You’ve eaten a hearty breakfast, sat in your comfortable office chair, and are ready to have a highly productive introductory meeting with Strouse. Or so you think.
Yet, as soon as the representatives start talking, you’re taken aback by their direct questions about your product. “Why would they need to know that?” You grumble while copying a list of information to report.
Putting your best foot forward is challenging when you don’t know what to expect from a meeting. Strouse knows we can help our clients save time by telling them what we’ll discuss so they can come prepared.
By the time you’ve finished reading this, you should have a solid understanding of the Discovery Meeting, its purpose, who should be involved, and how it can help you with the next step in your project.
What Happens in the Discovery Meeting?
The Discovery Meeting is an appointment with Strouse to discuss your design and plans or to ask any questions you have about our converting capabilities.
The meeting will involve many questions about your part design, which will help us determine the most cost-effective and timely way to produce it.
Note: Let us know if you want to sign a mutual NDA before the Discovery meeting, and we’ll be happy to do so.
These are the most common design questions we ask:
1. What does your part actually do?2. What stage of life is the part at?
- Is it still in its infancy (not introduced to market)?
4. How is your part applied?
5. Does your part attach to the skin?
6. Is it permanent or removable?
7. What environments is it going to be exposed to?
8. What’s the most crucial element of your design (if any)?
9. Why this design?
10. Are you open to new ideas?
- Are materials, tolerances, and measurements rigid? What do you spec in?
By the end of the Discovery Meeting, we’ll have a clear understanding of what you need and how far along you are in your process.
Who Should Be Involved in the Discovery Meeting?
First and foremost, any experts involved in your part design should be involved in the discovery meeting. Our questions will become highly technical, so having the design experts on call rather than relaying our messages through word of mouth or email will save time and frustration.
Who qualifies as a technical expert?
- Someone who worked on the design
- Someone who knows the purpose behind the design and the product itself
- Someone who’s actively involved in the project from a technical standpoint
- An engineer, often a design or application engineer
For us to fully understand your process and offer the best solution, it’s crucial to bring someone who can answer questions about your product, describe its intended application, and help you succeed in your adhesive part design.
Having a technical expert in your meeting will speed up the process, prevent miscommunication, and significantly increase our chances of having a productive conversation.
What Should You Be Prepared to Discuss During the Discovery Meeting?
Every project is unique, so the agenda for each meeting might differ slightly. Regardless, the most important topics we’ll cover in-depth are your part's intended function and design. It is essential for your converter to understand the function and design of your product.
Although we might also review your project timeline or consider the possibility of scaling your design for production, the best way you can prepare for the discovery meeting is to come prepared to discuss the primary function of your product so we can build and deliver a successful part.
*EVERYTHING* ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT
As we discuss your process, there’s one question you’ll probably find yourself asking: Why do you need to know more?
You’ve explained the basics of what you need from us, and you believe you’ve given us plenty of information. Unfortunately, the opposite is usually true: we need to know more about your product.
The first step is discussing your die cut specifications and tolerances to determine the feasibility of your part. It helps if you can provide any drawings or data you have about your part’s design.
The next step is understanding how you plan to use your part for the final product, including how you’re applying the part, so we can optimize our manufacturing for the process and offer alternative ideas. Design details, such as adding a tab to the liner, can bring you from fifteen seconds of application down to five.
Failing to disclose the application method, such as an automated process, could result in faulty samples or wasted time and money due to a lack of pertinent information.
YOUR PART DRAWING
The part drawing is one of the most important aspects of the Discovery Meeting. If you haven’t yet submitted your drawing or design, you can send it to Strouse in preparation for a meeting or discussion.
As a reminder, we are not a design house, meaning our design capabilities are aimed at improving the process rather than designing the part itself. If you don’t have a drawing, you might not be ready to talk to an adhesive converter. Consider visiting a design house before diving headfirst into production.
What Happens After the Discovery Meeting?
The Discovery Meeting is a means of learning more about your project, design, and goals. Before we wrap up your discovery meeting, we will determine a sure course of action. Depending on what we’ve discussed, this could include sending samples, figuring out your timeline, planning your quote, and more.
At Strouse, we offer assistance at any stage of your project. The guide above explains our processes, timeline, and how we’ll help you.
If you’re starting a project with a tight deadline, you might be nervous about setbacks and looking for a strategy to overcome lead times based on how long it takes to receive die cut parts. The sooner you reach out for a consultation, the quicker we can begin planning an accurate part solution.
Still have questions? Contact us to learn more about our process for custom production.
Originally published: February 1. 2023
