about brainstorm exchange
stumped? need new ideas? lacking innovation?
Innovation is not just new products. New products and features are easily copied, and any gains from their introduction can quickly evaporate. Innovation is more solidly how a company does the things that count. Are there costs to be wrung from innovations in shipping, packaging, ordering, materials handling, and other back office activities? Most definitely. Who is in a position to identify where those savings might occur?
Let's say that you own or manage a company. You're looking for ideas about how to improve your products or services.
Your customers, employees, and suppliers could probably point you in the right direction. Customers can identify what, when, where and how
they would like to purchase, employees can identify savings in steps, recycling options, and missed or forgotten opportunities,
and suppliers can identify how a company can most efficiently and cost effectively acquire their own offerings. What company
wouldn't want to tap this vast pool of knowledge? How do you tap into all of these ideas?
Brainstorm exchange gives companies of all sizes an easy to use very affordable solution to solicit and collect ideas from
customers, suppliers, employees, and partners.
Brainstorm exchange works by linking people with ideas. Brainstorms can be started on any topic.
Contributors suggest innovations and build on ideas already contributed, using the tools built into brainstorm exchange to
stimulate their thought processes. Contributors may also assign a rating to ideas to give the sponsor of the brainstorm custom
feedback linked to each idea.
open brainstorms
If you are interested in attracting the widest possible audience and generating the broadest diversity of ideas, then you should start an open brainstorm. Open brainstorms are open to all members of the brainstorm exchange community for comment and contribution.invitational brainstorms
If you are interested in limiting the contributors to your brainstorm to those that you have specifically invited, then you should start an invitational brainstorm. You won't attract the broadest diversity of ideas, but will retain control over who is contributing. These contributors, who must register as members of brainstorm exchange, can be your clients, customers, suppliers, employees, or other who are at least initally familiar what you are trying to accomplish or have some relevant experience that you deem valuable. Other members of the brainstorm exchange community can request invitations to participate, which you may extend, at your discretion.customer centric
Customer centric brainstorming will empower your customers to share their best ideas, thoughts and concerns with you. You can then build on these ideas, solicit feedback, and get real world voting on idea viability. As with the professional level, you may start a brainstorming session focusing tightly on a single area, open the access to the brainstorm to anyone that you feel could provide beneficial insights, or limit it to a select group, establish review and rating criteria to evaluate submitted ideas. Customer centric brainstorms allow you to empower your customers to contribute to your success.use brainstorm exchange to develop innovations in:
discovery
new materials, uses, molecules, compounds, novel delivery systems, new targets, combinations of materials, new ways to put materials together.
research & development
refine concepts coming from discovery and other parts of the company, developing and sorting through options
design
ideas, feelings, options, usability, appearance, function, form, biomorphism
user interface / usability
testing, feedback, standards conformation, accessibility assurance, intuitiveness, obviousness
products
sizes, quantity, type, style, strategy, new product suggestions, non-traditional sourcing
packaging
colors, displays, feelings, emotions, intriguing copy, type styles, costs, ease of filling, ease of manufacture, communication, strategy fit
marketing
new markets, market identification, segmentation, market reach, reaching out to buyers
media / public relations
who is receptive, what markets, what is the hook to get attention, timing, what media, how best to reach media, where do we need to be, competition
customer relations
who do we need to relate to, why, what do we need to know, trends, feedback, specific custom solutions, customer outreach
human resources
employee expectations, discussion of proposed and current company policies, policy review, suggestions, health care selection discussions, hours, dress code, company expectations, what the company should expect based upon employee input, recruiting, retention
operations
order processing, purchasing, sources, workflow, responsibilities, new purchase options, supplier interactions
assembly
order of assembly, process, steps, efficiency, speed, turn around, use of time, work station organization, work flow
shipping
boxes, sources, methods, pick-up, delivery, best practices, preparations, shipment consolidation
service
best customer service after the sale, offerings, expanding service usefulness, preventive service, customer relations
maintenance
scheduling, efficiency, notices, important techniques, knowledge sharing, production and maintenance collaboration
product systems
systems and lines of products, extensions of distribution networks, working to enhance customer reliance and desirability
alliances
partnerships, strategic alliances, focus of efforts, new markets, new regions, distribution contracts, contract manufacturing, contract branding and marketing
business model
subscriptions, purchase, options, price points, service agreements, asset leasing, what makes money, where to focus
• Access to tools to stimulate thought.
• Collect ratings on submitted ideas.
• Tap latent employee knowledge.
• Get input from suppliers.
• Capture customer and user feedback.
• Contributors can submit pictures, graphics and images (up to 2MB).
• Present challenges to contributors.
• Generate support for back-office innovations.
• Get employee buy-in on initiatives.
• Communicate critical issues on strategy and vision.
• Generate awareness of the world of ideas.
• Solicit a diversity of ideas.
• Build on submitted ideas.
• Initiate brainstorming campaigns.
• Allows submission of ideas at any time.
