Author pushes bold thinking

New ideas are presented at a manufacturing conference.

Invention is an individual sport, but getting innovative products to the marketplace is a team effort, idea guru Doug Hall told about 300 manufacturers Wednesday.

"We've got to anticipate the future," he said in the keynote address for the 15th annual Oklahoma Manufacturing Conference at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center. "Folks, we've got to lead."

Hall, author of "Jump Start Your Brain" and once hailed by Inc. magazine as this country's top product idea man, implored his audience to create workplace environments that encourage new ideas instead of corporate paralysis. The global economy rewards companies that think on their feet and are not afraid of making mistakes.

"Fail fast, fail cheap," he repeated several times. "When one idea runs into trouble, you've got another one right behind it."

Brand loyalty isn't a bad thing, but the key to company growth is new ideas, new products and new customers, Hall said. He quoted W. Edward Deming's point that customers were not asking for the electric light or the VCR, but those inventions changed the world.

Patented ideas and developing new products are the key to succeeding in the marketplace, Hall said. The global economy is relentless and not always suited to the bigger, slower companies.

"I am not optimistic about corporate America," Hall admitted. "I am very optimistic for small and midsize companies."

Many of the manufacturers attending Wednesday's session were from smaller and midsize Oklahoma companies. The two-day conference gave them a chance to meet each other and discuss such serious workplace concerns such as innovation, immigration laws, employee health insurance and incentive programs.

"We're trying to make manufacturing more efficient to improve both the bottom line and the top line," said Joe Epperley, spokesman for the Tulsa-based Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, which presented the conference under the sponsorship of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

"It's often the only time that manufacturers get to talk to other manufacturers from across the state," Epperley noted. "The guy from Stigler rarely gets to see the manufacturer from Weatherford.

"That makes them both better. It gets them outside the bubble."

Getting out of the bubble was plainly the focus of Hall's hourlong speech. He touted growth ideas first popularized by his Eureka Ranch, the Cincinnati-based think tank that helped generate marketing and product ideas for American Express, Ford Motor Co., Nike Inc. and other companies.

The biggest selling point behind marketing any new product is simplicity, Hall said. Consumers respond to basic messages that overtly tell them the benefit of a product or service.

"I want to know what's in it for me," Hall said. "You've got to be blunt about it; it's not a game."

Three Oklahoma companies were awarded this year's governor's honors for manufacturing leadership: Blumenthal Cos., Oklahoma City; Newell Coach, Miami, Okla.; and Bar-S Foods Co., which is based in Phoenix but has plants in Oklahoma.

All three were honored for making product innovations and efficiencies. Blumenthal produces transmissions for various corporate customers, while Newell builds luxury motor homes from scratch and Bar-S Foods makes various meat products.

Conference participants took tours of factories operated by the Hill and McElroy manufacturing companies.

Rod Walton 581-8457 rod.walton@tulsaworld.com