American outdoor equipment and clothing retailer REI closed all its stores on the most critical shopping day of the year, Black Friday under the social media hashtag: #OptOutside. Employees were paid nonetheless and encouraged to spend time with their loved ones. The campaign aimed at the company’s mission that “being outside makes our lives better”.

This bold move was rewarded with an enthusiastic response on social media with 1.2 Bn impressions and widespread media coverage.

During negotiations with Fox, George Lucas proposed to accept a lower salary in exchange for retaining all merchandising rights as well as the rights to any sequel. After the success of his previous film ‘American Graffiti, he would have been entitled to $500,000. Instead he received $150,000.

Star Wars themed toys produce $3 billion a year in revenue. Disney bought purchased the entire franchise for $4 billion in 2012

CHALLENGE

BASF runs two large steam crackers in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Steam crackers are the core of the petrochemical industry. Due to legal requirements, the steam crackers have to undergo a TÜV inspection every five years. This process takes weeks and more than 1,000 people work on the site during the turnaround. Every day that the cracker is down is extremely expensive, both because of turnaround cost and production losses.

SOLUTION

We worked with the BASF turnaround team on two levels in two projects. First we challenged the turnaround process with them, identifying hidden potential in the actual operational work. Then we worked on the actual turnaround management and interfaces in the work. In both cases we helped the team to think differently about how they do their work.

OUTCOME

Every turnaround offers chances and challenges. As it happens only every five years there is time to get prepared but at the same time, BASF is losing talent and experience as people are leaving the company or retire. BASF used the chance and was able to reduce the turnaround time by several days which can be counted in millions of Euros.

CHALLENGE

The challenge presented by BMW was to decrease the complexity of the existing frame-and-body assembly process. The goal was to unlock possible savings while maintaining the high quality standard. The process had already been optimized using Lean and Six Sigma principles. Just recently, it had been further optimized with the installation of production robots.

Installing fixed routines and procedures for core processes of value creation is an imperative for any corporation. The fixation of such processes is needed to maintain a highly productive business routine. However, when it comes to reinventing, challenging and optimizing such core processes, these fixations impede the effort: Fixations become „mental fixedness“ – expert knowledge that prevents us from questioning established patterns.

SOLUTION

To unlock the full potential, Bold takes apart the process into its components and rearranges them using its innovation tools – to iteratively and co-creatively find new and efficient ways to use existing resources.

OUTCOME

Completely rethinking their car assembly process, Bold and BMW generated concepts to save significantly on investment costs. Iteratively rearranging and modifying components and workflows within the assembly process, a new, clever assembly solution was created. The process led to the disposal of a whole fleet of production robots. The implementation of the proposed concepts was quickly decided upon by top management.

CHALLENGE

Shell was planning to build a 500km pipeline in a very remote area. Due to the remoteness and difficult geological conditions, construction cost exceeded any economical feasibility of the project. A significant reduction in construction cost was critical to get the project through the next internal project review board.

SOLUTION

We ran a counter-intuitive problem solving project with the project team. The process forces you to think about your available resources in a different way. Make us3 of what you already have instead of adding cost and complexity to the problem. In fact, someone once used the (non-existing) term „de-complexify“ when it comes to large problems. If you wish you can call the approach „MacGyver principle“, according to the 80’s TV hero who could solve any problem with only what he had at hand.

OUTCOME

The concept the team developed and presented to management was as brilliant as it was simple: to reduce the amount of truck loads you need for the duration of the construction, just use the already-buildt pipeline for transportation of any material that fits into the 1,5m pipe. Logistic cost can be reduced significantly.

CHALLENGE

Siemens had developed an omni-directional hearing aid, a great new technology that was communicated to the customer as such. The problem: The customer didn’t realize the extra value it provided and thus didn’t see a reason to spend any extra money on the new solution.

SOLUTION

Creating unique offerings requires a unique understanding of the distinctive value the offerings deliver. A structured process for analyzing customer preferences and values is therefore crucial for any serious innovation activity. Bold’s tools and procedures for a comprehensive Value Analysis will provide you with fundamental insights regarding the market and your customers. A Value Analysis will clarify the logical relationship between „what you deliver“ and „why you do it.“ Thus, it constitutes the perfect brief for both your internal and external communication.

OUTCOME

The project team and Bold used the Value Analysis tool to reflect on the product’s features and the value it provides for the user. The fact that omni-directional hearing aids enable the user to „have control“ over their hearing sense and thus feel more self-confident represents the actual USP from a customer’s perspective. A changed approach to the product’s marketing communicated this immense customer value.

CHALLENGE

Toilets seem to be a boring product, but as in many commoditised products, innovation can be found in the details that make a difference. Villeroy&Boch asked us to help them create novelties in the toilet sector where there is tough competition with Duravit, Toto and other players on the market. The outcome was open, our goal was to come up with results that are highly innovative yet implementable.

SOLUTION

Eliminating a core component from a system gives you the freedom to identify hidden benefits. In this case the toilet’s rim was eliminated. We ran a new product development project with Villeroy&Boch using the SIT method for systematic innovation.

OUTCOME

Thanks to the innovative rimless design, DirectFlush WCs can be cleaned quickly and thoroughly – for quintessential hygiene. It can be hard to clean under the rim of a standard toilet as the toilet brush and cleaning agent do not reach everywhere.

CHALLENGE

CPALL is exclusive franchisee of the 7-11 chain of convenient stores in Thailand, with over 10,000 stores nationwide. The CPALL management saw immense potential in opening new stores quicker, considering the plan to open more than 1,000 new stores every year. However, efforts using Lean / Six Sigma could not find any improvements to speed up the process.

SOLUTION

We ran a process innovation project with CPALL using the SIT method for systematic innovation. Within 2 weeks of our consulting work, the existing process was reviewed, reprioritized and reassigned to each stakeholder by CPALL’s team members and our consultants. A completely new procedure was designed.

OUTCOME

The new store opening process model was immediately approved. With 2 years of implementation, the new process will shorten the store opening process by 67% compared to its previous version, while maintaining the same CAPEX and OPEX.

CHALLENGE

Dronco’s products were outdated and non-competitive. Asian competition was stealing market shares offering cheaper products. Dronco’s goal was to become an innovation leader for cutting and grinding and surprise the market.

SOLUTION

Restraints foster creativity – this is not about reducing the range of solutions but about an ideation process fitted to the mode of operation of the human mind. Proactively using the restraints of your company’s production lines, capabilities or assets, Bold helps you to generate radical new ideas that are within the implementation reach of your company.

The foundation to do so is the scientifically grounded innovation method of „Systematic Inventive Thinking“. We call this the DNA of innovation. And we apply it to existing situations to twist them and to generate inside-the-box solutions, breaking with a widely known concept: „out-of-the-box thinking.“

OUTCOME

Together with us the Dronco team invented and eventually patented a new cutting disk. The free cut disk is thicker at the edge which prevents it from getting stuck. This also results in a slower erosion of the disk as well as safe and simple usage. With this product Dronco revolutionized the market – comparable to the introduction of the ABS system in automobiles – and was able to establish itself as market leader.

After working with us the company established its „a new product every 90 days“ rule.

CHALLENGE

DHL Mexico understood that they had very good services for the corporate clients in large Mexican cities but they were not serving the SME (small and medium enterprises)  market. This huge market was a blind spot for DHL.

SOLUTION

DHL invited us to work on a completely new product offering for the SME clients in Mexico. Together with the local team in Mexico City we analyzed the needs of SME clients combined with the special logistical challenges a mega-city like Mexico brings to a logistics company. We needed to understand what a Mexican SME is and what their requirements are. Based on insights we extracted from the analysis we build value propositions for Mexican customers and helped designing specific products for them.

OUTCOME

The result of the project was a series of completely new logistics products customized to the specific needs of SME customers that were launched consecutively in the Mexican market.