Editor’s note: This appeared in the June 2009 issue.
By Floyd Coates
I own American Plastic Molding Corp. We work with established manufacturers and independent inventors.
Floyd Coates
When a manufacturer comes to us with an invention, we typically fast-track it to our engineering department. The engineers usually offer redesign suggestions, then we quote a price. Engineers manage the project from quotation through the first production run.
Inventors are a different story. They usually have to go through me. I have sympathy for inventors. I’m an entrepreneur, so inventors and I share the same blood.
The inventor usually asks, “Can you make a plastic part that kinda looks like this?”
And I say, “Well, what is it?”
From vast experience, I have learned anytime anybody uses the term “a million dollars,” he has done no market research.
He’s usually afraid to tell because he doesn’t want anyone to steal his idea. After a few minutes, I’m usually successful in developing trust. The inventor finally starts describing his product or makes sketches or pulls a rough model out of his briefcase.
He explains to me the function and the need for this product and then says, “If we do this, we can make a million dollars.” Translated, that means he contributes the idea while I contribute engineering design drawings, prototype development, production molds, sampling and marketing.
From vast experience, I have learned anytime anybody uses the term “a million dollars,” he has done no market research. After I get a good grasp of the idea, the concept and the device he wishes to manufacture, I then start my “Genius Inventor Speech.”
It goes like this:
“It is true you have a unique device. I wish I had one. All of your friends have said they want one, too. You are so emotionally tied to the success of this product that you will mortgage your house if necessary to get the product to market.
“But you have little idea what the design costs are, much less any idea of what the production molds and tooling costs are, and no comprehension at all of the cost of getting it to market. And you grossly overestimate your market share.”
After that speech I give the genius inventor lots of ideas that occurred to me during the meeting – a ballpark price of what it would cost to perfect the design for prototyping, for designing, for manufacturability, for production tooling and packaging costs.
That is the first half.
The next half is how does he sell it? Most inventors never give selling that much thought.
At the end of our first meeting, which may be one to four hours, I repeat my “Genius Inventor Speech.”
“I do not mean to be harsh,” I’ll say. “You have a beautiful invention. Everybody needs one, and you have no clue how to sell it. I believe it is my God-given responsibility to speak the truth and to give realism to expectations.”
At this point the genius inventor thanks me for my time. About half of them call back two or three weeks later saying they want to start on the process.
To fast-track the design process, we populate the room with the inventor, myself, an engineer familiar with lots of materials beyond just plastics, and a CAD draftsman who projects the design on the wall as we create it.
Every time a design feature is discussed, the design feature is captured in the part design. This allows the design process to be done quickly, with the inventor, mold builder, plastic molder with assembly experience and capability all in the room at the same time.
This shortens the entire process substantially. Prototypes can be developed from that one-day meeting. This provides the inventor with a solid step forward in the process. Then he can concentrate on the important thing – selling.
