New Steam Cooker for
Supermarkets
A brand new, distinctive steam technology will be introduced
to the Supermarket segment at the FMI tradeshow in Las
Vegas May 10-13 by our partner company Market Forge
(booth 2074). The Eco Steam Express has the ability to individually cook different
products with different timing in the same steamer at the same time. The steam
chamber is removable and can be cleaned between steaming sessions to deliver
fresh, clean production and no machine maintenance or repair due to liming,
ever. Look for the product at Market Forge's NRA booth (5012) as well.
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New Equipment Ideas
Well Done continues to enhance its invention and innovation capabilities
with state of the art prototyping equipment by adding two pieces of precision
equipment for rapid prototyping in metals (including iron, steel, titanium and
chromium alloys) and plastic. Other recent acquisitions include a
computer-controlled CNC vertical machining
center and a CAD-controlled CNC lathe.
Other
rapid prototyping equipment in the IWD machine shop include an additive plastic
rapid prototyping system and a 3D laser scanner to create parts from existing
pieces.
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 Historic Industry Innovations
Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried
Chicken, was one of the best problem solvers our industry has ever seen. He
defined one problem in the 1930s when he operated Sanders Court & Café
Restaurant and Motel, the first motel in Kentucky. His problem was that
customers had to wait 30 minutes while he fried chicken in an iron skillet -
and he thought that was about 25 minutes too long. He didn't like deep frying,
as others were doing. He saw a new-fangled gizmo, the pressure cooker, and
experimented until he got what he wanted - the best tasting chicken he'd ever
had.
He developed his blend of 11 herbs and spices and
would hand mix them on a concrete floor on the back porch, using a scoop to
make a tunnel in the flour and mix in the spices. He later innovated into using a cement mixer.
Sanders continued to
innovate - he was the first to sell chicken in buckets, he perfected the pick
up window, and, if not the first, he was at least very early in selling
"franchise style" rights to use his formula.
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SA Vent Update
Now that the
IWD-developed countertop small appliance ventilation system, SA Vent, has full
approvals and manufacturing is in full swing, units are selling across the
continent. For more information visit our partner company Equipex.
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Who are we?
Ideas
Well Done is a product design and development firm in Winooski, VT. We conceive of
products, design them, and produce & test prototypes. We will work with
manufacturers or foodservice chains to create new product lines or improve
existing ones. While we have significant experience in commercial foodservice
equipment we recognize that our concepts have value in other market areas.
Interested? Call Mike Colburn at 877-312-1706, X101. Or email info@ideaswelldone.com |
IWD Innovation
Showcase
Following a very successful Innovations Showcase of several
new and unique technologies and designs in 2009, IWD has scheduled a 2nd Showcase on Monday, May 24,
2010 at the Merchandise Mart. Attendee space is limited and by
invitation - multi-unit operators should let us know if you want to
attend. You will see new products before they reach the market and may influence their design and commercialization future. Attendance is scheduled
for at least a full hour to assure personal attention from the manufacturers
and designers involved in the new products. Contact Mike Colburn for more information or to schedule a timeslot.
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Dear Geoffrey,
Mike
and I were invited to present our process for innovating and inventing at FER Magazine's MUFES conference in Austin, TX last week. For those of
you who missed this wonderful conclave, a synopsis of our presentation is
below.
MUFES
(MultiUnit Foodservice Equipment Symposium) brings together major foodservice
chains and equipment manufacturers for three days of seminars and networking.
The speakers are always topnotch and provide big-picture, thought-provoking commentaries
(worldwide macro trends) as well as focusing on the details (Surviving LEED certification). I'll give you a quick rundown on those topics in this
issue, and more later.
A fun part of putting together our presentation was
research into innovations developed by foodservice chains. We will continue that research - it's important to
recognize what the industry has already done as well as celebrate new
accomplishments. We will include these historical notes in our newsletters. If
you have more stories about historic chain restaurant innovations, please send
them to me to share in the newsletter from time to time.
Best
wishes,
Mary
Esther Treat Vice President
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Anatomy of the Innovation Process
MUFES 2010 Presentation
This
is a very brief outline of our presentation at MUFES.
Our definition of Innovation: Innovation Is Creating
New Possibilities that Create Value
The Steps to Innovation -
1. Have a problem and define it carefully and in detail.
2: Get to know your problem; do a lot of research, become a specialist on your
problem
3: Organize your research, study each piece carefully, make notes and cross
references
4: Generate a lot of ideas - use the techniques below
5: The Magic - forget about it; set the problem aside. Let it incubate. The
solution comes when least expected. Write it down!
6: Do something with it. Don't stop with the first solution. Build upon it.
Often more valuable ideas come several steps after the original one.
Techniques to generate
lots of ideas
1. Combining: it's the combination of ideas or things
that creates something new
2. Observation & Deduction: look at everything with
fresh eyes
3. Study what others have done; borrow: incorporate
good ideas you learn from research, from your colleagues, from anyone
4. Think differently: force yourself to take a
different perspective, don't rely on assumptions or how things have usually
been done
5. Wonder, ask expanding questions: ask yourself and
others - how does this work, what if, why?
6. Make connections: story-boarding - use index cards
and move them around to see if new connections pop out.
7. Rephrase your problem: change the way it's worded,
turn it inside out
8. Just
change things: change assumptions, change rules (or throw them out)
9. Prototype: building a model answers some questions
and creates others; experiment to find out what works and what doesn't.
10. Create analogies, make associations: this helps find
combinations and connections that may contain part of your solution
11. Use your hands - Write or Draw: the physical process
spurs different thoughts
12. Talk out loud: formulating ideas verbally can
clarify them
13. Be persistent: return to earlier notes and ideas -
you may see them differently over time
14. Use improvisation rules: when presented with an
idea, force yourself to accept it and expand upon it; say "and" instead of
"but"
15. Expect the unexpected: accidents often hold
solutions
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Seven Revolutions
MUFES 2010 Presentation
Population: changes
in migration, aging populations & rapid urbanization Resources: world
food demand will double by 2050; water scarcity; fossil fuels supply 77%
of primary energy demand Technology: expect
progress in deep and pervasive computing, robotics, biotechnology and
nanotechnology Knowledge: how to
make workforces relevant in shifting knowledge environment? New levels of
learning for younger workers and lifelong learning for us. Economic
Integration: profound shift in global balance of power in production and
consumption. Conflict and 7. Governance:
need for innovative approaches to change by government, private sector,
civil society, academic & research communities.
The
pace of change is accelerating. We need to be involved in our future. Dr.
Ghadar finds the future "simultaneously promising and perilous."
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LEED certification:
3 chains' Experience
MUFES 2010 Presentation
Yum! Brands, David
Harpring
KFC,
Northampton, MA, opened 12/08. Includes solar wall, optimized hoods, energy efficient appliances, LED lighting (found
to be expensive, so not adopted system-wide), daylight harvesting, rain garden,
bulk oil management, composting & recycling.
LEED building's performance
compared to a nearby store of same size showed 74% less exhaust energy consumed
while experience 40% higher transactions. LEED store used 72% less interior
lighting energy and 57% less exterior lighting energy.
Lessons:
whole-building design approach is critcal; green technologies are still
evolving; important to know how buildings operate, which requires detailed
utility data.
Dunkin Brands, David
O'Leary
St.
Petersburg, FL. Includes insulating concrete form wall; large window wall for
daylight, bathroom windows (above head height); paint reduced VOC's over
standard wall covering; millwork using core particleboards from 100% recycled
wood fiber; reserved parking for carpool, hybrid vehicles and bike rack; dug a
well for low voltage irrigation system using drip hoses; landscaped with
indigenous plants to decrease watering demand; composts coffee grounds, filters
and newspapers with 80K worms; tankless on-demand water heaters; energy
management electric panel.
Chipotle, Scott Shippey
Gurney
Mills, IL. Includes high efficiency RTU's, high efficiency water heater,
indirect daylight, insulated building, Energy Star equipment, 6 kW wind
turbine, increased vegetated space 20%, energy management system, lower
supply/exhaust rate at hood, low flow fixtures, LED/CFL lighting. "If you
haven't measured energy usage you don't know where to focus". Compared to
nearby similar store, which was already an efficient building, the LEED store
saved over $7,200 on electricity. The wind turbine was very expensive - "solar
would make more sense" and has more financial support available.
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Solutions Come from Observing & Combining
Many
of our newsletters give you a glimpse of what we find interesting at tradeshows
in the US and abroad. We often find
ideas or pieces of solutions to innovation problems by observing unrelated
technologies, industries and products. It
is usually the combination of existing ideas or things that results in a new
innovation. This is why we attend symposiums and trade shows that aren't in our
usual foodservice realm.
We
share a lot of what we see with you and we always bring back many pounds of
literature for future reference. Outside the US we find design and
technology are often focused differently than in America - so we may get a view
into the future. By attending shows outside of commercial foodservice we also
gain insight to opportunities and ideas that could benefit our industry.
In
January we attended the 2010 International Air-Conditioning, Heating and
Refrigerating Exposition in Orlando, FL. I was blown away. Instead of our typical
product review I have assembled a few facts and observations for your benefit.
The
show had over 8 acres of exhibit space with over 1,800 exhibitors and over
40,000 attendees. These businesses sell
product and systems that go into buildings so they have to be hurting in this
economy, just like a lot of our industry. BUT how are they fighting out of this
recession? By investing in new
innovation. Over 73% of exhibitors were exhibiting new products. That's an
astonishing percentage. I saw pre-production prototypes as well as new entries
into the market so these weren't just new colored knobs. Fifty three percent of
the new product exhibitors stated that their new product was related to
improving energy efficiency.
ASHRAE Journal had surveyed EXPO exhibitors and provides a
few other interesting facts we can dwell on:
* 58%
felt that 2010 would provide excellent or good business prospects
* The
most important issue to their customers was reliability followed by first cost
and energy efficiency.
* The
hottest market sectors for 2010 are predicted to be hospitals/health care,
followed by schools.
I
will provide a few more tidbits after we visit Hotelympia in London next week.
Good
Business,
Mike Colburn, President
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Please forward this newsletter to anyone who would be interested in foodservice equipment design, development and invention. | |
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