Invention Machine Corp. yesterday announced a new version of its Goldfire innovation software that bolsters the risk analysis capabilities designed to speed time to market for new products in a host of vertical industries.
The company's flagship product, Goldfire, aims to improve the product development process for manufacturers facing a two-pronged dilemma: the "sunsetting" of many products over the next three to five years and the outflow of engineers and other innovators among retirement-age baby boomers. The software organizes and validates innovative ideas, helping manufacturers turn the good ones into revenue producers. It also identifies and reduces risks in the product development process by reducing technology and design problems and standardizing quality management, among other functions.
Company executives say the Goldfire technology gives manufacturers a way out of the unpredictability of the innovation process. "We're allowing customers to save costs from innovating on an ad hoc, or what we call an accidental, basis and evolve them from an accidental to repeatable, predictable innovation," President and CEO Mark Atkins told Managing Automation in an interview. The software allows customers "to work in a uniform, collaborative, information-driven fashion to come up with new product designs," he said.
Repeatability and sustainability in the innovation process are "incredibly important," said Jim Brown, vice president of product innovation and engineering at Aberdeen Group, in an interview with Managing Automation. "We see executives getting frustrated with putting a budget together for R&D and product development without any idea of what yields they can expect."
Goldfire version 4.5, which Atkins described as a "customer-driven" upgrade, offers users built-in risk analysis templates that can be customized for industry-specific workflows, taking advantage of effective innovation processes in such industries as automotive, energy, chemical, and aerospace & defense.
In addition, the company has expanded Goldfire's multilingual capabilities with German and French content. The next revision will incorporate Japanese, executives said. Version 4.5 also offers increased ease of use and support for Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007.
The software automates many front-end tasks in the innovation process, such as researching prior patents, existing competition, potential markets for new concepts, licensing issues, and failure mode effect analysis (FMEA). The new release includes industry-specific classes of risk analysis — for example, hazardous operations analysis for the chemical industry.
Invention Machine's software features "automated, proven best practices embedded in the platform," Jim Todhunter, CTO, told Managing Automation. "As engineers perform their tasks, at every point, they can tap into organizational and global knowledge that gives them confidence that their analysis is thorough and accurate."
Manufacturing companies are driven to achieve profitable growth, rather than growth through cost cuts, Aberdeen's Brown said, and that "requires innovation and capturing the minds and hearts of customers. It's not magic. There are processes and practices out there to help achieve that." Invention Machine's unique contribution, he said, is that it pulls these best practices into a "packaged application that offers the ability to manage that process and instill it into an R&D organization."
In a prepared statement, Atkins said the Goldfire software "minimizes design risks and fosters repeatable innovation." To that end, Invention Machine is integrating its product with those of product data management companies, providing application programming interfaces into PTC's Windchill and Siemens' Teamcenter products. A cooperative agreement with Dassault's 3D CAD unit SolidWorks is also in the offing.
During the past two quarters, the company said, it has signed on BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate, Chemtura, Hydro Aluminum, Immucor, Roxane, Velcro, and Wah Chang as new customers. In addition, existing customers, including Leggett & Platt, Nestlé, Northrop Grumman, SC Johnson, Schneider Electric, and Thales, have expanded their use of Goldfire.
Base pricing for Goldfire is in the range of $100,000, Atkins said.
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