Breathing life into new ideas

FAB LAB helps launch innovative product and process ideas out into the open market

Story by Gina Mangan

Northeast Wisconsinites don’t typically regard their region as a mecca for new technologies and product innovations. Traditionally, they’ve been the ones using someone else’s technology to put those products together.

The innovating that has taken place often occurs behind the secure walls of a large corporation – lending the process an air of mystery.

Even in those “If only someone were to invent widget Y, task X would be so much easier” moments, it doesn’t occur to most folks that they might be the ones to make such an innovation. And not only might they invent something, they may be able to make money selling it, becoming a crucial component in the economic development of northeast Wisconsin.

Innovation thought leaders and business development experts in northeast Wisconsin are trying to change all that by pulling together the tools, capabilities and experts required to break down barriers to product developments that could lead to new business growth.

“There are a lot of untapped ideas out there that haven’t been translated into business propositions,” said Cheryl Perkins, former chief innovation officer for Kimberly-Clark Corp., who founded and is now president of Innovationedge, a management consulting firm based in Neenah. “A lot of people know the ‘what’ – what it is they want developed - but they don’t know the how. We want to empower the ‘how.’”

Bringing ideas to life
A key component to assisting innovation efforts in the region is the newly launched Fox Valley Technical College fabrication laboratory, known as the FAB LAB. Located on the main Appleton campus, the lab gives users the opportunity to conceptualize, design, fabricate and validate product ideas. Here, innovators and imaginators will find a variety of machines to design and make product prototypes, as well as faculty with technical expertise and experience in new production development.  

The FAB LAB is linked to  FVTC’s Venture Center, the region’s entrepreneurial training center. Inventors and entrepreneurs can fine-tune their product concepts at the FAB LAB and then seamlessly venture across the street to develop their business plans at The Venture Center.

The equipment, technology and technical experts available at the lab allow just about anyone with a bright idea the opportunity to develop “proof of concept” prototypes, said Jim Janisse, development manager of the manufacturing technologies division of FVTC.

“A lot of people feel discomfort at the thought of creating something, but  the FAB LAB helps cut through that discomfort,” he said.

Since the FAB LAB’s official unveiling last November, about 40 people have knocked on the doors to the Venture Center to request access to the FAB LAB, said Amy Pietsch, director of the Venture Center. Those 40 people have been a combination of inventors, entrepreneurs and business representatives from existing companies interested in transforming their ideas into business opportunities.

“We live in an area where we’re constantly being told that because we have no research university, there must not be a lot of cool things coming out of the region, but the ideas are out there,” Pietsch said. “I’ve always  believed the area is full of really cool garage-type inventors who are very innovative, but don’t know how to get through the new product development process.”

To date at the FAB LAB, Pietsch said there are inventors working to develop products with household applications, products related to renewable energy, and construction materials and tools – the details of which are kept top secret to guard intellectual property. These inventors are coming from all walks of life, she said. Some of those ideas involve sophisticated technologies, while others are relatively simple.

“Great ideas aren’t limited to people in industry,” said Dean Sommerfeld, team leader for FVTC’s mechanical design department and a former product developer in the private sector. “Anybody can be innovative and develop a product that others might want to buy.”

Unleashing opportunity
But taking a new idea, bringing it to life, and delivering it to the market can be an intimidating process, Pietsch said.

Even existing businesses,  particularly small ones, can find new product development daunting - and costly. The FAB LAB provides those businesses access to tools and technologies that will help them develop and validate new products before making large and potentially risky investments, Pietsch said.

“We’ve met with small business owners who are looking to expand into the global market and want to shorten down their prototyping time,” she said. “That’s very exciting. It’s really the democratization of technology by providing access to the technology and tools.”  

Bill Murphy, co-owner of Neenah-based Motion Products, which specializes in refurbishing European sports cars, bought into a corporate sponsorship of the FAB LAB after discovering its rapid prototype machine and its access to global expertise via the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Global FAB LAB Innovation Network.

Motion Products specializes in refurbishing Ferrari, for which finding existing parts can be impossible. Prior to the FAB LAB, the company had to spend countless hours hand tooling parts, Murphy said. The rapid prototype machine allows Motion Products to develop prototypes for parts that can be manipulated, fine-tuned and then sent out for production. The existence of the lab and access to equipment and expertise will allow the company to break new ground, he said.

Other local companies should also be able to generate more business by developing product models to share with existing or potential customers, Murphy said. In the future, there will be even more technologies, equipment and resources available at the FAB LAB, he said.

“I believe it will allow any business person in the Valley to have the latest technology and to be able to start any business they would like and compete globally,” Murphy said.

Overcoming barriers
Innovationedge’s Perkins, who served in an advising capacity during the development of the FAB LAB, plans to leverage the resources at the FAB LAB for her own clients.

Innovationedge - with clients that include businesses of all sizes, government agencies and individual entrepreneurs and inventors – is taking a lead role in what is a developing regional innovation network. Innovationedge helps entrepreneurs, inventors and corporate product developers overcome barriers to bringing products to market. Its consulting team can help inventors analyze potential market spaces for a product, protect their intellectual property, identify partners for potential commercialization, build a sustainable business plan, and guide the product to market.

The firm’s services go hand-in-hand with services offered by The Venture Center and FAB LAB, where clients can go to develop new product prototypes.

“The value proposition for the FAB LAB is empowering corporations, inventors and entrepreneurs to reinvent the way we innovate in northeast Wisconsin,” she said. “To have all of the resources, tools and expertise to do that is very powerful, and it’s awesome when you consider what it can do for our region’s economic development.”

Those involved in product innovation believe that breaking down the barriers to innovation and understanding the process for bringing a product to market will result in greater chances of success. As it stands, approximately 95 percent of new products introduced in the United States fail, according to a 2005 Nielson Bases and Ernst & Young study.

That high rate of failure can be attributed to many factors, Pietsch said, including a limited understanding of markets, technology and risks, as well as a lack of knowledge regarding how to innovate successfully.

For example, many people enter the process thinking they’re ready to develop a product prototype, she said, but it often turns out there is more research and analysis that needs to be done.

The teams at The Venture Center and FAB LAB can educate entrepreneurs and inventors on all aspects of the product development process, which include narrowing down ideas, refining a concept, or conducting an in depth business and market analysis that might include a new product assessment by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center.

Clients can regularly move back and forth between teams at The Venture Center and the FAB LAB, Pietsch said. The earliest stages involve assessing an idea and determining if it’s worth pursuing. The later stages involve developing a sound business plan.

“It’s an ebb and flow, a unique combination that we believe will spur more entrepreneurial businesses in the region,” Pietsch said. “We’re providing access to technology and equipment. We can answer questions. We can offer experience. We’re breaking down the barriers and  making a process that seemed daunting, not so daunting. It can be fun. It can be energizing. In some cases, it can be life changing.”

Gina Mangan is a freelance writer based in Oshkosh and is raising three children. Readers can email her at gmangan@tds.net.