We have a lot of interactions with CMs (Contract Manufacturers). These companies are amazing—they can do ten thousand things and not make a single mistake. Their business must work this way to stay competitive. Product development, on the other hand, is different. In product development, you are lucky if you do 10 things and get… Read More
If I had to pick the biggest mistake small companies make when it comes to product development, it would be that they make the mistake of treating product development as if it was just like any other business activity—sales, accounting, customer service, manufacturing, etc. Product development is a process of discovery, creativity and problem solving,… Read More
The prototype is all done and it seems to work well. Now, how do you get the prototype manufactured reliably and at a reasonable cost? If you’re like a lot of small companies, this is not something you do all the time. Finish Line has done more than one thousand projects for more than 300… Read More
Have you ever imagined what kind of product you would develop if money was no obstacle? Maybe that product is not as far out of reach as you might think. Sometimes when I ask our customers this question, the answer I hear is some kind of internet connect, color touch screen, portable wiz bang calculating… Read More
A long time ago, after a disappointing personal failure, someone told me: “Steve, there are no failures, there are only results. Sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes you get what you need—specifically, information about how to get what you want. Both results are helpful.” This changed my whole attitude on life. Instead of… Read More
“Ask no questions, and you will be told no lies” Charles Dickens Great Expectations Ask your average product development engineer how long a project will take or how much it will cost, and you may get wishful thinking. Sometimes people tell you what you want to hear versus what you need to hear. In order… Read More
A potential customer has been talking to us for at least half a year about helping his company fix a problem that their engineer just couldn’t solve, The engineer was always just days away from figuring it out…for six months. The engineer finally gave up and we got our first look at the issue. Turns… Read More
We often get calls asking if we can design a prototype, or, have we ever worked with the X Y Z technology? After a few probing questions, what we learn that this company really need is a product developed, not a prototype designed—at least not yet. Developing a product is different than designing a product… Read More
Small companies do not have a significant sales volumes to offset development cost. They must keep product development budgets reasonable, without sacrificing quality. However, they often have smaller and inefficient teams. They also have less than complete processes and long product life cycles. What should a small company do? Here are the top 3 methods… Read More
As I am sure you know, Finish Line only develops products for small companies. Just because you’re a small company does not mean you should hire a cheap engineer. In fact, doing so will likely end up costing you more. To be clear, I am not advocating you hire an expensive engineer either, or that… Read More