Targeting Innovation

Albyn is a well-established SME based in Aberdeen. The company traditionally manufactured health and beauty products such as hairbrushes, toothbrushes and travel packs for a number of major UK retailers, under the retailer's own brand.

With the introduction of 'reverse auctioning' and increasing competition from the Far East, Albyn recognised the need to reinvent the business. They are now transformed into a development company, proactively seeking new product and market opportunities that will give them a competitive advantage.

Albyn provide this competitive advantage to healthcare and beauty buyers by developing and supplying innovative products and packaging through licensing and exclusive distribution and by developing products from a customer brief. Retailers and pharmaceutical companies use Albyn to develop own-label and exclusive health and beauty brands, resulting in fresh and exciting ranges that sell. Crucial to the success of Albyn is the ability to develop new products. Customer testimonials highlight the time Albyn save during a project, as their inhouse expertise covers everything - product & packaging, design & development, artwork & graphics, manufacturing, fulfilment, logistics and project management. This offers customers a single solution to New Product Development.

The Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) Process started with a two day workshop in January 2006, with six delegates which included the managing director, and key sales, technical, marketing and finance personnel. The team generated 23 potential product ideas from their existing standard styling brush, from which four potential projects were generated:

• Detox indicator brush - Indicates when a customer needs to use detox shampoo;
• Ergonomic Salon Range - Range of styling tools designed uniquely for hairdressers' use;
• Applicant Colouring Brush - Applies close to scalp, for haircare and medical markets;
• Men's Grooming Range - Designer accessory range for up-market sales.

A follow up workshop using the SIT workshop outcomes helped develop a new internal Stop/Go decision-making process which has now been deployed as a management tool within the company.

Albyn report that, "many techniques had been used in the past including blue sky thinking, brainstorming etc, but the attraction to Albyn of SIT is the use of conventional thinking patterns, but in a completely new way. This also means that the process starts at a familiar point, whereas blue sky can sometimes seem somewhat esoteric.

SIT includes an evaluation process which helps identify which of the ideas should be taken forward. Albyn took this process and with further follow up from Targeting Innovation, developed a customised Stop/Go technique, which is proving extremely beneficial in deciding which new projects to run with and to help decide when to kill or proceed with these projects as they progress.

This new Stop/Go technique is now the cornerstone of the Albyn NPD process and has come about as a direct result of the SIT work completed in January."