An unusual lead user innovation
Anybody familiar with Eric von Hippel's work on lead user innovation knows that many of today's mass-produced products had their origins not in companies' R&D departments but outside the firm (e.g. in a different industry, in a different geographical location or from a lead user). Lead user innovations are not always mass produced, though, because the market for the problem that they solve is perceived as too small by manufacturers.
When a mover came to my apartment in Taipei recently, I noticed he had made his own trolley-ramp to help him wheel things like washing machines and fridge-freezers over the three-inch thresholds found in some Taipei apartment buildings. He was obviously so fed up with lifting the heavy objects over the obstacle, and with no suitable ramp currently available from manufacturers, he built his own.
.
When a mover came to my apartment in Taipei recently, I noticed he had made his own trolley-ramp to help him wheel things like washing machines and fridge-freezers over the three-inch thresholds found in some Taipei apartment buildings. He was obviously so fed up with lifting the heavy objects over the obstacle, and with no suitable ramp currently available from manufacturers, he built his own.
.
posted by Gordon Graham at 6:27 PM
2 Comments:
Readers,
This product is readily available from bluffmanufacturing.com at a reasonable price. it is called a dock board.
I had a look at the Web site Bob but couldn't see anything quite like the basic ramp the mover made in the picture (at least he told me he made it!). It seems that the ones on the Web site are steel and designed for moving heavy loads over obstacles well over three inches. The problem with the three-inch threshold in Taipei apartments is a result of people adding a second external door frame. It's a unique problem and requires a commercially unavailable (at least from the perspective of the mover) solution.
Post a Comment
<< Home