Having differentiation strategies enables a company to refocus any product discussions on new product and services without having price as the determining factor.

It is my experience that everyone has an idea for a product that if commercialized will change the way we live or interact with each and every day. The main problems encountered by the average inventor is that they are unaware of the time investment required, the cost to create one or more prototypes, the financial investment required to get the product manufactured and packaged, the sales and marketing collateral and the need to make contact with the target customer to keep them interested during the development process. Each one of these activities is a specific roles within any product company and usually most inventors are a one man show stretching themselves to perform duties that they do not have the skills for.

The most difficult of the activities encountered by an inventor that is committed to commercializing a product idea is associated with the manufacturing of the product. Inventors treat the project as a part-time activity and manage it using personal funds. The inventor spends most of his time and money working with manufacturers to develop and create a market ready product and usually finds that this process consumes most of the available financial and time resources. In addition, since the product is just another in a long list of products a manufacturer is contracted to make the inventor is very low on the totem pole as a production and support priority. I have witnessed product development timelines at more than two years and with depleted financial resources the product dies before it has a chance to successfully enter the market place.

I have had several encounters with frustrated inventors many with unrealistic ideas and goals a others that have a great idea, have researched the market potential and the local market potential. Based on the information gathered they quickly realized that they could not meet the timeline and target manufacturing costs required to successfully take the product to market. For several committed individuals I presented to them the Asia manufacturing opportunity. The clients were provided with two approaches to getting their products developed and manufactured in Asia, the first being that I would help them find and work with one or more companies and the second option provided is to handle for them the Asia activity related to product development and manufacturing.

Both models were successfully used by inventors yielding for them a cost structure that was supportive of a profitable distribution and sales strategy. In addition the timeline for development was reduced to months instead of years. Leveraging my contacts and knowledge of the Asian market provided me with the opportunity to support the successful product development for several projects. The programs pursued are as follows:

• Hammer mallet attachments that converts the claw and ball peen hammers into one of three types of rubber mallet
• Aerosol channel cap with tool storage
• Aerosol cap with integrated storage for spray extension tube
• Camping shower spray head
• Air intake system plug
• Re-engineer/Modernize/Update a family heavy duty of automotive service maintenance equipment for the professional repair industry
• Develop a series of light duty automotive service maintenance equipment for the do-it-yourself automotive enthusiast
• Interlocking stacking bulk liquid storage system for metal and plastic 4L, 5L and 20L pails, cans and jugs. Included in the program are a drip tray collector, side holsters for dispensers, and a top shelf unit for storing dispensers and service equipment
• Re-engineer an alternative refillable/reusable aerosol dispensing system using compressed air as the propellant. This is a non-ozone depleting solution
• Re-engineer a critical fluid comparator syringe for visual presentation of contaminated fluids

Working in a business development role in a global marketplace has enabled me to expand my capabilities and leverage my entrepreneurial experience to assist several small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) in their pursuit of new opportunities that they believed to initially be out of reach or within their capability.

Products:

• Automotive Hard Parts
• Automotive Accessories
• Broad range of heavy duty and automotive use engine coolant, oil and brake fluids
• 2″x4″ and 2″x6″ metal construction studs
• Stainless steel sports drinking bottles
• Bicycle accessories
• Food and drink vending machines for inter-city bus lines
• Automotive service and maintenance equipment
• Automotive OEM component stacking trays
• Plastic 1L and 1.5L hand pump pressure spray bottles

Packaging:

• 3-piece tine plate straight wall and necked-in aerosol cans in an range of diameters and heights with DOT 2N, 2P and 2Q ratings
• Aluminum aerosol cans in a wide range of heights
• Aerosol valves for a wide range of applications
• Aerosol caps in a variety of sizes, colours and designs
• Promotional Product Combo Clamshells
• 2 gallon wash pails with tops for use in car care promotional campaigns
• 5 gallon/20 liter plastic pails
• 5 gallon/20 liter metal open head and barrel style pails
• 16 oz/500ml Conetop style metal cans
• Threaded and pull-out spout bungs for 5 gallon/20 liter pails
• Paint cans in a range of sizes
• 4 oz/250 ml plastic squeeze tubes
• 20 liter pail plastic cradle
• Automotive service and maintenance equipment/tools
• Refillable/Re-pressurized aerosol cans, valve and actuator program
• Reusable plastic pour, spray and pump packaging

Moulds

• for use in the production of bottles using PVC plastic
• for use in the production of bottles using HDPE plastic
• for use in the production of bottles using Barex plastic
• for use in the production of a wide range of aerosol and bottle caps using PP plastic
• for use in the production of OEM component trays using PP plastic
• for use in the production of an HDPE plastic snap cap to convert an aerosol can for use as a bottle
• for use in the production of a specific bottle spout
• for use in the production of two styles of bungs used in sealing 5 gallon/20 liter metal bulk pails (a threaded plastic insert bung and pull-out plastic insert spout bung and a common metal crush retaining ring for the plastic bung inserts)
• for use in the production of plug-pin used in several driveability automotive service equipment kits
• for use in the production of a Bottle connector (connects 3 bottles w/22mm size necks as a 3 unit promotional product)
• for use in the production of a Stackable – Connectable 5 gallon/20 liter pail cradle
• for use in the production of a Drip tray for the cradle storage system
• for use in the production of a Stackable-Connectable 1 gallon/4 liter two jug cradle
• for use in the production of a Stackable-Connectable shelf to store dispensers and service equipment
• for use in the production of a Stackable-Interlocking side holster to store dispensers
• for use in the production of Interlocking corner sections to interlock the bulk storage system cradle units on both the vertical and horizontal planes

The path to personal and professional success is not always a linear progression. Your family, friends, social interactions, the organization(s) and boss(es) you work for and your health all play an important part in defining who and what you are. The relationships you develop along the way can and does influence the number and types of opportunities taken to craft the person you become.

Throughout my working career I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with a broad range of professionals within North America, Europe and the Far East. Most are great relationships that have contributed to the development of the skills and confidence I needed to continuously pursue new opportunities and challenges. The support and the recommendations that these people provided me with are an instrumental component to my achieving rapid career promotions, added responsibilities and increased accountability. The value of the verbal and written recommendations provided by these people has been and continues to be valuable assets. As a provider of executive support services, it is important that I provide new clients with the assurance of my capabilities and at the same time protect the successes and relationships of my previous and ongoing clients. The attached recommendations will attempt to deliver on both of requirements.

Branding is a means of differentiating oneself, a company or a product from the rest of the field. At TartanFrog we have had the opportunity of working on branding strategies in each of the categories. This section is dedicated to outlining the types of branding strategies that we have had the opportunity to be involved with.

• global procurement integration
• new product development activities
• distribution, sales and market development programs
• identify and/or create corporate and marketing differentiation programs
• local and international company expansion initiatives
• new company start-up strategies

When developing or executing a business strategy I always validate the program by testing the plan for understanding and completeness by applying the S.M.A.R.T. criteria acronym. Breaking down the acronym identifies the test criteria for a strategy as follows:

• S: Simple to execute
• M: Measurable
• A: Achievable
• R: Realistic
• T: Timely

Understanding and meeting the S.M.A.R.T. requirements provides the basis for the successful execution of a plan. The more detailed the answers to the criteria questions the greater the understanding there is of the project and its outcome.

Most of the component costs are fixed and very little can be done about them. The area that the buyer can have the most influence on is the space utilization factor associated with packing the container. Space utilization in a shipping container can be 80 to 97% efficient based on hoe the products are packed. The lowest utilization level occurs when products are palletized. The pallets themselves require space on the bottom and on the second level as products are generally stacked two pallets high. In addition, when using pallets there is usually a space at the top of the pallet that is too small to fit additional products.

The most shipping cost efficient container packing is hand packing the master cartons. When containers are packed using this method the manufacturer generally optimizes the master carton sizes for the products to utilize most if not all of the container space. When accepting this packing method the buyer must take into account the cost locally for unpacking containers loading using this method. In Asia this is a low labour cost activity but when done within your manufacturing or warehouse facility, it could represent a significant cost and remove the savings related to the space that is taken up with pallets.

Time management is one of the most important activity to getting a task done on budget and completed on time. During my career I have been involved in countless projects in both a corporate and the entrepreneurial level. This section provides you the reader with an opportunity to review by year the variety and complexity of projects that I have successfully completed, many of which were done simultaneously.

During my professional career I have had the opportunity to get involved and work in a wide range of service industries. My experience is a blend of both the entrepreneurial and the corporate world. This experience has been very valuable in my current venture – Executive on Demand through TartanFrog Inc. The projects and related accomplishments have been categorized by industry sector to assist in better understanding the activities that I have been involved in that may be of most interest to you the reader.