aspect of product design?

 

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/07/test-test-then-test-again/feed/ 0 Montie Design Announces Participation in Major Defense Industry Expo http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/06/montie-design-announces-participation-in-major-defense-industry-expo/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/06/montie-design-announces-participation-in-major-defense-industry-expo/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:41:46 +0000 dave http://blog.montie.com/?p=368 Montie Design has announced its participation in the First Annual Symposium and Expo April 19-20 sponsored by the North Carolina Defense Business Association (NCDBA). The state’s inaugural tradeshow of its kind is expected to draw thousands of innovators and defense industry vendors to the world-famous Pinehurst Resort, along with numerous high-profile, influential speakers such as North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco, and Lt. General Frank Helmick, the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg commander.

Montie Design will be exhibiting at the event and is sponsoring one of the door prizes for attendees. Based in Fayetteville, the NCDBA represents businesses with interests in military contracting and supporting North Carolina’s military installations.

The Montie Gear line by Montie Design showcases the firm’s institutional knowledge of shooting and outdoor needs with products like the AR-Rest and the X-Rest.  These products are designed to exceed expected performance levels in a military or civilian environment.

Montie Design has also developed an RFID troubleshooting tool called the RFID Detector, which has been sold to clients such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Small enough to fit into a shirt pocket or clip to an ID badge, the RFID detector enables users and installers to detect whether an RFID reader is actually sending out a signal. RFID tags are growing in popularity as replacements for barcode tags due to their ability to be read at a distance without contact. Every RFID tag attached to a product contains an integrated circuit and antenna, and is dependent upon the functionality of a corresponding RFID reader to effectively read and record the information encoded on the tag.

For information about the NCDBA and the April Symposium and Expo, visit www.ncdba.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/04/06/montie-design-announces-participation-in-major-defense-industry-expo/feed/ 0 Great Way to Look at Design http://blog.montie.com/2011/03/05/great-way-to-look-at-design/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/03/05/great-way-to-look-at-design/#comments Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:52:11 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=358 Sometimes design isn’t about studios and renderings.  Sometimes design is about letting the function dictate the form and then going from there.  In this video, the custom car building describes how he does just that.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  The end result was one really great car!

Cheers,
Montie

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/03/05/great-way-to-look-at-design/feed/ 0 Active Discussion Breaks Out at Lunch and Learn http://blog.montie.com/2011/02/03/active-discussion-breaks-out-at-montie-design-lunch-and-learn/ http://blog.montie.com/2011/02/03/active-discussion-breaks-out-at-montie-design-lunch-and-learn/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:56:29 +0000 dave http://blog.montie.com/?p=319

Jeff Smith presents “Who’s Your Product? Putting the Right Name on What You Sell”

Wednesday, February 2 saw business owners, marketing professionals, and product design peers engage in an energized breakout session at the second Montie Design/RTP Product Development Guild Lunch and Learn of 2011.

Following on the heels of a successful kickoff Lunch and Learn on military contracting featuring Barry Cox of Wyle Labs (see below), this week’s event turned toward branding with Jeff Smith of Montie Design and Trajectory Business Services. Jeff put forth a step-by-step guide through the product naming process during his presentation, “Who’s Your Product? Putting the Right Name on What You Sell.”

Wednesday's crowd was engaged

Jeff’s presentation actively involved attendees, leading to an energetic post-event discussion focused on utilizing product naming elements to help one of their own who was having a problem settling on a name for a product to reflect its benefits to the end user.

The Lunch and Learn series was developed to connect professionals involved in the technical or business side of designing and producing innovative products and technologies with one another as well as with speakers, who have agreed to share their knowledge, professionalism, and willingness to support entrepreneurial growth. Lunch is provided at each event in addition to plenty of time for networking and discussion before and after each presentation. Proceeds of each Lunch and Learn are donated to Post 7383 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

An audio clip of Jeff Smith sharing insight on product naming can be found here:

Montie_Design_Feb2_Jeff_Smith

Upcoming Lunch and Learns include:

Wed, Feb 16
Raising Capital and Cash Flow Enhancement in the New Economy
Featuring Susan Hasty, BCF, and Phil Apostolico, Guardian Ins.

Wed, Mar 2
Protecting Your Company’s Intellectual Property: Non-disclosure Agreements
Featuring John Slaughter, Moore & Van Allen

Wed, Mar 16
Steps to Increased Sales: Creating a Dependable Sales Funnel
Featuring Pam Cardozo, The Ultimate Sales Connection

Wed, Apr 6
Advantages of Manufacturing with Waterjet
Featuring Al Ely, ADR Hydro-Cut

For information on attending any of these events, email Jeff Smith at Jeff@Montie.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2011/02/03/active-discussion-breaks-out-at-montie-design-lunch-and-learn/feed/ 0 Montie Design President Gives Talk on X-Rest Development and Marketing on 1 Feb http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/21/montie-design-president-gives-talk-on-x-rest-development-and-marketing-on-1-feb/ http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/21/montie-design-president-gives-talk-on-x-rest-development-and-marketing-on-1-feb/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:02:44 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=245 (Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Roland, president of collaborative product design and development firm Montie Design, will be leading the discussion, “X-Rest – The Process of Going from Concept to Consumer” February 1st as part of the RTP Product Development Guild Speaker Series. The event will be hosted at multimedia and mobile messaging firm Tekelec from 11:30 – 1:00 p.m.

The presentation will take attendees on a visual tour through the development process for the X-Rest, a unique portable shooting accessory conceived, designed, and distributed by Montie Design. Since Montie Design began selling the X-Rest in the Spring of 2009, it has seen distribution grow from local to regional to national.

“We felt very strongly that by utilizing our design facility as a learning laboratory to conceptualize, build, market and distribute our own product we could learn where we needed to tighten our process and strengthen our capabilities to better serve clients,” Roland said, adding, “The opportunity to understand first-hand how companies launch new products into the marketplace, and what challenges that brings and how they relate to the design process is invaluable.”

Attendees at the February 1st event will follow Montie Design on its quest to take the X-Rest from concept to market, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the integrated design, public relations and marketing process. Prototypes of the X-Rest critical to the development of a simple product will be on-hand, as will samples of the finished product, to give professionals in the design and product development industry a better understanding of the entire process of getting a product to market..

Designed to meet the needs of all shooters as well as most firearms, the easy-to-carry X-Rest weighs less approximately one pound and disassembles easily in three pieces, fitting neatly into a small carrying case. Unlike conventional bench rests, which are heavy and complex, the X-Rest  — made of sturdy yet lightweight aluminum — provides steady support for different sized long guns ranging from  semi-automatic and bolt action rifles to shotguns, carbines and pistols.

The X-Rest was the second “test” product designed and distributed by Montie Design in 2009, following the firm’s innovative radio frequency identification (RFID) detector card which was released in January and is now being sold throughout the U.S. and seven foreign countries.

Both the RFID detector and the X-Rest are produced in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, using local manufacturers. The event sponsor, the RTP Product Development Guild, is a local group of engineers and designers working together to improve the regional economy.

To register online visit http://xrest.eventbrite.com/. Cost to attend is $15, which covers lunch. A video demonstration of the X-Rest is available online:

http://www.youtube.com/user/montieroland#p/u/3/XeRrmbh7-Vk

For more information visit http://www.rtpproductguild.com.

About Tekelec
Tekelec, a global leader in core multimedia session control, mobile messaging and network intelligence, ensures scalable, secure and highly available communications. The company’s market-leading signaling solutions enable the interworking of different network applications, technologies and protocols, providing a smooth transition to next-generation networks. Tekelec has more than 25 offices around the world serving customers in more than 100 countries, with corporate headquarters located near Research Triangle Park in Morrisville, N.C., U.S.A. For more information, please visit www.tekelec.com.

About Montie Design
Montie Design is a collaborative product design and development firm with core competencies in industrial design, mechanical design and fuzzy front end services. Implementing a client-centric approach in taking products from concept to marketplace, Montie Design balances vision with usability in realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina with access to industry-leading technology, resources and innovative thought.  Visit Montie Design at www.montie.com.

About the RTP Product Development Guild
The RTP Product Development Guild seeks to improve the regional economy in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C. by providing a framework for product developers and startups to work together on products in a collaborative environment. This helps entrepreneurs move products to market that might otherwise languish due to a lack of funding and professional guidance. The Guild accepts applications for products, services or concepts from entrepreneurs, early stage start-ups and corporate spin-offs. More information is available online at www.rtpproductguild.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/21/montie-design-president-gives-talk-on-x-rest-development-and-marketing-on-1-feb/feed/ 0 RTP Design Resources Map is Now Live! http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/05/rtp-design-resources-map-is-now-live/ http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/05/rtp-design-resources-map-is-now-live/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:28 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=232 RTP Product Design Resources Map(Morrisville, N.C.) The RTP Product Development Guild and NC Product Design & Prototyping Co-Op have launched a new interactive map to connect out-of-state business professionals with quality Research Triangle Park-area manufacturing design and production talent.

The RTP Design & Prototyping Resources Map, accessible via www.rtpdesignmap.com, enables visitors to click on business locations highlighted on a visual map of the RTP area or filter product design resources by 34 categories. The results include details on each participating business’ specialty, physical location, contact information and website URL.

“RTP is one of those unique tech-heavy areas throughout the U.S. where you can literally get off a plane, rent a car, and in five minutes be at the front door of any number of companies to support the development, manufacturing, and marketing of a new innovative product,” Montie Roland, president of the RTP Product Development Guild, said.

According to Roland, the map’s development comes from the queries he has been receiving over the past year from entrepreneurs and innovators looking to tap into the RTP area’s well-trained workforce and rich business development resources.

“People contact the Co-Op and the Guild looking for info on professionals who might be able to support their product development needs, but they don’t know who is here and whereabouts they are located,” he said, adding, “When they find out how many are located within a stone’s throw of RDU airport it blows them away.

“The physical representation of the sheer number of sought-after companies on the map helps drive that point home for those unfamiliar with the area,” he said.  “It also shows seasoned engineers where they can find vendors that are often right down the street.”

According to Roland, the map is the only one if its kind in North Carolina.

Launched in late December 2009, the RTP Product Design Resources Map currently has 63 companies listed, representing industry sectors such as product design, rapid prototyping and manufacturers providing much needed parts for products designed by startups. Members of the Guild and Co-Op can get listed for free; non-members can submit listings for a fee of $49 per year.

Founded in 2007, the RTP Product Development Guild is a community of designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, inventors and other professionals devoted to helping the RTP regional economy, clients, members and businesses prosper through technological product innovation. Together with the NC Product Design & Prototyping Co-Op, the Guild has hosted numerous educational and networking events throughout 2009, in addition to an annual Street Faire in September bringing hundreds of attendees and exhibitors together in a relaxing, family friendly atmosphere.

For more information about the Guild or Co-Op visit www.rtpproductguild.com or contact Montie Roland at 919-481-1845.

The RTP Product Development Guild seeks to improve the regional economy in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C. by providing a framework for product developers and startups to work together on products in a collaborative environment. This helps entrepreneurs move products to market that might otherwise languish due to a lack of funding and professional guidance. The Guild accepts applications for products, services or concepts from entrepreneurs, early stage start-ups and corporate spin-offs. More information is available online at www.rtpproductguild.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2010/01/05/rtp-design-resources-map-is-now-live/feed/ 0 Merry Christmas! http://blog.montie.com/2009/12/18/225/ http://blog.montie.com/2009/12/18/225/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:35:58 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=225
Montie Design Update

Wishing You a Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Two thousand and nine has been a year of ups and downs for just about everyone.

We’ve had some successes and challenges.  I would like to thank our clients for your patronage of Montie Design.  I would also like to thank our contributors and staff for helping make those successes happen.

While we were designing products for clients, we were also able to release three Montie Design-branded products this year.  One is an RFID troubleshooting tool.  The other two are shooting rests for rifles, shotguns and pistols.  These products are laboratory for us.  These products give us the opportunity to experience the trials of bring new products to market, which in turn sharpens our skills in helping clients do likewise.

The RFID Detector tool allowed us to release a simple product that has now been sold to users in over seven countries.  When we started the project, I really had no idea that Montie Design would have to become an exporter.

Introducing the X-Rest (lightweight version shown above) required a systematic public relations, sales and marketing campaign.  The experience was such an eye opener that we have put together a presentation about the process we used to design and market the X-Rest.
Of course, testing is an important part of developing any product.  Repeated testing helped us improve the product as we worked through the design process.   It was also a lot of fun.
We’re mostly done with our move to the new office.  Our goal is to be completely settled in by January 1st.  Our new office gives us a significantly bigger shop area, a second conference / focus group room, incoming inspection area and dedicated work areas for projects.  Our new address is:

100 Dominion Dr., Suite 101

Morrisville, NC 27560

Give me a call, or send me an email, if this was helpful or if you have topics that you would like to see in future updates.  Don’t forget to call when you are ready for us to contribute to the success of your project!

Cheers,
Montie Roland
President
Montie Design
800-722-7987

About Montie Design

Montie Design is a collaborative product design and  development firm with core competencies in industrial design,  mechanical engineering and fuzzy front end services. Implementing  a client-centric approach in taking products from concept to  marketplace, Montie Design balances vision with usability in  realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Research Triangle  Park region of North Carolina with access to industry-leading  technology, resources and innovative thought. For more  information, visit www.montie.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2009/12/18/225/feed/ 0 Join Us at the 2009 RTP Product Design Street Faire on Saturday, 12 Sept! http://blog.montie.com/2009/08/24/join-us-at-the-2009-rtp-product-design-street-faire-on-saturday-12-sept/ http://blog.montie.com/2009/08/24/join-us-at-the-2009-rtp-product-design-street-faire-on-saturday-12-sept/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:52:58 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=200 Scene from the 2008 Street FaireThe RTP Product Development Guild – a local group of engineers and designers working together to improve the regional economy – is hosting its third annual RTP Product Design Street Faire Saturday, Sept. 12  from 3:00 – 6:30 pm at 400 Dominion Drive in Morrisville. This fun, outdoor networking and educational event will feature exhibits and demonstrations by leading Triangle-area product designers and affiliated professionals showcasing the technological innovation that makes North Carolina a hotbed of state-of-the-art manufacturing design and production talent.

Admission to the Street Faire is free but requires pre-registration online at RTPStreetFaire.com.

Barbeque, drinks, popcorn, snacks and other treats will be served throughout this family friendly event which will include an inflatable kids’ play area and plenty of shaded space for business networking among peers.

“The Street Faire is a great way for area businesses and manufacturers to get to know product design and prototyping professionals right here in RTP,” Montie Roland, president of the RTP Product Development Guild, said, adding, “Why spend hours on conference calls or travel overseas to work with vendors when you can find the resources you need right down the street? I think people will be surprised at how competitive the region has become in the global marketplace.”

According to Roland, each year has seen increased attendance and vendor participation at the Street Faire, with well over 200 attendees representing a diverse range of business professions and 26 vendors last year. Vendor spaces are still available for this year’s event; pricing and information is available at RTPStreetFaire.com.

Sponsors of the 2009 Product Design Street Faire include Montie Design, the RTP Product Development Guild, Studio Hagler and Trimech, with Gilmore Global as a contributor.

The annual Street Faire is one of many educational and business development programs conducted by the Guild, which also hosts networking meetings, lunch-and-learn seminars, and other events at member locations throughout the year.

“We love our craft and do a lot of different things to promote it, share leads and resources, and build essential working relationships,” Roland said.

For more information visit RTPStreetFaire.com or call 919-481-1845.

About the RTP Product Development Guild
The RTP Product Development Guild seeks to improve the regional economy in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C. by providing a framework for product developers and startups to work together on products in a collaborative environment. This helps entrepreneurs move products to market that might otherwise languish due to a lack of funding and professional guidance. The Guild accepts applications for products, services or concepts from entrepreneurs, early stage start-ups and corporate spin-offs. More information is available online at www.rtpproductguild.com.

]]> http://blog.montie.com/2009/08/24/join-us-at-the-2009-rtp-product-design-street-faire-on-saturday-12-sept/feed/ 0 Customer Feedback – Up-Close and Personal http://blog.montie.com/2009/06/04/customer-feedback-up-close-and-personal/ http://blog.montie.com/2009/06/04/customer-feedback-up-close-and-personal/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:39:40 +0000 Montie Roland http://blog.montie.com/?p=189

Product reviews (especially online) are increasingly important in helping customers make purchasing decisions. A study by CompUSA and iPerections discovered 63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. According to a Forrester study, 71% of online shoppers read reviews, making it the most widely read consumer-generated content.

The beauty of the internet is that even small companies can integrate online reviews into their website. Companies such as RatePoint (www.ratepoint.com) provided neutral, third party management of online reviews. They also provide tools (called Widgets) that simplify the integration of the collection and display of customer reviews into the seller’s website. We use RatePoint as a way to give our clients an outlet to rate the services and products from Montie Design.

Customer reviews are a great way to encourage sales, especially of a new product. However, you have to have sales to have customers who can write the reviews. Strategic users are the early adopters (often cultivated by the product manufacturer) who test the product and write a review. These reviews help drive customer sales and they also help encourage resellers and distributors to carry the product.

Strategic users can include writers and product evaluators for magazines and blogs. Thought leaders in the industry are also candidates for strategic users. Anyone who is in a position to influence the opinion of the marketspace is a possible strategic user. Carefully selecting the strategic users and getting product in their hands is an effective to way to begin to shaping the opinion of the marketspace as early as possible. The reviews generated by the strategic users should be a planned part of your public relations strategy. Excerpts from the reviews can also be used in your advertising campaign. The links from published reviews also help drive traffic to your website. A potentially bigger benefit occurs as the links drive up the PageRank of your website and help potential customers find the product through search engine results.

Earlier this year we launched a product called the X-Rest. Part of our launch strategy for the X-Rest shooting rest involved identifying strategic users to evaluate the product and help form a positive opinion of the X-Rest within the shooting community.

Here are some rules for soliciting reviews from strategic users:

* don’t interfere with the review process, it has to be honest and genuine
* stay open to criticism, not all reviews are 100% positive, bad reviews can lead to great product improvements
* look for new ways that users interpret how they should use the product and find new markets
* have faith in your customers, they have a perspective that can help you create even better products

The following is an example of a review from one of our strategic users:

FIELD-TESTING THE X-REST
By: Peter J. Kolovos

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND:
Peter J. Kolovos, was a Deputy Sheriff with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois, before retiring.  He has been involved in the shooting sports for well over 40 years.  He is currently the Secretary-Treasurer and Director of Training for the North Suburban Police Pistol League, Inc.  With over 200 members, the NSPPL, is probably one the largest police shooting clubs in the country.

His credentials are many but my most noteworthy are the following: Pete is a highly competitive rifle and pistol shooter.  He is Certified as a Rifle Coach (Level-2) and a Pistol Coach (Level-3) with the National Rifle Association.  He is a NRA Training Counselor and Certified Instructor in several shooting disciplines.  Pete has been certified as a Police Firearms & Sub-Machinegun Instructor with the State of Illinois.  He attended the FBI’s Sniper/Observer School in 1994, and shot a perfect score during the final qualification course.  He has hunted extensively in 15 states including Alaska, and has hunted in Canada.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The first thing I noticed when I received my sample of the X-Rest, was how compact and light weight the unit was.  Made of Aluminum, it came nicely tucked into a 14.5” x 4.5” digital Camo carrying bag with a draw string closure.  The disassembled unit was approximately one-inch thick.

Each of the unit’s three legs measured out at  9” x 1.5”.  The legs join together through a rectangular slot in two of the sections and are held in place by the third leg which has a half-round section with a hole in it, and a pin which is attached to the main section via a split ring affixed to a short length of plastic coated wire cable.  This system virtually guarantees that you’ll never lose the joining pin even in rough conditions.  I also liked the fact that it was made in the USA.

Once the three sections are assembled, the rest seemed extremely steady.  The cross sections, where you’d lay your rifle measured out at approximately six-inches high, making it best suited for either Bench or Prone work.  Both of the cross-sections that actually formed the cradle seemed to have an ample amount of a protective rubber coating applied them to keep the rifle steady and to aid in protecting the rifle stock from being damaged during recoil.

INITIAL RANGE SESSION:
On Sunday, May 31, 2009, I took the “X-Rest” to the Racine County Line Rifle Club which is located in Racine, Wisconsin.  My club was holding it’s monthly F-Class rifle match, so I would be able to better evaluate the rest at distance from the Prone position.  The weather was overcast as we had a lot of precipitation during the last week.  The ground was still somewhat soft from all the rain we had, so these conditions would prove interesting for the “X-Rest”.

RANGE SESSION EVALUATION:
Being that I would personally use a this rest for Predator hunting, I chose a Remington Model 700 Varmint, bolt-action rifle chambered in .223 Remington for the evaluation.  This particular rifle was equipped with a 6.5 x 20 power Leupold target scope.

I set up the “X-Rest” at the 300 yard line, placed a small sand bag near the toe of the stock, took careful aim and fired.  Since I wanted to be totally impartial from the get-go, I decided that if I muffed a particular shot I would not consider it as part of the evaluation.  I would only consider the shots that I felt I broke cleanly.

I fired twenty (20) rounds at this distance and put all of the called shots just under a minute of angle (three-inch group at 300 yards), which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I only muffed two of the rounds.  Several other members then gave the rest a try and we also quite impressed with it’s construction and how steady the rest was.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
This neat little rest is simple, well made, and quite solid when assembled.  I feel it definitely has some law enforcement and military applications, as well as the civilian market.  This is a nice item for someone who’d like to have a portable rest available but not necessarily have a Bi-pod constantly attached to their rifles.  This would be a most excellent tool for a Rancher, or a Predator hunter.  It is also a very nice item for the casual shooter who’d like to have a solid rest to sight in their rifles but don’t necessarily want to pay several hundred dollars to do so.

If I were a school teacher I’d give the X-Rest a solid “B+” for it’s innovation, light weight, ease transport and of assembly.  My only recommendation would be to dip the lower part of the legs in some type of non-slip coating to resist scratching a vehicle’s paint-job if it were placed on top of the roof or hood.

Submitted by:
Peter J. Kolovos

——— End of Review ———–

Reviewers can connect with potential customers in a very intimate way through an honest evaluation of the product.  Reviews build trust in your product.  Small flaws in grammar or composition in the review help convince that the reader that the review was not a corporate fabrication from a paid talking head, but rather an honest evaluation from someone they can trust.  Less than stellar reviews are often more believable that glowing reviews.  Customers understand that no product is perfect and can be suspicious when reviews are overly flattering.

Product reviews are part of the precious dialog between you and your customers.  Embracing user reviews can give you an advantage over your competition.  Finding strategic users is the first step in encouraging the creation of third party reviews.  The next step is to get your product in their hands for them to test and evaluate.  Trust them to take it from there, using their reviews they create as a part of your website, public relations and marketing campaigns.  After all,  you worked so hard to get that product out to the market, now is the time to let the strategic users tell potential customers what a great product you’ve created.

Give me a call, or send me an email, if this was helpful or if you have topics that you would like to see in future updates.  Don’t forget to call when you are ready for us to contribute to the success of your project!

Cheers,
Montie Roland
President -Montie Design
montie@montie.com
800-722-7987

About Montie Design

Montie Design is a collaborative product design and  development firm with core competencies in industrial design,  mechanical design and fuzzy front end services. Implementing  a client-centric approach in taking products from concept to  marketplace, Montie Design balances vision with usability in  realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Research Triangle  Park region of North Carolina with access to industry-leading  technology, resources and innovative thought. For more  information, visit www.montie.com.

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