Solution Development

Introduction to Solution Development

Have you ever had such a clever idea that you couldn't imagine it would not be a success? Then, for whatever the reason, it just didn't develop as you thought it would - maybe not at all? If so, you're not alone.

Ideas fail to become viable solutions for many reasons. Figure 1 below shows the basic flow of an idea or concept through a series of "tests" or prototype stages to prove its worth as a solution.

Figure 1

Each stage in the flow poses key questions that, when addressed, further the concept's development:

Field Prototype: Does it work?

Many ideas look good on paper, but don't function as envisioned on the first attempt...or after multiple adjustments and revisions. But keep trying. As Thomas A. Edison stated, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” That said, oftentimes, what works in one location doesn't work very well elsewhere even though on the surface it seems as though it should. This "sensitivity to context" is a central theme in solution development. Further discussion will ensue with Figure 2.

Manufacturing Prototype: How does a person make it?

Assembling a one-off prototype is a very different process than producing more than one for distribution. Key questions include: Can the production process be customized so that each item produced meets unique customer specifications and expectations? Can the design criteria be distributed, virtually, to equipment capable of producing the item regardless of location? Can the production process be automated? Can production be located close to points of use or consumption? Can production be done using locally available and affordable materials, parts, equipment, etc.? Consideration of these questions often requires retesting the field prototype, i.e., if I change the product in order to produce it more handily, will it still function as intended? This can lead to several back and forth cycles to reconcile the two.

Total Life Cycle Prototype: How can a person repair it? Or reuse it? Or repurpose it? Or recycle it?

At some point in its useful life a product requires maintenance or, if it stops working properly, needs repair. How difficult, expensive, and time-consuming is it to get this done? How does the design and manufacturing of a product take into consideration the challenge of maintenance and repair? As new models become available, can I reuse my older model through upgrades and updates to take advantage of new features and functionality I want? If I no longer need an item for its original purpose, can I deconstruct and repurpose it for an entirely different application? And if there's no life left in it, how easily can I recycle it without waste or adverse environmental consequence? Careful consideration of these questions can deliver a higher level of value to customers and consumers. Enough so that incorporating these factors into the design from the outset greatly increases its likelihood of success.

"Context is everything", the dictum states. And that is certainly true for concepts / ideas seeking to become solutions. Figure 2 below illustrates the flow of critical aspects about the "solutionizing" context.

Figure 2

Mapping: What are the characteristics of the landscape where the idea will become a solution?

The first image that comes to mind when one sees the word "mapping" may be that of a world atlas that shows the geopolitical boundaries of countries from one continent to the next or maybe a roadmap that charts the routes and calculates the distances from place to place. These are certainly examples of mapping, but with satellite and aerial imagery, land-based sensor applications, and hand-held mobile ground-truth capabilities available today, the data collected and mapped tells us so much more. The comprehensive data-sets that result from these technologies provide us with remarkable insights into the dynamics and conditions of natural, human, and constructed ecosystems as well as the interrelationships among them. As an example, the Agroecosystems Management Program at The Ohio State University offers Geographic Information System (GIS) maps with detailed information about select agricultural, environmental, and economic factors to guide community stakeholders in their individual and collective decision-making. Similar mapping capabilities are available at no or low cost through public, private, and voluntary sector organizations worldwide.

Stakeholders: Who will shape the ideas as they move forward? Where are they located?

An inevitable outcome of mapping is the identification of stakeholders within the ecosystem in which an idea becomes a solution. Customers and clientele; suppliers and resource providers; collaborators and partners; bureaucrats and administrators; entrepreneurs and competitors; sponsors and investors; managers and monitors; friends and neighbors; advocates and detractors - they all have key roles to play and they are all ready to do their parts to both improve the accuracy and completeness of the maps as well as influence the initial concept design as it moves toward the "Field Prototype" stage.

Have more than one location where your idea will try to become a solution? If so, you will have as many mapping-to-stakeholders combinations to document as you do locations. And you will have the same number of field prototype stages to execute. Otherwise, the risk is high that although you can "prove" the functionality of your design in one context, it may not function as intended in another. For example, each year spawns a plethora of new developments in equipment systems and farm management systems that advance agricultural practices like strip-till and no-till. While they may be solutions in large-scale farming operations, they have little relevance in the reality for millions of smallholder farmers worldwide. Instead, consider the African context described in this World Agroforestry Centre article, A Brown Revolution for Africa. In it, author Kate Langford writes:

The Hungry Continent-African Agriculture and Food Insecurity is a report by the Howard G Buffet Foundation which calls for “a bold new course of action that avoids magic bullet solutions, instead prioritizing innovative biologically-based agricultural systems that work for Africa’s resource-constrained smallholder farmers”. The proposed Brown Revolution would focus on regenerating and using soil in a sustainable manner by planting legumes, intercropping and employing agroforestry, cover crops, no-till, basin planting and mulching.

Not much room for strip-till and no-till practices. But certainly opens the door for innovation in many other areas!

Infrastructure: What is the condition, capability, and capacity of the communications, transportation, water, and electric power utilities in the location where the solution will be delivered?

Making a single prototype that works in the field or delivering a report with relevance under unique conditions at a specific point in time is markedly different than producing a run of multiple items or providing routinely updated information from one timeframe to the next. The former is an experiment, the latter is operations. The ongoing production / packaging of solutions requires infrastructure. At a minimum, this includes utilities (water, waste, electric, natural gas, telecommunications, etc.) and transportation (roads, rail, air, waterways, transit, etc.).

Not every location covers these two categories in same way and to the same degree, if at all. Again, the combination of mapping and engagement with stakeholders will document the condition, capability, and capacity of local infrastructure in proximity to the points of production, use, and consumption.

This information becomes critical input to the design of any type of organization responsible for production. For the entrepreneur, accurate assessment of infrastructure will be a key factor in the development of a viable business plan and successful operations during start-up and the subsequent scale-up phase.

As an example, Howard Greene, with the Humanitarian Engineering Center at The Ohio State University, and the teams of students from business and engineering he advised, developed an aquaponics system for application in the Choluteca, Honduras area. In addition, they developed a business plan handbook, Bring Home a Fishing Hole, that outlines a process smallholder farmers, families, and villagers can use to procure, install, and operate these units within their localities. Team members together with stakeholders accurately mapped the area and noted the availability of resources and condition of local infrastructure. The resulting handbook not only serves as a start-up guide for aquaponics businesses in Honduras, it also illustrates how to navigate from the field prototype stage to the manufacturing prototype stage in solution development and replicate that process within a particular context.

Distribution: How will the solution get from the point of production to the point of use / consumption?

Whether the item produced was manufactured or researched, once completed it must get to those who want it so they can acknowledge receipt in whatever manner completes the transaction. The steps involved can be as simple as a grower pulls a bunch of carrots out of the garden and hands them to the next door neighbor who offers fresh-baked cookies in return or as complex as when the same grower processes, packages, labels, and inspects the carrots per safety and quality standards, markets, sells, and ships the finished carrot product to a wholesaler, who then markets, sells, and ships to a global retail grocery chain with a local outlet close to the grower, whereby the neighbor responds to advertising by the outlet, purchases the carrot product and returns it next door to where the carrots were grown initially.

Key points to keep in mind:

First, distribution - while necessary - adds no real value to the product or service, regardless how straightforward or how convoluted. The less of it there is the higher the value exchange in terms of compensation paid for products or services received.
Second, the condition of the infrastructure influences the design of the distribution system. Oftentimes, no matter how much one may want to streamline the distribution system between producer and customer / consumer, the infrastructure makes doing so exceedingly difficult.
Third, distribution includes after sales service and support. This adds to the cost of the distribution system, but not to the value of the product or service. For instance, in the case of the carrot product if a customer starts to prepare a meal with it and discovers it has spoiled, the only recourse is to return it to the store and negotiate an exchange or get a refund, whereas, a bunch of carrots from the neighbor's garden would have been inspected on the spot and if found rotten would have been swapped out immediately. Let's say the product is a tractor rather than carrots. The requirements placed on the distribution system become more stringent. Knowledgeable sales staff need to be in place to sell the tractor and train the farmer in how to use it; skilled service technicians need to be available to maintain and repair it; spare parts need to be on hand to reduce downtime in the event of malfunction or breakage; and the original equipment manufacturer together with aftermarket suppliers need to offer upgrades and enhancements that prolong the tractor's useful life or allow it to be reused, repurposed, or recycled - all of which contribute to a strengthened brand and a higher resale value.

While the distribution system for a tractor may not add to its initial value, it can definitely extend its value range which has clear advantages. However, the requirements for solution design and infrastructure to support such a distribution system are quite high. The objective, then, is to strike a workable balance between the condition of the infrastructure and the design of the solution so that the customer / consumer has a satisfying experience and becomes an advocate for more and improved output.

Development of solutions within particular contexts is a complex exercise, as the double-headed arrows suggest in the diagrams above. However, this complexity can be managed to some degree when one builds the case for a proposed idea / concept through a logical, step-by-step process results in a tangible solution that has market value as determined by its availability, affordability, usability, serviceability, and end-of-life sustainability. Figure 3 below introduces two, interconnected portfolios, one for innovation and the other for commercialization, that captured the activities associated with developing and delivering solutions.