Innovate or Die
Hamish Whyte, CEO, Furnware. Innovation is the buzz word these days, but how and what to innovate in your business or product range is often a difficult decision. Two things stand out; asking questions and listening to the answers of course. And passion, as you will find out in the interview I had with Hamish Whyte CEO of Furnware, a school furniture manufacturer with less than 40 employees when they started the innovation process. Q What was it that sparked the quest for a new design? Furnware was very aware that humans as a whole were all changing physically. We knew that students were bigger and taller than they used to be. Avoiding the race to the bottom (of price and quality) we wanted to create a differentiation of product from the market – NZ economies of scale cannot compete with larger economies. We wanted to create a product that had an emphasis on: Design – that was fit for purpose, school furniture to assist with teaching and learning and children’s development. Quality. Q What were the first steps you took? Furnware owner Hamish Whyte travelled the world, attending international furniture shows to learn what the world is doing We discovered furniture trends and were confident that we were as close, if not closer, to customers than most companies and as a result we didn’t feel intimidated by international design. We liaised with academia, including Unitec industrial designer Murray Pilcher. The rest is history. Q What convinced you that you were onto something good? Murray asked us, “Tell me about your customers” – and we realised that we had their customers all wrong. It wasn’t about the teachers, it was about the kids. This question started a journey to true student-centric thinking. To answer this question, we realised we needed […]