|
|
A monthly publication from the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers
March 5, 2008 Edition
1. |
|
2. |
|
3. |
|
4. |
|
5. |
Competitive Assessment and Advantage |
6. |
|
7. |
WSPE's President's Corner |
|
By the time you read this, the state MATHCOUNTS competition will have concluded and the top students and coach will be preparing for the national competition being held in Denver, CO in early May. Hopefully, many of you were able to participate in the regional and state competitions. This program has been a great way to get kids excited about math and give them an opportunity to meet and interact with engineers early in their academic careers. National Engineers Week 2008 has also concluded. Each year, this week focuses on the importance of engineering and involves many different types of activities throughout the country. Please visit www.eweek.org to see what types of things are being done. We are always looking for people to help organize more events here in Wisconsin, so if you’re interested in working on something for next year’s E-Week, please contact Nancy Short at n.short@wspe.org to let her know. The Metro Chapter held their annual Engineers Week Scholarship Banquet and presented seven scholarships to some very deserving students. The evening program was a very informative presentation about Project Lead the Way, a national effort to get more engineering and technology education into middle and high schools. I encourage you to introduce your local schools to this program since it is a great way to promote engineering and prepare students for college engineering programs. Visit www.pltw.org for more information. There are still some upcoming events sponsored by the Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukee (ESM) if anyone is interested in volunteer opportunities or just getting out to see the fantastic things kids are doing these days. Events include the FIRST Robotics competitions, Rube Goldberg Contest, and various science fairs, where kids are doing projects way beyond what most of us saw or did when we were in middle and high school! These projects demonstrate in a very real way how far technology has progressed in a very short time. It is encouraging to see the younger generation accepting the challenges of learning, applying, and pushing the envelope on the latest science and technology. Please visit www.esmke.com for more information. Speaking of kids, I did my first school presentations on engineering during Engineers Week. I had a great time introducing the kids to engineering and, judging by the thank you cards and notes I received, it looks like many of the kids learned a lot about engineering that they didn’t know. Many of the notes said they were surprised to learn about all the different types of engineering there are and that they are going to consider a career in engineering. School presentations can be done throughout the year, so if anyone needs some help getting started, please let me know. It’s a fun way to teach and inspire future engineers! In closing, I would like to once again thank everyone who has participated in WSPE activities so far this year, including our Supporting Organizations, and welcome all the new members who have joined WSPE. Thank you! James Buggs, P.E. |
|
SPONSOR Choose from more than 400 continuing education courses in engineering, design, operations, production, maintenance, management and planning.
Start planning your professional development today! To enroll or receive more information visit us online http://epd.engr.wisc.edu or call toll-free 1-800-462-0876 |
2007-2008 Supporting Organizations |
|
| WSPE would like to once again thank all of its wonderful supporting organizations. Also, WSPE would like to remind organizations to consider coming on board for our Supporting Organizations program. The contributions we receive from our supporting organizations help the state and chapters finance a variety of activities and programs that enrich the lives of local engineers. Please take a moment to visit the Supporting Organizations page on the website at http://www.wspe.org/suptorgs.html. Again, thanks to the following sponsors for their generosity: Platinum Sponsors: Silver Sponsors: Bronze Sponsors: For more information on supporting organizations, click on this
link: |
|
| SPONSOR  |
WSPE State Board Ballots Coming Soon |
|
| Be sure to check your e-mail or mailboxes over the next week for the WSPE State Board ballot. It will be sent out very soon. Also note that officers will be inducted at the Annual Meeting being held as part of the Discovery Conference on April 17, 2008 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The new officers will assume their responsibilities on July 1, 2008. Click here to read candidate bios. |
|
New Member Benefit for WSPE |
|
| WSPE is proud to present a new benefit for its members:
|
|
Competitive Assessment and Advantage |
|
BACKGROUND The competitive assessment is a summary of the current activity being conducted by our competition. They can be traditional or non-traditional competitors. The analysis should be specific enough and accurate enough to outline the current products available, because the product your firm will design must leapfrog competitors’ products with features advanced enough so that when it becomes available for sale, the offering is still competitive. This analysis should also consider the life histories of competing products and technologies. There are two (2) key aspects to the analysis that many companies forget about. The first is: With faster development cycles and product iterations, a competitive analysis is not a fixed point in time analysis. It is fast changing and dynamic. Secondly, for an analysis to be truly accurate, one must step outside their boundaries as employee or company agent and examine all alternatives available from the customer’s point of view. This dispassionate view is what a company needs because this is what is taking place in the field. EVALUATE THE COMPETITION PRIOR TO PRODUCT DEFINITION Many companies make the same mistake when it comes to competition and new product development. The best time to do a comprehensive, competitive comparison chart is at the beginning of a program. All too often this is done as part of the promotional package for the product launch, if at all. Minimally, the comprehensive chart should be done at the project inception, and another one done at the time of product launch. The one done at inception will be required to define the product. The updated one at product launch will update your file and yield fresh information to the sales team, but it also will indicate the movement and nimbleness of the competitors. If they have made changes and introduced them in the time that your company has spent developing the product, it tells you something about their path, speed of development, incremental improvements, and market segmentation techniques. For the ultimate benefit this should be real time throughout the development process and also the launch. PLATFORM MANAGEMENT The following diagram underscores the importance of platform management and forecasting. As we analyze competitive value propositions, we need to understand the platform they are on. A product platform allows a company to use a basic design and customize solutions to meet market requirements. This allows the spin off of several product versions from a basic platform. However, some product versions simply are not possible if you are not on the right platform. Hence, in many markets we need to analyze competitive product platforms to ensure we are keeping up with competitive efforts.
As shown, platform migration goes from left to right with lower cost structures and more functionality built in. It may be impossible or impractical to implement functionality from a platform C product on a platform A product. If this is the case with you and a competitor, you may locked out until you switch to the new platform. In effect what was a “product” competitive comparison now becomes a “platform” comparison. COMPETITORS AND ATTRIBUTES The competitive comparison chart is an invaluable tool in positioning the new product in the marketplace. A properly prepared chart outlines the features, pricing, offering, business condition, and competitive standing. With reference to its use as a sales tool: It has a tactical orientation, in which the product evolution flowchart is more strategic in nature. Its use as a sales tool is only for the benefit of the sales channel in training and communication of the current conditions. The document has its real value when used at the onset of a development program. The following is a format that can be used to complete a competitive comparison chart.
As shown, the vertical axis represents the product attributes. These are the tangible elements of the product line, which have value to the customer. Some are simple listings of features and pricing that can be entered in hard data. Some can be entries, such as target segment, strategies, effectiveness of the channel, relative standing, and aggregated rating, which may require additional research and tabulation of data. The target segment is a statement of where the product is aimed. Who will purchase it, and under what conditions? A simple sentence explanation here is sufficient. Perceived strategy is the market’s assessment of the manufacturer’s strategy and product positioning. Perceived advantage is what the market views as an advantage with the value proposition. Route to market is fairly straightforward; simply chart the pathway from the manufacturer to the end user. Comment on any weakness that may be exploited, and comment on the overall effectiveness of the channel. Next, cite the relative standing of the manufacturer in terms of market share. As will be discussed next, these data will range from highest to lowest because of how we will organize the competitors. Finally, based on the present assessment of market need, place an overall rating on each manufacturer with respect to their features, specification, pricing, and these other factors. A more-detailed analysis may require reducing these data to numerical values to be tabulated and posted, or an overall grade or rating may be used on observed objective data. This essentially completes the vertical axis. The horizontal axis is arranged by manufacturer. The market leader is in the first slot. Since they have the lion’s share of the market, the assumption is that their package of values brought to the market is relatively complete. The second-, third, and fourth-largest competitors are in the next slots. Depending on the size of the market and the number of players and uniformity in approach, “all others” may be lumped together or considered separately. Next, place your company and the proposed product against all of the others. Remember, if you are using this to define a new product, make sure to lead the target in new product development, which means your target specification for the product should exceed all others by a wide margin. This is because the collection of competitors will not remain motionless during your product development cycle. Lead the target so that at product introduction, your firm will still be in a favorable position. CUSTOMER ALTERNATIVES TO ADDRESSING THE NEED An entrenched competitor is never invincible. The primary driver in the sales transaction is the satisfaction of the customer need. If there is an alternative way to solve the need, a new market niche may be created by those market constituents who accept the alternative solution mentioned previously in the discussion of flanking posture; this can allow participation in markets that otherwise would be inaccessible. For example, in the 1980s the American “station wagon” lost market share and virtual existence by the development and introduction of the minivan. Designed from the ground up as an alternative with more functionality and less-design compromise as in the station wagon, the minivan dominated the landscape in highly functional, family vehicles. More recently, the emergence of sport utility vehicles has merged with the attributes of the minivan to create yet another category and more recently, the crossover vehicle has spawned yet another. Or there may be simply another way to accomplish the overall desired result that the industry is not addressing. In these cases, the manufacturers lose out because the customer found a different way to resolve their need or problem. Take a look at the US Mail; Pony Express, Rail, Airplane, E-mail, Texting… ENGINEER THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE The competitive advantage cannot be added on at the end of a program. Added features, or other inducements to invoke market acceptance, often add cost or remove advantage in other ways. To successfully beat the competition, a watchful eye must be kept on them prior to and during the development process, and a delicate balance must be struck in adding features to keep ahead and engaging in creeping functionalism, which will be discussed more in-depth later. The competitive advantage must be implicit and engineered into the product. For example, many products are electronics based. As systems become more complex and needs vary, programming or setting of electronics has become more complex. Internal menu structures, which prompt the user through the choices, are a means in which the advantage is engineered. Generally, consuming memory space only, and adding no cost other than development time, these added features greatly enhance the usability of the device for the customer and aid acceptance. Another example of competitive-advantage engineering is evident when product functionality begins to merge and formulate one new product. A good starting point could be hand-held calculators in the early 1970s. Starting off as four-function devices, each competitor built upon the other and added features. Memory functions, trigonometric functions, and programmability all were engineered in competitive advantages. The calculator then began to merge with the day timer, then adding text editors, and worksheets to form the palm-size personal computer. With each new introduction, additional features and operating systems to enhance usability were added. Soon these devices were no longer stand-alone but could synchronize with a computer and its programs and operating systems. As the technology further developed, these products began to merge with cellular telephone technology and connected to e-mail servers, which has escorted functionality and portability to an unprecedented level. The key to market share is to satisfy the customer need better than the others in the arena and acting on it quickly. Engineering the competitive advantage has big payoffs at product introduction that cannot be achieved as well using other means. ANTICIPATED COMPETITIVE ACTIONS As discussed previously, the world we live in and the marketplace we participate in is not a fixed entity; it is dynamic in nature. Actions that your firm takes will be countered by actions that your competitor will take to counteract your initiative. To win at the interchange, it is necessary to anticipate a reaction and plan for it. Then, when your action occurs, and their reaction occurs, your position is in a net advantage. To get a feel for the competitor’s reaction to a specific situation, a reference to the strategic posture of each one is in order. This posture defines how the competitor conducts their business. If they are an opportunistic player, they will react a certain way versus if they are a leader playing a defensive position. By understanding the opponent and their posture, it becomes easier to predict their reactions. What makes this complex is that reactions can be a result of one or more competitors working together to counteract your moves. Think of it as a chess game as you anticipate the market dynamics. THE NON-HOMOGENEOUS MARKET Not every customer receives and acts on information the same way. Despite what we would like to believe, there is non-homogeneity in the marketplace. If you are introducing brand new technology that is the greatest available in the field, not every customer may warm up to it. The “Early Adopters” are most often the ones that will take on the new technology and begin to work with it. Demonstrating generally more patience and tolerance to initial failures and problems, the early adopter is a recognized saint of new product developers. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the competitive assessment is as much a tactical tool as a strategic one. It is best when derived with dispassionate customer-oriented data and updated on a real time basis. Portions excerpted from Marc A. Annacchino’s book The
Pursuit of New Product Development Marc Annacchino, P.E., is owner of Marconi Product Development Institute, Inc., a company providing consulting services, contract development, seminars, and other services. He can be reached at Marconi@execpc.com. |
|
| SPONSOR
UWM, with approximately 28,000 students, is one of only two Ph.D. granting research institutions within the University of Wisconsin System. The College of Engineering & Applied Science at UWM is a leading educational provider with approximately 1,900 students, including over 300 at the graduate level. These students are served by six departments: Civil Engineering & Mechanics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials. The degrees include a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering, a B.S and M.S. in Computer Science, a new B.S. in Computer Engineering, a Ph.D. in Engineering in the above disciplinary specialties, and a new Ph.D. in Medical Informatics. UWM
|
Statutes and Administrative Rules Regarding
the Hiring of Engineers and Architects on State Projects |
|
Chapter 16, subchapter V of the Wisconsin Statutes, contains the specific statutory authorization for the Department of Administration to take charge of and supervise all engineering or architectural services or construction work for the State of Wisconsin or its departments, boards, institutions, commissions or officers, including nonprofit-sharing corporations. The substance of that statutory authorization is found in § 16.85 of the Wisconsin Statutes. In addition to being in charge of and supervising all engineering or architectural services or construction work for the state and its agencies, the Department of Administration has the authority to award a contract to a private engineer or architect for the providing of professional services to the State of Wisconsin. DOA also assists any agency of the state in letting contracts for engineering or architectural work and must approve the appointment of any principal engineer or architect to a state department, board or commission when the state agencies need continuous engineering or architectural services. The Department of Administration has promulgated administrative rules which lay out the specific requirements for the selecting and contracting for architect/engineer services for the State and its agencies, and those rules are found in Chapter Adm 20 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. The Department of Administration, along with all other state agencies, have rule-making power granted by the legislature under Chapter 227 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Every professional engineer should have a copy of Chapter Adm 20 in his/her office for reference as necessary. Under Adm 20.02 an architect/engineer means a member of the design profession registered under Chapter 443, Wis. Stats. The term applies separately to architects and engineers. It is not intended to impose the requirement of both registrations on an individual. Under Adm 20.02(3), an “architect/engineer data record form” is defined as a form upon which architect/engineers shall provide specific data requested by the department which will facilitate evaluation of an architect/engineer eligibility, performance capabilities, experience, personnel and staff, and statistics on past and present projects. Under Adm 20.02(6) an “eligible architect/engineer” is defined as follows:
Under Adm 20.02(7) the “selection committee” is defined as a standing group composed of five state employees appointed by the secretary of the Department of Administration, three of whom are registered architects or engineers. Any agency for which a project is to be constructed will be requested to appoint two representatives to serve as additional members on the committee for the selection of an architect or engineer for that project. If after appropriate notice, the state agency fails to have any representative at the selection committee meeting, the absence of such representatives will be considered a waiver of their vote on the selection of an architect or engineer for that project. Under Adm 20.03 the “selection committee” convenes for the purpose of initiating and carrying out the process of selecting an architect or engineer for projects approved by the State Building Commission. The selection committee prepares an agenda prior to its meeting to allow committee members an opportunity to obtain background information including, (a) project identification, (b) estimated project budget, (c) extent to which the project may proceed as authorized by the Wisconsin State Building Commission, (d) status of the program requirements for the project and (e) other pertinent project information. The selection committee is responsible for reviewing the requirements of each project and the qualifications of each architect or engineer, and is responsible for recommending the selection of an architect or engineer considered to be the most appropriate for each project. Current selection committee members are: Adel Tabrizi, Chair and Registered Engineer; David Haley, Registered Architect; Robert Kilgust, Registered Architect; Jim Schey, Registered Engineer; and Godwin Amegashie, Assistant to the Administrator and MBE Manager. Adm 20.03(4) provides for the nomination of an architect or engineer for emergency projects approved by the governor without solicitation or selection by the selection committee. Under Adm 20.04, when selecting an architect or engineer for a project when the estimated project cost is less than $5,000,000, the selection committee may utilize a simplified selection process specified in Adm 20.05. When selecting an architect or engineer for a project that has an estimated project cost of $5,000,000 or more, the selection committee shall require a more detailed procedure for selection by advertisement, review and interview under §§ Adm 20.06, 20.07 and 20.08. In the next article, I shall review the Wisconsin Administrative Code provisions on the selection procedure established by the Department of Administration for projects where the estimated project cost is both under and over $5,000,000. Attorney Robert J. Kay is the senior partner in the law firm of Kay & Andersen, S.C. and devotes his time to representing professional engineers, architects, contractors, material suppliers and owners of construction projects. Please feel free to contact him at (608) 833-0077 or visit www.kayandandersen.com. |
|
Welcome New WSPE Members |
|
The WSPE board of directors would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to the following new WSPE members:
New members contribute to the growth, strength and leadership of the WSPE in enhancing its recognition as a leading voice for Professional Engineers throughout Wisconsin and promoting excellence in engineering. |
|
