Ideation is a key process in the innovation cycle. It's not something that just happens on its own when you put people together in a room.

MAGNET's product engineers and business strategy consultants can train your team in the proven steps that will generate dozens of viable new product ideas—not just once, but over and over again.

But just generating ideas is not the final goal. Through a series of structured exercises, your own team will evaluate and vote on the concepts generated, whittling down the field from dozens to just two or three. When the final choice is made, everyone will understand why that idea was chosen.

Success Story: Sauder WoodTrac

In 2008, when foreign competition and rising materials costs flattened this furniture manufacturer's growth curve, Sauder Woodworking Co.'s management team called on MAGNET to help it embark on a new era of innovation. For the first time, the company assembled a 15-person, cross-functional team that included the heads of accounting, human resources, sales, marketing, engineering and operations.

During a two-day ideation session, the Sauder innovation team defined its success target: a new product that could generate $110,000 in annual sales. Then it began a lightning-fast new product idea generation process. Sauder's new Innovation Team developed the winning WoodTrac Ceiling System product line, which helped the company break into a brand-new marketplace and generated $110,000 in sales in its first year out. Learn more here.

"We came up with 85 ideas, but we settled on just two. And since the entire team was involved in the whole process, everyone was on board for those two. It's much easier to implement a new project this way."

—Dan Sauder, EVP New Markets and Engineering, Sauder Woodworking Co.

To find out how a MAGNET Ideation Session could benefit your company, contact MAGNET today!