Flymo, based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, are Europe's largest lawn mower manufacturer.
Flymo have operated within the powered gardening arena, since their inception in 1965, with a consistent strategy of developing and marketing a range of innovative, easy to use products - strongly promoted and underpinned by quality in both manufacture and field performance.
Having introduced the world's first hover mower in 1964, the organisation has developed its leading 'Garden Care' position to a degree that it now manufactures and markets nearly 3/4 million lawn mowers, 1/2 million trimmers and 1/4 million garden vacuums every year.
Flymo's business strategy, since formed in 1964, has essentially been based upon a very clear commercial principle....
Rather than offer the user a commodity, mass produced product at the lowest price, Flymo have focused on satisfying the consumer requirement through innovative product designs giving quality and value (not necessarily price).
In 1998, Flymo entered the hedge trimmer market from a standing start, with the Flymo Easi Trim.
For the development of the hedge trimmer, and indeed for every new product developed by Flymo the key to success is Integration.
The involvement of Multi Disciplinary Teams at an early stage involving all areas of the organisation (Manufacturing, Design, Marketing, Sales, Finance), and the use of "Extended Enterprises" (Consultants, Universities, Suppliers) has served to actively encourage a culture of innovation at all stages of design and manufacture.
Working in close contact with one another, members of the team are able to confront potential problems, and develop solutions early, saving time and preventing costly changes later.
By involving Manufacturing and After Sales Service personnel within the Design process, Flymo have attained improved product quality levels with a product that has also been designed for easy manufacture and service.
The manufacturing and development process at Flymo retains a very structured approach with clear review and evaluation at all stages of concept, prototype, tooling and trial build. Flymo manage this process with the 'Product Introduction Control' (PIC) system.
The PIC system has at its core the principle of multi-functional teams within the organisation 'guiding' and 'inputting' into a product's development alongside control from senior management. The Easi Trim was one of the first Flymo products to appear onto the market via the the PIC process.
Key to Flymo's 'Fast Track' development of the Easi Trim was its use of rapid 3D prototypes. At the early conceptual stage functional rigs were developed and evaluated, feedback from which was fed directly back into the process.
The broad integration of 3D Computer Assisted Design systems allowed rapid development of detailed designs, and rapid production of prototypes direct from computer data.
Rapid 3D prototyping and the use of CAD/CAM systems (a strategic drive with a £3m investment) has shortened the time between the approved concept stage and a firm or physical product proposal. Direct access by suppliers (e.g Tooling Manufacturers) into the Flymo CAD system has allowed tooling development to occur parallel to (and not after) other activities - dramatically reducing the overall New Product Development time.
Thorough evaluation of functional, production and assembly issues is possible with these prototypes. Produced as Stereo Lithographic models and vacuum cast in resins that emulate the characteristics of the final production materials, prototypes produced in this way are highly accurate.
Key to all of Flymo's products is 'ease of use', functional models are observed in use by individuals with no previous experience of the new concept. These tests showed how intuitive the concept was to use; resisting the temptation to explain how to use a new concept is often the toughest part for the members of the team. These tests also provide valuable feedback relating to other issues, including handling, comfort and safety features.
The main issues raised by this testing being the size of the switches and the possibility of the cable becoming entangled with the cutting blades.
An increase in area for the switches, to cover the whole gripping area, and a coil shaped cable management device to hold the cable clear of the blades were introduced at this stage.
Evaluation of assembly and manufacture was carried out using these prototypes, any corrections to the digital models being done following this stage.
Prior to product release a pre-production build of the new hedge trimmer allows evaluation of the final production version, and training of assembly staff.
Launched to the UK and Europe gardening trade in September 1997, the 'Easi Trim' successfully achieved distribution with all the key retail channels (DIY Super stores, Mail Order Catalogues, Independent Stockists) that are so vitally important to this sector.
The steering wheel handle of the Easi Trim hedge trimmer is a radical breakaway from the traditional switching format on previous products, delivering the strong ergonomic benefit of a wider grip making the product "easy and light to use at any angle.... horizontally and vertically.... on the hedge."
It was the first hedge trimmer to incorporate all these safety features ahead of upcoming legislation:
The Flymo Easi Trim hedge trimmer achieved volume sales across Europe, successfully establishing Flymo as a major name in hedge trimmers.
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