Bill Nottingham's father, John, and John Spirk founded the company Nottingham Spirk in 1972 after graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art. The company develops ideas and concepts, tests products, builds prototypes, develops preproduction tooling drawings, sources manufacturing, creates packaging and markets products. And it does it all on its own. The company has worked with everyone from independent entrepreneurs to large companies and has made more than $45 billion for its clients. Nottingham Spirk prefers to hire designers and engineers from the Cleveland area. Bill Nottingham, 33, is a project manager for the firm’s Innovation Center. He spoke with PDQ's Michael Heaton.
Michael Heaton | Cleveland.com
When will we see a flying car and a time machine?
How does Nottingham Spirk
encourage creativity in employees?
How many ideas wind up on the cutting-room floor?
Do you start with a problem and try to solve it?
Most of our Fortune 500 clients come to us with a problem that they could not solve internally. They are learning to embrace the concept of "open innovation"-- to go outside of their own walls and leverage expertise or technology outside their industry. Since NS has experience developing ideas from high-tech medical devices to kitchen tools, our clients leverage those learnings for their own particular problem.
Can you mention the weirdest invention you've ever seen?
During my trips overseas, I see all sorts of things that we would call "weird." One in particular relates to my personal life, having welcomed the birth of our son Dylan. This pair of baby clothes from Japan is lined with yellow mop string. So, while your baby scoots around on the floor, he could be cleaning at the same time! And to answer your next question, no, I didn't buy this.
What's the most brilliant?
Not to pat our own backs, but NS recently developed a solution that has the potential to literally reduce the cost of health care. It's called Healthspot. Imagine the convenience of getting doctor's office care, when you need it and where you need it. It involves telemedicine, and you can learn more at healthspot.net.
Are any of your designers mad-scientist types, or absent-minded professors?
That's a funny question, because between our designers and engineers, you could probably see a little mad scientist and absent-minded professorness in all of us.
A study was just published that said creative people are eccentric? True?
I'm sure that is true about other groups and individuals, but what makes NS such a great company is that we check our egos at the door. Our group of creative people have the type of talent and know-how that doesn't need the eccentricity.
Has anybody ever literally tried to build the better mousetrap?
We have an idea for one!
How many ideas come across your desk in an average year?
We probably have 50-100 projects going on simultaneously. Oftentimes, the development process starts with what we call "ideation." During the ideation phase, you want to start off with 10-12 ideas. So, translating that into a year would be a large number.
How many get accepted?
We have developed over 900 global patents for our clients, so that equates to over 50 per year that make it into production.
Is there one invention that has haunted you because you haven't perfected it?
Actually, I'm more frustrated with prototypes that could have been great products but get left on the cutting-room floor. I actually have a couple of those prototypes on my desk. Still hoping that someday the timing will be right for them to be reintroduced.
Do you have any favorite inventor movies? Like "Flubber?"
I love movies! I'm a closet "Star Wars" geek. As far as favorite inventor movies, it would be split between "Gremlins," "Back to the Future" and "Goonies."
What invention are you most proud of?
I always like to say that I'm always excited about the next thing. So, what I'm really excited about is what's behind the curtain in our shop. Sorry to be so generic, but stay tuned for the reinvention of how you order and purchase a beverage.
Can you describe a 'Eureka!' moment for our readers?
These happen all the time, and that's what makes my job so much fun. But I remember a particular discussion between myself, another designer and an engineer. We were trying to figure out how to create an aerosol can that was truly "pocket friendly." We together came up with the solution that turned into the Axe Bullet. It was no bigger than a Chapstick and became the world's smallest aerosol can.
About Nottingham Spirk
Nottingham Spirk is a world-class product innovation firm with an unrivaled record of developing and commercializing disruptive consumer products, medical devices, digital IoT products and connected industrial products. We collaborate with Fortune 1,000 companies, middle market companies and funded venture companies to discover, design and execute product innovation programs and strategic business platforms that will delight customers, grow markets, and generate new revenue streams. Learn more about what makes us different.
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