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Forecast for Design, Make, and Use is Cloudy

FirstBuild at GE Appliances

Justin Berger, Open Innovation Strategist

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FORGE DEVCON 2016

—

• Why FirstBuild

• The Model: Design, Build, & Sell

• Product Case Study: Prisma Cold Brew

• The Impact of Cloud Technology

AGENDA

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THE PROBLEM:When you excel atmass production,

innovation can havemassive risks

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TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION

Mass Production

Years to market

Rare product launch

Limited innovation

Sa

les

Qu

an

tity

Barrier 3: Selection Bias

100,000+100,000+

Time to Market

Barrier 2: Production Cost

Barrier 1: Confidentiality

___________________

High Cost

Risk Assessment

Uncertainty

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MICROFACTORY PRODUCTION

Full-scale production

11-100

101-1000 Low-Volume Production

Minimum Viable Product1-10

Market Validation

Micro-Factory

First Sale in 3-6 months

Sa

les

Qu

an

tity

Time to Market

100,000+

Mass Production

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Invent a new world of home appliances by

creating a socially-engaged community of home

enthusiasts, designers, engineers, and makers

that will share ideas, try them out, and build

real products to improve your life.

1B

MISSION

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COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY

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ONLINE COMMUNITYwww.firstbuild.com

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PHYSICAL COMMUNITYLouisville, KY

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SHIFTING TO A MAKING MINDSET

INTERNAL FOCUS Design to pre-determined specifications

MAKE LATERMaking is the last step of the design process

LIMIT INNOVATIONUse business processes to filter out ideas

CONSTANT ITERATIONFeedback from consumers and enthusiasts

MAKE SOONERCreate solutions to better understand problems

PURSUE INNOVATIONThink in terms of possibilities, not processes

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DESIGN – BUILD - SELL

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LIFTING THE BARRIERS

DESIGN

Co-creation

through open

innovation

BUILD

Rapid prototyping

and microfactory

production

SELL

Validation of design

through early sales

• Months to market

• Frequent and numerous

product launches

• Innovation is welcome

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v

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PROJECT CHOOSING

PROCESS

DECISION POINTS

—• Game changing & Innovative – New

value proposition

• Needing market validation

• Transfers to a core product

• Manageable risks – Safety and

Investment

1052

10

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4 PATHS

FEATURE ADDED TO EXISTING PRODUCT

—• Oven Drawer

• Chill Hub

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

—• Paragon

• Opal

RE-PACKAGING /CUSTOMIZATION

—• Monogram Colors

• Monogram Single/

Double

NEW PRODUCT / PROPOSITION

—• Microkitchen

• Pizza Oven

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v

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METHODOLOGY

HIGH VOLUMEMODEL SHOP“HACK”

Collaboration w/ GE Plants

Range (Lafayette):- EZ Load Oven

- Single Double Wall Oven

Monogram (Selmer):

- Graphite Colors

Refrigeration (Louisville):- Chill Hub

“Bottoms Up”

1B: - Pizza Oven

- Micro Kitchen

- No Investment in hard tooling- Low cost change over / iteration

- Demand pull

Scalable

Source: - Paragon

- Opal- Pique

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DFM – LOW VOLUME CAPABILITY

Plastic

• Cut

• Bend• Draw• Weld

• Urethane Casting

• Thermo Form• 3D Printing• Vacuum Forming

Sheet Metal Finishes

Controls Hardware Assembly

Partnering with Appliance Park

• Powder Paint

• Vinyl Clad

• Boards

• Wiring

• Machining • 5 products – 30/week

• Chassis

• Large volume 3D printing• Low volume injection molding

• Painting

• Stamping

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v

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CROSSING THE CHASM – IN REVERSE

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FIRSTBUILD GO-TO-MARKET

PRIMARY PATH

—

• Online direct via FirstBuild.com• Retail via FirstBuild HQ• Contract direct (microkitchen)

STRATEGIC CHANNEL ENGAGEMENT

—• Select retail and contract partners• GEA store

TEST & LEARN

—

• Crowdfunding• Online-only retail partners• New channels

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PRODUCT CASE STUDY

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THE COMMUNITY LOVES COFFEE

HACKATHON CHALLENGE PRODUCTCROWDFUNDCHALLENGE

PIVOT

24Hackathon: Hack the home

HOUSE ROAST, HACKATHON

BORN

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HOUSE ROAST

CHALLENGE

Highlighting tools, integrating development

• FirstBuild identifies product need, hosts challenge

• Instructables educates on background

• Fusion 360 provides modeling tools and resources

• Sweet Maria’s brings industry expertise, coffee enthusiasts

Partnering to Expand Reach• Cross-pollinate existing communities

• Drives increased page views and participation

• Amplify Press coverage

1st: Ember 3D printer 2nd: Othermill CNC

3rd: 1 yr Fusion 360 Student: Othermill

31 Entries (modeled in Fusion 360)

4 winners chosen (meeting all design criteria):

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PIVOT TO PRISMA

1st: $5000 2nd: $3000 3rd: $2000

Roasting Coffee

VS

Cold Brew CoffeeSource: Google Trends

Design Challenge: Cold Brew Coffee

1% of campaign

Royalties shared between winners

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7,000Backers

• Tim Cook

• Eric Schmidt

• $2.7MM by end of 30 day campaign• 9th most funded campaign in Indiegogo history• Crowdfunding is now prime location for validation

$2,772,000pledged

8,559Backers

$3,126,000pledged

9,522Backers

$2,437,429pledged

IN GOOD COMPANY WITH OPAL

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IT’S GETTING CLOUDY…

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EARLY LESSONS

DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL

MAKE INTERNAL DATA AND LESSONS EASY TO FIND

LET’S ALL WORK FROM THE SAME PART

REV CONTROL SHOULD BE EASY, BUT WE MESS IT UP

I THINK I UNDERSTAND

CORRECT ITERATIONS WITH REAL-TIME EDITS

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2

3

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IDEAS MOVE SLOWLY IN A VACUUM: FROM FORMS TO FORUMS4

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TEAMS COLLABORATE ACROSS BORDERS5

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AGILE

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

—

• Communicates to all stakeholders (Community,

Leadership, and Team)

• Run in 2 week sprints (Sprints are staggered)

• Visual Product Funnel

• Identifies areas of need

1B INVOLVEMENT

—

• Shows resource allocation

• Focus on skills rather than dedicated teams

• Identifies roadblocks

• Communicates priorities

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DECENTRALIZED MANUFACTURING IS NIMBLE7

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TRULY REAL-TIME INVENTORY 8

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LIVE SALES DATA – TARGET MARKET

TARGETED MARKETING

—Campaign success driven by building a strong email list of

early adopters and ice enthusiast. Social media targeting

allowed for direct engagement with relevant audience.

DEMOGRAPHIC VALIDATION

—Unit sales confirmed hypothesis of regional passion for

nugget ice. Highest volume of sales from Texas and

southern states.

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IT’S EASIER TO WORK IN A TRANSPARENT WORLD10

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QUESTIONS?

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JUSTIN BERGER

Justin@FirstBuild.com

FIRSTBUILD

Louisville, KY

www.FirstBuild.com

KEEPING

TOUCH

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BEYOND A PARTNERSHIP-

Powered by UofL Students

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

Hardware Startup Startup Weekend New2Lou

41Hackathon: Hack the home