Why we still develop new products
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Moffatt has been a leader in the flex arm industry for years, we have several classic designs. So why do we keep making new things?
Product development is an integral part of what we do. It might seem strange for a parts supplier, but for us it’s natural. Why? Because above all else, we’re problem solvers. That comes in handy with our clients, when adapting our flex arms to their devices, it becomes a critical and integral part of their design process.
Product development shifts our thought process, which is great for the OEMs we work with
Product development gives us really valuable insight into the people who are most important to what we do: the end-users. We like to say that in our meetings with clients that we are advocates for the end-user. We want to make sure that their needs are being met, because if not, then it’s unlikely that they’ll use it. If they don’t use it, then they’ll ultimately stop buying our product and look elsewhere. That’s why we ask so many questions in our meetings with clients, we want to know who their ideal user is, what they’re using it for, and how they’ll be using it.
When we develop our own device, we’re starting it from the concept phase. We decide on the concept, then research the customer and audience so that we can find what’s valuable and important to them. That can be a different process than an OEM customer telling us those same things and then having us develop a product. It’s really valuable to us because it teaches us to go through the process of being creative and working on solutions. That way, we are better prepared for collaborating creatively with our OEM customers. We bring that same creativity into our meetings with OEMs because sometimes an outside-the-box solution is in order. That won’t happen with someone who is just providing a part.
We’re evolving too, which helps you.
For years, the Moffatt task light was the product that put us on the map. It’s sturdy, durable, and most importantly works! Over the last few years, we’ve had folks ask for LED lighting – so we developed several options for them.
These projects help us refine our own ideas, which involves the development process when we’re helping customers. Why? Because our customers ask us questions about flex arms that your team may not have considered yet. That’s a big reason that we see folks hiring us, it’s as much for our expertise and experience as it is in sourcing a quality flex arm.
We aren’t proprietary with our ideas and it saves you money
If something works with our product, they want to use it. While some of our customers want proprietary rights to their products, oftentimes it’s less important for them than you’d think. A new customer requests a widget with a unique motion that has not been utilized before in our customer base. If Moffatt sees that there’s value for our other customers, we will ask if it’s alright for us to share or cover tooling costs if we can use it in other designs.
Typically that’s the attitude we find with our clients. We got into this business to be problem solvers, just like you. It doesn’t matter where the solution comes from as long as the problem gets solved. That’s why we still create new devices. You never know where the next great idea might come from. It behooves all of us to stay ready and engaged.