Top-leading household appliances companies today can’t do without innovation. That’s a fact. The main reason for that being that their customers are looking for high-quality products that differentiate themselves from the low-cost products available on the market.
But what is a really innovation induction hob? And how can you conceive it to fit your customers’ real needs?
Here are 5 expert tips to create the most innovative cooktop on the market today, without breaking the bank.
APPLY THE DESIGN THINKING TECHNIQUE TO YOUR INNOVATIVE INDUCTION COOKTOP
If you’re interested in innovation, you might have heard about Design Thinking. This creation technique helps many companies today reach high-end, functioning products, that perfectly match their market’s needs.
The Design Thinking technique is based on two major key-points:
- Co-designing. Implicating your final customer from the beginning helps you search for the real value behind your innovative idea.
- Iteration. As long as your product isn’t perfectly adapted to the demand, the process keeps going, through various prototypes and test-and-learn designs.
This technique is a great wat, not only to design an innovative induction hob, but to give it a real differentiating value for your customers.
But if you want to go even further, don’t stop at questioning your customers about their needs: implicate your cooktop designer and technology suppliers in the process. Those are the value chain actors that may help you detect new materials or technologies, that you never knew existed or were possible. By combining your expertise (on your market, and what your audience is looking for) and your partners’ (from a material and technological point of view), you’ll create a real innovative cooktop, in the end.
THINK ABOUT INNOVATION “OUTSIDE THE BOX”
When thinking about innovation, it’s easy to focus on the product itself, its design and look and feel. But as a matter of fact, innovation goes way beyond the product itself: it’s a way of looking for a real value for the customer.
For instance, you can think about:
- A new configuration for your cooktop. For instance, why not think about a full surface induction system, for an easier and faster cooking experience.
- A new technological component, that adds value to the cooking process. A connected cooktop that guides cooking, for instance
Sometimes even, this value can be just a “perceived value”, such as a thicker metal sheet, to make the product seem more resistant or innovative, or a never-created-before diameter for the cooking zones.
Also think about the more innovative details that surround your product, such as its marketing. When creating an induction cooktop, always think about the way it will be marketed for your target-audience. Is your audience sensible to “made in France” products? Or to a differentiating packaging?
Your product’s features may not be enough to create value for your customers, as they may not perceive it directly in store. Make sure you design the right marketing message, that’ll appeal to your audience, and train your sellers to deliver this innovative message the best way they can.
All those details need to appear in your initial specification for the designer, as well as the technical specs you are looking for.
CHOOSE A REAL OEM PARTNER
Top-leading brands always prefer choosing a factory entirely dedicated to their products.
In fact, by choosing a 100% brand-free partner, you ensure yourself that the manufacturer won’t retain any innovative technology for itself, and that your project won’t come second on the production line in case of a bottleneck.
A real OEM also won’t stop at mass customization, by simply putting your logo on standardised products. As a matter of fact, a real OEM will take into account all your needs regarding innovation in one global solution.
Make sure the partner you choose will be able to:
- Understand the induction hob trends and markets, to guide you through the conception of a real innovative product.
- Identify the best technological partners in his address book, to reach a pitch-perfect induction cooktop for your customers.
- Adapt his methods to your supply-chain model, by tailoring his fabrication and logistics process to yours.
- Take care of your customer service for you, with services such as a dedicated hotline, repairing experts, and a rigorous follow-up on your customers’ satisfaction.
If choosing a small OEM can seem like a good idea to produce an innovative product, beware of the costs these small manufacturers may entail. In fast, in the household appliance world, the bigger the factory, the bigger the economies of scale.
Our experts at ARPA Cooking remain firmly committed to your success, by taking a large share of the commercial responsibility of your creative cooking solution project. Let’s say your project fails (which we do everything for it not to): that doesn’t have to be an issue to our customers, as we have taken care entirely of the study costs, and our remuneration depends on how much products you sold.
SEEK FOR FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION LINES
You may already know it: true innovation needs to adopt a quick pace, for an optimum time-to-market. You can’t just let your competitors market the most innovative cooktop before you have time to design yours.
Which is why you need to look for a factory that can adapt its production and assembly lines quickly. Its goal? Changing details fast enough after the first SKUs are out on the market, by taking into account customer reviews for the next product batches.
Want to design a whole collective of different innovative products? Seek for a designer that can split its factory into mini-production lines, to conceive each of your collection’s products at one time.
Want to a small series of a few products? Choose a partner that will ensure you 100% customized products, even from a small batch production. At ARPA’s, we start our runs as low as 34 pieces.
CHOOSE A COOKTOP FACTORY THAT FOCUSES ON OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Every day, you get challenged by your customers on prices, value, innovation. Why not challenge your cooktop designer as well?
The best way to do so today is to ask for an operational excellence process inside their factory. The best induction cooktop designers today can’t do without this management technique, that helps each of the project’s stakeholders to seek for the product’s final value.
Operational excellence relies on three major pillars:
- Performance, with flexible and custom-made production lines for each cooktop project
- Employee well-being, with employees being trained to production best practices, and a test-and-learn state of mind
- Sustainability, with an eye set on the production’s respect for the environment
Only when those two pillars meet can the production lines become more effective, more customer-focused… and more innovative, to meet your success goals.
At ARPA’s, our expert teams help you design, not only your future product, but tomorrow’s innovative induction hob: the one that’ll differentiate you from your competitors, as well as satisfy your customers’ needs.
We rely on the best glass-ceramic and cooktop electronics suppliers, and an operational excellence approach, to offer innovation at the best price possible. Want to see it for yourself? Please contact us: we’d love to hear about your innovative cooktop project.
