CASE STUDY No 029

1 Client: PICADORE “Zen Grip”

2 Product Description

Picadore is keen to be leaders in Guitar products and introduce special products to the market place. It identified a need for a new  plectrum holder that would facilitate a secure grip (reducing loss of plectrums) whilst retaining the ability to flex as required by expert guitarists.  The product had to be attractive, available in a variety of colours and cheap to produce 

2 Critical Issue                                                                                                                

Aesthetic and ergonomic design, material characteristics and selection, manufacturing processes, production of protoypes.

3 What we did

Innovation-Direct team worked closely with Picadore to design and develop the new product concept “Zen Grip” and to find optimum solutions to all the critical issues. We produced rapid prototypes to facilitate initial customer and end-user reactions and to enable `tweaking' of the final design to incorporate suggestions from these sources. We then advised on interim tooling and helped to obtain grants from MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service) to enable interim tooling to be made from our CAD files which would be adequate to produce larger batches (albeit by `knife & forking') for extended test marketing.

4 Outcome

Picadore presented their prototype product to their potential Customers/Retailers who were delighted with the concept and quickly gave an approval to move closer to production, Innovation Direct helped assisted the SME in turning the design idea into final product concept for potential buyers in the music industry to trial. They also looked to Warwick Manufacturing Group to endorse and help promote their device. The research project and development programme is now nearly complete and they will be providing the industry with a innovative new Zen Grip that will benefit musicians.

6 More information

Contact Ricky Singh at Innovation-Direct on 024 76 572 505                   April 2004