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Over the years we've encountered some objections to the idea of outsourcing design and development. Here, we'd like to offer some counter arguments ...
We generally work on a fixed price basis against a written specification. When we complete a project and present our invoice it will be against a written and approved validation report. If we don't deliver what we have been asked for, we don't get paid - it makes us keep our pencils sharp ! It's not quite as easy as buying new products off the shelf but it comes close.
Naturally, any development project carries risk, especially in terms of time and budget overruns. Were we to pad our estimates with worst case costings we would be uncompetitive and fail to win any new business. That drives us to manage risk effectively. Ask us to develop something that we can't cost accurately and we will respond by suggesting the project is broken down into stages, starting with a feasibility study so that we can identify, highlight, and reduce the risks. Delivering designs on time and within budget is possibly more important to our business model than it is to yours.
We'd be surprised... No, you'd be surprised ! Sum all the costs associated with an in-house team, everything from salaries and national insurance to stamps and stationery, and you'll probably find the real cost per hour is the same as ours, possibly more. Come and visit us and you'll see that our customers don't pay for expensive offices on a greenfield site nor flash cars in the car park. Our retained earnings are ploughed back into the business to fund new tools, equipment and training.
Steve McConnell, in his excellent book "Rapid Development" quotes research that shows a 10:1 difference in the productivity of programmers. We could also mention the effectiveness of 3M's skunk squads or refer to the development history of IBM's first PC. To make a direct comparison in £/hour without considering the productivity that can be achieved by a competent, dedicated, and focused external resource is to miss our basic business proposal. DesignWrights is here to help you develop products so that you can keep abreast or ahead of your competition. It's a return on investment calculation.
That may be so, but it can be a good thing. We promote ourselves as electronic and software engineers and yet in a recent project we developed a method of packaging pyrotechnics that is now being patented. We're certainly not pyrotechnicians but we did draw on experience of offset printing to create an idea of real commercial benefit for our customer. Experience of different industries and alternative ways of looking at problems can provide a welcome injection of fresh ideas - we all suffer from myopia in one form or another and in-house design teams are no exception.
But let's be honest, we don't design space shuttles. If you ask us to develop something that we can't, we'll be the first to admit it. There's no sense in starting a project that we can't finish and for which we will not get paid.
Development is about creating something new. If you can find people that have done it all before then perhaps you're not developing, you're replicating.
We're not contractors in the sense of individuals you might employ on your premises and not see again after they leave. We are a limited company with our own premises, a contact point, and we intend to be around long after your development is complete. If you like, we provide an after sales service. As much for our own benefit as for your's, we provide comprehensive documentation on everything we do. More often than not the knowledge base we hand over is significantly better than that created by in-house teams, who, pressed for time, never get round to writing up those all important results or the reasons why a particular design choice was made.
"We don't manufacture, therefore we can't benefit from new product development expertise."
One of our largest customers is a "distribution only" company with no manufacturing capability. However, they saw an opportunity in the market that needed to be addressed and called DesignWrights. We developed an enhanced product that is now in production across Europe. The gap in the market could so easily have been filled by a competitor, undermining our customer's leading position.
DesignWrights supports businesses with no manufacturing facilities but who still need to keep their product portfolio up to date and relevant. Please continue to browse our website for more information. Better still, contact us.
"We have a great idea for a new product but insufficient funds to develop it."
Come and talk to us. If your idea is sound and there's a useful market to be addressed we could be interested in helping you. We're not business angels and don't have the deep pockets of 3i but we're always on the look out for challenges and opportunities. If we can't help, we may be able to put you in touch with someone who can.
"We have world beating products and the best design team"
If you're really that good then we can't help you.
If you'd like to join the debate, send us a brickbat or a bouquet, then email nick.steven@designwrights.co.uk
Copyright © 2002 DesignWrights Ltd. Unit 18, Liss Business Centre, Station
Road, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 7AW, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1730 890050 Fax: +44 (0)1730 890051 email: info@designwrights.co.uk