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.
As the team begins speaking, you’re taken aback by their extensive, often technical product questions. “Why would they need to know that…?” You wonder as you copy a list of information to gather after the meeting.
Putting your best foot forward is challenging when you don’t know what to expect from a meeting. We 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 understand the purpose of a Discovery Meeting, who should be involved, and how it will lead to the next step in your project.
What Happens in the Discovery Meeting?
The Discovery Meeting is an appointment to discuss your product design and plans with Strouse. It is also an excellent opportunity to ask any questions about our converting capabilities.
The meeting will involve specific questions about your part design to help us determine the most cost-effective and timely way to build your product.
QUESTIONS TO ANTICIPATE
Here are our most common design questions:
| 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)? |
| 3. | What does it need to stick to? |
| 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? |
| 11. | Essentially, what problem does this product need to solve? |
By the end of the Discovery Meeting, we should clearly understand what you need and how far along you are in your process.
Who Should Be Involved in the Discovery Meeting?
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
Having a technical expert who can answer questions about your product and describe its intended application will speed up the process, prevent miscommunication, and increase our chances of having a productive conversation about developing a solution.
Things to Prepare for the Discovery Meeting
Every project is unique, so the agenda for each meeting might differ slightly. Regardless, it’s essential for us to understand your product's intended function and design.
1. YOUR PART DRAWING
The part drawing is one of the most critical 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.
Strouse is not a design house, meaning our design capabilities aim to improve the process rather than design the part itself. If you don’t have a drawing, you’re probably not ready to talk to an adhesive converter. We can help test different designs, but you’ll need to have at least one before diving headfirst into production.
2. DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS & TOLERANCES
While these are technically part of your drawing, it’s crucial to understand that discussing your die cut specifications and tolerances will allow us to determine the manufacturing feasibility of your part.
Are any of these numbers flexible? To what degree? Can adjustments be made in certain areas of the design to create a smoother production process?
If you don’t have the answers to these questions, that’s another indicator that you should involve your technical experts or clients.
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
