The Global Challenge
When I founded PDD back in 1980 my vision was to integrate the disciplines of industrial design, product design and prototyping with the aim of making the process from product brief to manufacture quicker, more robust and with greater ownership of the result.
I was fortunate to be surrounded by a team who shared the same passion for making this integration work and I am delighted that, 28 years later, the desire remains to push integration across the total product cycle – from product strategy to end-of life disposal.
In todays global markets conventional business models are challenged by the convergence of products and services. Product design as the differentiator is no longer sufficient. The challenge for many businesses is thinking innovatively and acting innovatively. Products need to be delivered where innovation is the differentiator and where the customer can understand its value.
In my role as Chairman of British Design Innovation (a not-for-profit membership organisation setting standards for collaborative innovation in the UK) we are supporting the change in emphasis from product design to product innovation.
Here at PDD we have responded by recruiting business strategists to work alongside professionals with deep service experience that complement our established product development team. Our service offering has developed over many years with improved processes and tools to help you bring innovation into the boardroom. We have enhanced our research capability with methodologies to better uncover the unmet needs of your customer – the cornerstone of any innovation delivery programme.
We continue to invest in the best people and facilities to execute programmes through to manufacture. Our services are seamless from product strategy to market and we have worked hard to embrace the values of collaborative innovation, integrating our clients into the entire innovation cycle.
PDD has always been closely connected to the educational system in order to exchange best practice and the Company page provides more information on initiatives planned for 2008.
I am proud of what the PDD team has achieved and hope this new website communicates the energy and excitement with which we embrace the challenges of 2008.
I would be pleased to hear your views – feedback is always welcome.
Paul Pankhurst
Chairman
