Designed in Britain

Sue Reay of Benchmark Communications, organisers of Design North East, feels the passion for products at Black and Decker's Global Innovation Centre in Spennymoor.

The instant you talk to the people at Black and Decker you recognise why they are at the cutting edge of innovation and design in the power tool industry. I recently interviewed Lawrie Cunningham Director of Global Industrial Design and Danny Bone Innovation Manager. Both of them encapsulated the careful thought and insight that has made the company internationally renowned.

Lawrie Cunningham firmly believes that,

"Its important to think globally and holistically as far as design and manufacture of products is concerned. Hence the development of the Global Design Centre which was set up more than 15 years ago in Spennymoor, County Durham. Whatever is designed here can be manufactured anywhere in the world, America, Europe or Asia. Our Industrial Design and Innovation team of 10, embraces the skills of both mechanical engineering and imaginative conceptual design because they are both intrinsically linked."

Danny gives the following facts,

"New products introduced within the past 3 years accounted for 1/3 of our total consumer sales in 2000. Some of the corporation's most successful global products were designed right here in Spennymoor. These include the Quattro multifunction tool, the Mouse sander and the Scorpion powered hand saw."

Is it the competition or the desire from within Black and Decker that drives this?

"We cannot compete on price alone with the cheaper Asian products coming on to the market. However, we compete extremely well by keeping ahead of the market with a continual range of new and innovative products. This has the advantage of stimulating the retailers and therefore sales,"

continues Danny.

"Large companies such as B&Q are more interested when they can feature a new and different product in their outlets. Product development timescales are becoming shorter through fast improving technology, generally 12-18 months. This is only one of the reasons why we need a constant stream of new product designs. The secret of our continuing success in this arena is wholly due to the creativity, enthusiasm and commitment of the entire design organisation".

I found that the environment in which they work helps this 'can do' attitude in design and innovation.

"Our team now all work in an open plan office constantly exchanging ideas and feeding on different information and stimuli far more so than would be generated if we were in isolated offices,"

Lawrie explains.

In this office I discovered a multitude of electrical items from hair dryers to toys, charts and drawings and prototypes.

"We get influences from the auto industry, electrical industry and even fashion, all can help develop new product ideas or provide solutions to old problems",

continues Lawrie. I was then led into another room, which houses the CAD system, now a standard feature in leading Design Centres. Here the CAD Designers, Design Engineers and Industrial Designers work as a closely knitted team delivering advanced product designs. A self sufficient model shop and test laboratory engaged to fully prototype and test designs at the earliest possible opportunity backs up much of this 'electronic design'.

Within Black & Decker you sense a passion for products, there is an enthusiasm bubbling throughout, is this reflected in all departments?

"The issue for design is to move things forward in conjunction with marketing and manufacturing, even if they say it may be more difficult. It is important to continually challenge the norm"

says Danny.

So what makes Black and Decker unique?

"The brand is very strong, the Black and Decker name is the same throughout the world,"

explained Lawrie.

"The brand values represent innovation and approachability to the market especially the home user market where the price and product is right. The DIY person feels comfortable with a Black and Decker tool, for example, the Scorpion hand saw is much more user friendly than a circular saw for people who are not necessarily a professional user. The professional tools market is targeted using the DeWalt brand."

I asked Danny what outside influences there are.

"Television has undoubtedly influenced the power tool industry through the many DIY and design programmes that have helped to stimulate the market. People can tackle projects once thought too difficult because they now have the tools they need at a price they can afford. Its about understanding the future needs of the consumer."

"We developed the award winning Quattro a few years ago and wanted to market it in the US. They initially tried it and forecast it would only sell a few. It became the biggest selling power tool in the US and they couldn't believe it. By providing innovative product designs we have been able to effectively tap into some real consumer desires."

Education spotlight

Lawrie Cunningham tells me why there aren't more design centres like this in the region.

"We do not have the critical mass here that the West Midlands and the South of England do. We need a concentration of design talent and although we have excellent Universities offering design many graduates move away to work, as the region can't always offer the type of employment they are looking for."

Danny Bone gives his view on the structure of education and its suitability to their type of work.

"I think the move to specialist schools which offer technical grounding is an improvement. As a product of the Grammar Technical School system I experienced 'engineering' from an early age. Unfortunately, society today no longer accepts that 11 year olds should go anywhere near an engineering workshop."

University of Northumbria:
BA (Hons) Design for Industry/ Product Design
4 years Full Time
Tel: 0191 227 4913
Web site: www.unn.ac.uk

University of Teesside:
BA (Hons) Industrial Design
3 years Full Time
Tel: 01642 342 277
Web site: www.tees.ac.uk

History

On September 27 1910, two young entrepreneurs, S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker, founded a small machine shop in Baltimore, Maryland. They called it The Black & Decker Manufacturing Company. Their shop has grown beyond anything they could have imagined.

The Spennymoor manufacturing facility was opened in 1965, the design centre was established around 1974. The first products wholly designed in Spennymoor were the DN54 Circular Saw and the DNJ40 Single speed drill. These early designs established the credibility of the then fledgling design centre. Since those days of Banda copied meeting minutes, bakelite dial telephones and free standing drawing boards the design centre has grown immensely in both scale and reputation. It is now a primary global design centre employing over 100 staff.

Quotes

'This is the new golden age of design. When industries are competing at equal price and functionality, design is the only difference that matters.'

Mark Dziersk, President of the Industrial Design Society of America, Design Week. 2001

'The UK is something of an ideas goldmine and companies need to be tapping into that more often. They need to do more to boost innovation, not just by encouraging creativity but also by fully exploiting the ideas they already have.'

Digby Jones, CBI Director-General

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This document is reproduced with he kind permission of The Journal and Benchmark Communications.