My Big Business Idea

Well, I started the MBA program with an entrepreneurship mindset and a big idea that I thought I could pull off by the end of the program. Unfortunately, while people generally like my idea, it hasn't really caught any momentum and my priority right now is finding a job so I can feed and house myself.

In any case, I'll put my idea out here and see what happens. If someone takes the idea and runs with it, so be it.

Basic Idea
Working in mechanical design and process engineering for 9 different companies, I have a broad perspective on how engineering departments use their design software and manage their data. I see four major pain points: software licensing, data management, sourcing of new suppliers or customers, and information sharing.

Mechanical engineering software is really expensive and can cost up to $20,000 per year for one workstation depending on what features are needed. If you have a design office with about 20 engineers, this can add up to a significant overhead cost.

Another consequence of modern mechanical design software is the amount of data generated. This data, usually in the form of solid models, drawings, FEA results, jigs and fixtures, and test reports have to be kept track of and stored somewhere. When you different software packages creating these different engineering objects, and different people using these packages, it gets tricky trying to store and manage the different bits of data. Different companies have approached this problem in different ways, but the basic problems persist: data duplication, server maintenance and growth, and ongoing development of a custom data management system. This also adds to overhead costs.

Sourcing new customers/suppliers and information sharing relate to time costs and are difficult to quantify. Developing a new business relationship with a new customer or supplier really has to do with building up trust with them. One way to build trust is to share financial info that gives a glimpse into the health of the company and the quality of the management. D&B has made a business out of this kind of reporting for over 100 years. This info reduces the time needed to decide on doing business with a new company, and hence, overhead administrative costs.

Another time costs associated with finding new customers and suppliers is the amount of time needed to find them. An ebay type online market would work. mfg.com and alibaba.com are working to fill this space. They're both great sites, but I think they're missing integration with 3D CAD systems.

Information sharing is a difficult thing to pin down as a cost. Not everyone can look at an engineering drawing and understand the shapes and mechanisms being depicted. Having a solid model where people can look at from different angles and show how the mechanism would work is invaluable and makes meetings run smoother. Having a CAD workstation devoted to a meeting room is not a good cost to have. There where different approaches to managing this problem in my experience. Creating a movie file of a flyby and animated kinematics was the easiest and least costly solution that I came up with. But overall, you can reduce design review meeting times significantly by having a solid model that you can manipulate easily.

So to solve these issues, I came up with the idea of tying in an engineering software package with a web portal. The engineering software package would consist of a CAD system for modelling, a FEA package for stress analysis, and a CAM system for programming CNC machines. The web portal would be there for business functions: Data Management, Credit Reporting (tying in with ERP systems), an Online Market, and a 3D parts catalogue for easy part sourcing. The software package would be free and the web portal would have a subscription fee.

Here's the latest powerpoint slide deck that I did. The idea still needs to be massaged a little more and I need to work on my pitch. There's not much point in putting more work into it though unless I can sell the idea to a potential customer.

I've targeted a previous employer for the idea pitch, but I'm not sure if I'm proceeding with this yet. I want to put together a focus group of my former colleagues and peers to see if my assumptions are correct. I haven't approached them about it yet, but I might making some noise about it in July.