Background: I pitched this around for some time to mostly Angels and built a management team . This was in 04. I should have just filed some IP. I have seen some similar models pop up, but nothing linking consumers directly to the CNC machine. Is it needed? Is mass customization really just mass personalization? Will that ever change?The investors said they liked it, but the surf market is not big enough. The majority of my time was spent explaining the surf market was simply a "Test Market." I had to hammer that into peoples heads.
Ghost Surfboards powered by CADIS (Computer Aided Design Integration System) is a design and manufacturing system for custom product design focusing initially on Surfboard Design. CADIS allows consumers to use CAD (Computer Aided Design) software online tailored for individual products, design products to their exact specifications using the interface, submit their designs which are manufactured to their exact requirements and specifications, and have their custom design shipped to the location of their preference.
CADIS is a first mover in a global market where a slow shift in global demand is changing from mass production to mass customization because of the emergence of new ways of digitizing information. Combined with the Internet, digitizing information represents a form of general purpose technology that is giving rise to a vast array of possible combinations that can be referred to as a new economy. Digitization of information in conjunction with the Internet can reduce costs, increase productivity and help producers respond more quickly to changing consumer demand. This trend has been seen and proven by such corporations as Wal-Mart and Amazon where they take advantage of digitizing information to facilitate their supply chain and customer relationship management.
The market for online custom product design has been untapped due to the complexity of understanding the limits on what is designed and what can be manufactured. CADIS fills this untapped market of custom product design online by taking advantage of and linking of digitization of information and Computer Numerical Coded (CNC) machining. This disruptive technology of linking together files representing a consumers design directly with the CNC manufacturing process, custom products can be manufactured eliminating numerous intermediate operations and create and meet a new demand of customers who desire products designed solely by them.
The CADIS system creates a strategy based on providing greater value to consumers by giving them the option of being the sole creator of their product’s and providing a highly efficient product development cycle which lowers the unit cost substantially. The standardization of the process creates an efficient business model, which will immediately populate a consumer’s design to a manufacturing process with 100% accuracy once the consumer orders their custom product.
CADIS, maintains the philosophy that for custom products to be truly custom the consumer must be directly involved with all decisions leading up to the finished product. The founder discovered the problem of purchasing custom products when searching for methods of obtaining truly custom surfboards. The surfboard is a product, which requires a very custom shape to maximize performance. Experienced shapers, who have access to proper tools, materials, and training, are the sole providers of this custom shape. When searching for prospective vendors to accommodate his needs he realized each finish product he received contained disparities, which conflicted with their initial request. This miscommunication is typical in any product that is desired custom.
The CADIS system creates a bridge between the consumer and the design and eliminates this discontinuity which creates error. In addition, the online environment provides numerous ways to monetize the business model even broader. CADIS gains a steady revenue stream from “Incentive Advertising”. Providing products with no brand name customers are given the option of placing advertisements on their custom products lowering their unit price while increasing the profit margins for CADIS by collecting advertising fees from listed companies. This gives consumers even more incentive to use CADIS to design their products.
The launch of CADIS must be done strategically with a product that can test the efficiency and effectiveness of not only the CADIS system but the untapped market of consumers who desire custom design. CADIS needs to be launched initially in a market which satisfies four criteria:
• A product where there is a high demand for custom shape
• A product, which can be manufactured from an abundance of readily available near net shape raw materials from vast amounts of competitive suppliers
• A market that is big enough to meet startup forecasts yet small enough meet demand with a product that meets or exceeds the quality of products from the competition
• A market where customers are very interested in using the Internet and have a strong sense of the exact requirements that they desire to make their product unique to themselves
CADIS will be launched strategically powering a wholly owned subsidiary Ghost Surfboards based offshore. The surfboard market is ideal for the launch of CADIS. With a surfboard you have high demand for custom shape to maximize performance that only can be acquired through the expertise, tools, and training of a skilled shaper. Purchasing a custom surfboard shaped by a skilled shaper is very expensive with extremely long lead times. CADIS’s elimination of the middleman offers consumers a new method of obtaining their custom shape by lowering their cost, their lead-time substantially, and any chance for design error due to miscommunication between a customer and a shaper.
Surfboards manufacturing is a simple process needing only 3 ingredients:
• Lightweight blank
• Fiberglass
• Fin(s)
There are vast amounts of competitive suppliers who offer these sub components of a surfboard, which gives CADIS a strong buyer power. More importantly when CADIS goes live online demand will fluctuate quite rapidly. A major issue regards how to meet high demand of the product maintaining the CADIS philosophy of low lead times and high quality. The surfboard market is ideal for such a situation. The simplicity of the design, the homogeneity in inventory and the large pool of suppliers allow CADIS to be in a position to meet demand accruing a backlog that still can be attended to with a shorter lead time the conventional manufacturing.
Surfing is a global market but located in coastal regions around the world. Concentrating on a
smaller market to launch CADIS will ensure that future targeted markets will be supported with a maximized efficient and effective business model proven by Ghost Surfboards. Once the CADIS system meets revenue forecasts after milestones are met, management’s exit strategy of Ghost Surfboards is through acquisition. Using lessons learned from CADIS start up supporting Ghost Surfboards, CADIS will jump into diverse product offerings which encompass a much broader range of consumers globally.
• Furniture
• Snowboards
• Bicycles
• Wakeboards
In addition CADIS plans to set up a consulting side to instruct companies with existing products in industry to use the CADIS system to turn their standardized product into a custom product.
Ghost Surfboards marketing efforts will initially be geared to target the Western Coast of the United States (including Hawaii); however, after proven a successful operation, World Wide Marketing efforts coupled with oversea facilities will be established to facilitate supply chain management. Global use of CADIS will be encouraged and supported despite West Coast concentration.
Business to Business Sales– We will offer complete surfboards or shaped blanks to surf shops or private shapers. Our services will allow each store or private shaper to Private Label their boards and keep an online design folder with all of their shapes. Each shaper’s designs will be stored confidentially. This database of designs will promote repeat and ongoing orders. Because the shapes are created by the individual designers, the opportunity to provide boards to the vast majority of stores is not inhibited by brand.
Online Retail Sales– The design environment will be available to anyone who is interested in
surfboard design. The online design application will allow saving different designs and will provide a user name and password.
Marketing Methods
• Direct Marketing to the Surfing Community
• Sponsorships
• World Wide Media Attention
• Online Design Competitions – Target Schools and promote the design software and manufacturing services.
• Trade shows and events
Objectives
• To fulfill a new market of consumers who demand top quality products designed solely by them.
• Create an interactive website that stresses user friendliness, functionality and integrates modern techniques to facilitate supply chain and customer relationship management
• To use the surf board market as a tool to test consumers appetite for online product design and be profitable along with educational
• To break even by the end of the first year in business
• To create a system where consumers get the entire feel of the product development cycle similar to an engineer, designer or architect
• Receive necessary funding to launch CADIS
• Form a California C Corporation for liability protection of personal and company assets
• Establish strategic relationships with 20-30 established companies who can use CADIS as a platform for their advertising and marketing strategies
• Profit - To generate sufficient profit to finance future growth and to provide the resources needed to achieve the other objectives of the company and its owners
• Growth - To grow the business at a rate that is both challenging and manageable, leading the market with innovation and adaptability
• Citizenship - To be an intellectual and social asset to the community and environment
• To break even by the end of the Second year in business.
Mission
CADIS, maintains the philosophy that for custom products to be truly custom the consumer must be directly involved with all decisions leading up to the finished product. CADIS’s mission is to meet demand with a product that exceeds customer expectations for time, performance and value. CADIS strives to demonstrate that Internet Technology can enable both great improvements in operating models and outstanding new value propositions to customers.
• Meeting highly variable demand using Information Technology Systems
• On time delivery
• A product that meets or exceeds the quality of the competition
• Provide top quality products, as cost less than our competitors by utilizing new
technology and engineering standards and principals to maximize throughput efficiently and effectively
Keys to Success
The company has established a strong and sustainable business model, the highlights of which include:
• CADIS will carry a minimum inventory of materials and maintain a Just in Time (JIT) Delivery system with key vendors. With a well planned Manufacturing Resource Planning system embedded in the website all sales orders will drive a bill of material per order for all required items to successfully turn all raw materials into finished goods. The MRP system will be viewable by all key vendors supplying materials. This supply chain model ensures that we have the capabilities to cope with significant volume increases and to meet demand
• In an effort to maximize cash flows, the company has a policy of requiring a 100%
deposit for all orders. With no form of receivables the risk of fluctuating cash flows, which
are common to companies carrying inventory and extended payment terms, is effectively eliminated
• By selling both bare form blanks and finished boards – Greater market share will be possible. Business-to-Business customers and retail customers will be targeted.
• A strong Customer Relationship Management system embedded in the website will provide personalized customer services, including a design folder and current and past orders
• The design system allows the designer ultimate flexibility, however limits them to manufacturability shapes. All designs will not be finalized until certain parameters are met which will allow for an easy flow of information from the users computer to the CNC shaping system. Many years of surfboard shaping experience has been built into the software that provides guidelines and constraints allowing a first time designer to create a professional level board
• Management has incorporated such principals as Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and 5s that will be practiced by all CADIS manufacturing facilities to ensure extreme quality control as seen in the automotive and defense industries. This will insure that once CADIS moves into more complex products, CADIS will have the proven ability to meet stringent quality requirements demanded in certain industries and products
• Developing a user friendly web interface to Design and manage the surfboards
• Implementing a efficient CNC machining process
• Refine the 5 technologies originally developed by CADIS
• Maximizing profits by selling through the Internet at full retail price. As well as private label Business to Business sales
• Maintaining low manufacturing costs by monitoring and scheduling production.
• Developing a network with other businesses and experts, such as Shapers, Surf Shops and Surf Industry giants like Quicksilver.
0 comments:
Post a Comment