10 | JUNE 2019
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
TOP NOTCH TESTING AND R&D HELPS
INSTALLERS AND FABRICATORS
FUTURE-PROOF THEIR BUSINESS
Research and Development (R&D) is a discipline that requires an awful lot of
patience and tenacity. From initial concept all the way through to market launch,
the process of introducing new hardware products has many steps involving
several internal departments and external partners. But it is also a fascinating
one, and here the Head of Product Management at ERA, Kerry Blackford, talks
us through what R&D looks like in today’s hardware market, and reveals why it
is the key to helping fabricators and installers to future-proof their business.
One of the great out-
comes of ERA’s move to
brand new purpose-built
premises on the i54 busi-
ness park just outside
Wolverhampton in late 2017,
was the fact that the design
and development depart-
ments were brought to-
gether under one roof. The
135,625 sq ft site is home to
our state-of-the-art research
and product development
hub, design team, test facil-
ities as well as manufactur-
ing, warehousing and train-
ing facilities. With a team of
six in product management
and six in product design,
having us all under one roof
makes collaboration day to
day much easier. So how
do the two disciplines work
together, and how do they
involve other in-house and
external stakeholders? Prob-
ably the best way to answer
that is to look at the end-
to-end process of bringing
new products to market.
Not only do we focus on
filling product gaps with-
in our existing product
portfolio with continued
investment in new product
development, but much of
the company’s R&D activity
centres on enhancing ex-
isting products or adapting
products to suit specific
window and door profile
systems. This process can
be customer-driven when
products are required to
create differentials; our
own sales teams who spot a
need for a new solution can
initiate it; or it can be driven
when relevant building
regulations or performance
standards change. Product
managers also have a big
influence on the process
too. We also do gap analysis
reviews in order to identify
products that will support
and enhance the company’s
package offer.
We hold Blue Sky meet-
ings where interesting and
innovative ways of utilising
new technology – such as
smartware opportunities
- and new materials are
discussed. Collaboration
with ERA’s group compa-
nies across Europe and the
United States also facilitates
the sharing of ideas.
Once the need for a new
product has been identified,
the ‘PRINCE2’ process-based
method is used to project
manage the delivery of it,
taking it from initial concept
to delivery. PRINCE2 (an
acronym for PRojects IN
Controlled Environments)
involves the a number of
key stages:
• Focus on business justi-
fication
• Defined organisation
structure for the project
management team
• Product-based planning
approach
• Emphasis on dividing
the project into manage-
able and controllable
stages
• Flexibility that can be
applied at a level appro-
priate to the project
At ERA, what this in-
volves at the outset is cost
validation, designing to a
specification, and concept
development by the design
team with the support of
key stakeholders such as
the sales team and product
managers.
A 3D CAD system is used
to design the new product
and demonstrate its fea-
tures. Excitingly, we are
also able to make use of
our 3D printers for design
validation. They are used to
produce plastic samples of
a proposed new product in
order to test that they are
suitable for the application
for which they are intended.
We also use metal proto-
types for more advanced
functionality and aesthetics
testing.
New tooling is commis-
sioned with our approved
manufacturing partners,
and prototypes are then
produced which are then
rigorously tested. Testing
is critical, particularly with
innovative designs.
After this, provided all
stakeholders are in agree-
ment, the new product
can then be taken through
the requisite approvals to
ensure they meet relevant
quality standards, and only
then can they be marketed
and sold.
It is always our inten-
tion to try to speed up the
process while maintaining
the integrity of new designs.
In order to achieve this,