Recently, I spoke with Rob Brady, Owner / CEO / Design Director of ROBRADY Design, who has worked with alternative vehicle companies such as Vectrix, Segway and, most recently, DK City on their folding bike design. I was curious to find out what parameters might drive the designs of alternative vehicles as compared to the gasoline / diesel vehicles that he has designed for Polaris, Yamaha, Volvo and Evinrude.
To my surprise, not only have his design parameters changed, but also his business models, which I found to be far more revolutionary. ROBRADY has always provided end-to-end services of design, documentation, prototyping, sourcing and shipping, but in the hyper competitive product development world, he has added a new service option. For those customers (typically in the emerging markets) not comfortable with standard design service fees, ROBRADY alternatively offers exclusive partnering deals that lower up front costs and shares program risks - specifically, licensing the targeted design itself. It’s a way of moving the majority of fees from the front of the project to the back where revenue can come into play. The customer pays only for the designed components they consume in their production, allowing them a less expensive entry into the marketplace, while gaining access to cutting edge design services that they know they will need to be competitive on a global basis.
As we have seen, the emerging markets, most notably India and China, offer challenges to standard business models, forcing every customer / vendor in every industry to adapt. ROBRADY has met that challenge with an innovative new business model.
To see the amazing vehicles and products ROBRADY has designed, check out their website here.
[Source: ROBRADY Design]
