It's not news that industry is overflowing with new technology, or that the pace of development in many sectors is increasing at exponential rates. But with all this growth, much of the technology is not getting to the market... it's not becoming commercial nearly as fast as it's being developed. This problem has given rise to an increasing need for technology-based companies to find more rapid ways of determining the right uses and markets for their new technologies &endash; and accelerating movement of these technologies into the hands of consumers. "We've got all this new technology, but it's not getting out the door," complains a VP R&D of a well known technology-based company.
Consulting firms have historically provided limited direction and implementation assistance with commercialization of new technology. According to the General Manager of Neste Chemical GmbH, a leading European materials producer, "most (consultants) just come in, throw books on the table and then they're gone. We need something more effective, more helpful. We need a 'partner' to help us get to the bottom line and get us into action."
Neste, Dow Chemical and a number of other technology-based companies with annual sales ranging from the tens of millions to billions of US dollars are using a new non-traditional approach, and it's producing results. Called Accelerated Growth, the new approach involves the running of private business Summit Conferences, whose panelists are senior management of companies throughout the world. "It's proven to be an effective way to transform technology push into market pull. The system brings technology developers face-to-face with decision makers and market influencers to mutually determine if, where and how to commercialize new technology, and then actually do it," says Dick Siegel, President of ISIS International, Inc. of Monroe, CT - the company that pioneered the system.
As contrasted with traditional methods, ISIS and its clients are more interested in actions than reports. ISIS puts technology commercialization on a fast track by bringing market influencers together with technology developers. ISIS facilitators work closely with clients in a 'partnership'-like relationship, and just as closely with senior management of innovative market leading companies throughout the world who could be users of the technology. ISIS calls these special people Industrial Opinion Leaders (IOLs). They are the high level decision-makers and trendsetters in industry who can pinpoint, shape or often create high value markets in which to launch new businesses. And, IOLs are the same people with whom ISIS' clients form initial customer/partner relationships and take significant commercial actions within 2-4 months from a Summit conference.
"IOLs specify ways to optimize our clients' technologies and products, and then typically at least half of them (from a Summit Panel of 12-14) form customer/partner relationships with our clients involving significant commercial actions, domestically and globally," says Siegel. "No one knows the future needs and requirements of companies better than its most senior and experienced people. These are the types of people we invite to Summits. They have the pragmatic expertise and vision to rapidly evaluate new technology that can benefit their companies (and their industries) and they have the organizational clout to do something about it."
In the words of Summit Panelist Phil Wilson, Chief Technologist of Canadian auto parts giant Magna International, "these guys get involved with the actual selling, marketing and commercialization." According to Summit Panelist Bob Henn, a business leader at W. L. Gore & Associates, the makers of GORE-TEX®, "the proprietary value of the process is the amount of learning that occurs, as well as the direct access gained to top players in the marketplace." Panelist BJ Adams, VP R&D for Burlington House Decorative Fabrics Division of Burlington Industries says, "this is a tremendous way for a company to find out the value of its products, and a lot cheaper and faster than by going through traditional sales channels."
$20 billion Dow Chemical used a Summit System to help focus their new INSITE® Technology into the adhesives industry. One Panelist alone started doing business with Dow that could account for up to 100 million pounds annually of the new product. Dow has been a repeat user of Summit Systems.
Perlos Group was a $25 million European-based fabricator of precision plastic assemblies and was doing business mostly within Scandinavia. Perlos used a Summit Conference to determine a new business direction for its company in the health care industry. Summit Panelists were managers of packaging and medical device development of global pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The Summit was an important kick-off for creating a separate Perlos Division, Perlos Pharma, specializing in offering state-of-the-art customer moulding and assembling services for the pharmaceutical industry. Because of the Summit, Perlos Pharma had capabilities to grow together with its mother company, which had an annual sales growth from US$25 to $200 million in 6 years following the Summit.
What Dow and Perlos had in common was having their high level managers work directly with their counterparts from markets that could be served by their technologies and know-how. Accelerated Growth provided the vehicle to make that happen. "Our clients let the market provide the direction," says Siegel, "they (clients) learn how to optimize their technologies; how to turn them into needed high value products; and then learn how to effectively market and sell their new products into these industries. Better still, with this approach, our clients wind up with new customers and joint development partners ready to do business, not just a pile of reports."
"We got a whole new product line out of it" commented Kurt Swogger, Polyethylene and INSITE® Technology R&D VP for US-based Dow Chemical, "and you know what that can mean to a company like Dow. It will lead to at least $50 to $100 million of new sales."
"We received excellent contacts from our Summit," says Seppo Arento, Marketing Director for the CEP Plastics Division of Perlos Oy of Finland. "One of the Panelists, a leading UK-based pharmaceuticals company, is now one our ten largest customers. Following the Summit it was easy to make decisions and to quickly form a new division. We could do this because our entire top management team was part of the process." Arento declined to comment on current sales volumes with Summit Panelists, other than to say "we're very happy."
