Companies like BMW, Kraft, Dow, Johnson & Johnson, Wendy's and Xerox are part of a growing network of global corporations attempting to make a match with new technology through small, private "Summits." With the help of ISIS International, Inc., of Monroe, Connecticut USA, they have found a way to access and adopt new technologies faster and more effectively.
To be fast and first in bringing new products to market is crucial to the viability of companies needing to satisfy both customers and analysts. But the need to be efficient with R&D money has never been more acute than it is today. The combination of shrinking R&D budgets and smaller staffs resulting from downsizing trends has forced many firms to look outside themselves for new technology.
Since 1982, ISIS has been using a unique process specifically designed to reduce the cost and time associated with technology development and commercialization. Known as Accelerated Growth, the market-driven process enables technology developers to focus research and commercialize products faster and more profitably through use of a high-level Summit conference.
Unlike other business development approaches, a Summit matches up a group of 12 to 14 "Industrial Opinion Leaders," from top non-competing companies, often from different world regions, to get a first crack at new technology presented by the sponsoring company. ISIS' Summit system is a unique process that leads to on-the-spot decisions regarding all stages of business development: from formulation of initial product strategies to sales and commercialization negotiations. Being "first on the scene" and having the power to make commercialization decisions gives these high level participants an immediate competitive advantage in the marketplace, and it greatly shortens the new business development and marketing timetable for the sponsoring company.
Results of the ISIS process can be dramatic. The Dow Chemical Company decided to use a Summit System to determine market demand for a new polymer concept. Summit panelists were asked to mentally "tweak" the polymer to produce a theoretical version that would deliver the performance characteristics they were looking for in a price range they were willing to pay. Based on this input from potential customers, Dow refocused its R&D efforts to create a product that would be more in line with market needs and increased sales projections from $50 million to over $300 million.
According to Chuck Swartz, Marketing Development Manager for Dow, "We tracked two fairly similar new technology programs - one involving the Summit system and one in which we worked strictly internally. While we started the Summit project a year later, it is now as far along as the other one. We got this far spending only 20% as much money in 33% of the time. There's no question that the system is real."
