Anthony W. Ulwick

The innovation and the impact

The team went through the list of 14 opportunities, systematically generating ideas that would better satisfy each underserved outcome. Coe reports, “We started by focusing on the underserved outcomes related to the cord and devised the Direct Connect™ cord system concept. This innovation, which connects the extension cord directly to the saw, reduces the chances that users will cut the cord or catch the plug on the material being cut when making a long cut while maintaining their ability to lower the tool from a ladder to the ground using the cord. This system also reduces repair costs and down time because if the cord gets cut, the user can simply grab another extension cord and continue working.
Satisfying all these outcomes at the same time is what made this a true innovation.”

“Next,” Coe says, “we focused on line-of-sight issues and devised a way in which the user can confirm that the cut is on track when starting the cut, while making the cut, and when approaching the end of the board. Designing a cutout in the table helped to better satisfy all of these underserved outcomes.” The team went on to address the remaining

unmet outcomes, in all cases devising low-cost features that would dramatically improve customer satisfaction.

Bosch successfully addressed the 14 underserved outcomes in the newly discovered segment with a new product—the CS20 circular saw—that successfully addressed each of them. Remarkably, Bosch accomplished this without increasing product cost—a prime management objective.

This was largely due to the fact that the highly regarded Direct Connect™ system significantly cut product cost while adding customer value.

Most successful new products and services improve customers’ satisfaction in areas of unmet needs by less than 10 percent, but concept testing revealed that the CS20

circular saw was projected to increase the level of customer satisfaction by approximately 38 percent (with total satisfaction levels rising from 63 to 87 percent).

Before the saw was released, the Bosch team used these findings to help gain the support of two key distributors: Lowe’s and Home Depot. Given limited shelf space and a competitive market, Bosch had to convince them that the CS20 circular saw uniquely addressed a number of unmet customer needs and did so at a competitive price. The data made a convincing case, and Lowe’s and Home Depot requested that Bosch delay the release of the product by two months so that enough saws could be manufactured to meet the anticipated demand.

Bosch successfully entered the North American market with what quickly became one of the top-selling and top-rated circular saws. Bosch’s innovations, which addressed cord and line-of-sight issues, resulted in a highly successful product launch and dramatic improvements in customer satisfaction. Improvements in handling, adjustments, and other functions only added to the new value created.

Upon its introduction, the CS20 circular saw won accolades from Popular Science, being voted one of the top 100 innovative products of the year.