Case study: Launching disruptive technology in a depressed marketplace.
Situation
Many of the primary market segments LMI technologies Inc. (LMI) targets were contracting in size and value. Positioned at the leading edge of hi-tech innovation, stable profit margins were critical to maintaining their considerable R&D investment. In 2007, the CEO made a very dramatic, high risk decision to open the IP vault. He wanted to aggressively pursue alternate vertical markets by offering LMI's platform technology to external machine vision engineering teams.
The Marketing Challenge
LMI was about to enter the world of component supply. One which was dominated by major players, with deep pockets. In order to compete with them LMI had to realize rapid market adoption. If target prospects were secured very early in the launch cycle the company could leverage this credibility toward increased sales momentum. Further, the growth in revenue would feed R&D expenditure to stay well ahead of the innovation curve and the inevitable competitive response. If the launch failed or was slow in uptake this could provide deep pocketed competitors the window required to develop and launch a viable alternative; a task aided by LMI’s disclosure of internal IP.
Results
FireSync® was born and we exceeded our wildest dreams.
Over 4 million in contracts within 4 weeks of the launch
2007 North American Award for Technology Leadership by Frost & Sullivan
Finalist, Vision 2007 Award for Outstanding Innovation
Finalist, 2006 Innovation Award for New Technology, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME)
Front cover and feature article in ‘technology trends’ of #1 N. American journal, Vision Systems Design.
Firesync was highlighted in print and web by dozens of national and international industry journals and associations.