Whats really new ?

[Cranfield]

Reading Deakos post about developing new decoying equipment made me think.

 

Who thought up the first...... shell decoy...flock coated decoy....pecker...rotary device...flapper...floater...spring loaded decoy peg....etc

 

Whoever these people were, they must be amazed at how many others are now in the market, with copies of their original ideas.

 

I suppose most are difficult to patent, so there is little protection.

 

Must make you wonder if its worth developing something different, or just wait and copy someone else.

[Will Beasley]

This should be interesting.........................

[brain dead]

even if you do manage to patent it your rivals could just simply change bits in it couldn't they to make it slightly different. suppose it would also cost alot.

[Hammergun]

BD -

That is quite true. Unless the patented item is very distinctive and can't easily be copied, it is difficult to protect it. To get round this, some people also take out patents for other possible variations to the initial design.

 

Once you've got an idea, you need to keep it as secret as possible until you are ready to start selling it, then when you have decided to market it, you need to go for it in a big way as quickly as possible to get it well established before anybody else has chance to produce anything similar. You have to try and get well established to lessen the chance of anybody else taking over from you.

[Columbus Polumbus]

This country used to lead the world in manufacturing and development and what a sad day it will be if we end up like the japanese........... copying everything!!

 

Did you know british motorcylcles in the 60's had 90% of the World market until some **** head of a director said electric start motorcycle engines will never catch on! twenty years later we had just 10% of the British market left.

 

I understand and sympathise with you Deako its a tough world we are in. It would be nice to know the figures of P Mag's sold and do the math. You never get a price decrease in this world, well you do, by stiffer competition and dated products I suppose.

 

Not having a go at anyone just thinkin aloud.

 

Be honest Deako, have you developed your own flapper or had inspiration from ones currently on the market? I don't know what is on the market just asking the question?

[urika]

This country used to lead the world in manufacturing until we actually got some competition. The reason we lost our share of the motorcycle market is very simple: we built **** motorcycles which didn't start and leaked oil! And the same's valid for our automotive industry. Just look at the garbage Land Rover is turning out after 50 years of building them. Sad day if we end up like the Japanese? You're having a laugh aren't you? The day we ever attain their standards of build quality and reliability won't ever happen, I can assure you. Oh, and whose outboard engines, computers, TVs etc. did they copy? Answer: nobody's, because there was nothing worth copying unless you count our beloved Seagull outboard engines, ha ha!!!

[Columbus Polumbus]

This really isn't the place to continue down this road, that perhaps I take some responsibility for starting however,

 

I thought UK Ltd invented the first computer in the 1950's?

 

I am almost certain when I said "copy" what I was referring to was the notion that the western world tend to be the innovators from first principles and not the Japanese.

 

I have had the fortune to work with some of the leading Japanese manufactures in my time and I can confirm, their principle of copying takes the following methodology; They will take something that has been developed by someone or some corporation, conduct a tear down project, whereby they pull it apart, look at each individual item and 90% of the time will improve upon its performance. Hence 90% of the development costs which from paper to maunfacturing, as Deako will tell you, is astronomical in its magnitude and has not been paid for by them.

 

If you want a recent (within the past 10 years) example of this here goes:

 

I worked with, and in, the original project team that developed variable vavle timing systems for automotive engines and other applications. It was designed, developed and put into production by the British which took millions both in terms of man hours and costs to get it as far as we had. It wasn't perfect but the cost of doing it attracts a heavy burden balanced against the commercial constraints of any organisation, ask Mr Dyson how long it took him to get his product where it is today.

 

It was three years before the Japanese put it into their vehicles and Ford followed sometime later.

 

I accept your point about our build quality, we do indeed let ourselves down

 

The Japanese are brilliant at what they do, their attention to detail is second to none which reminds me, the guy who taught them SPC, process mapping and management etc was an American, in the late forties early fifties he went to capitol hill and made his case. They laughed at him but the Japanese invited him over, the rest is history as they say.

[rjimmer]

It was announced today that the Toyota Avensis is being made in the UK and exported to Japan!!!