Solutions and Capabilities

Research & Development Consulting Services

We can accomplish everything in-house from market and user research to product design, prototyping, and detailed engineering.

Research and Development Consulting Services at DISHER

Organizations partner with DISHER for a variety of reasons. Some companies want a brand-new product for a competitive edge while others want to upgrade an existing star performer. And other organizations want to incorporate a new technology, lower their manufacturing costs, or break into a promising new market. DISHER will listen to your needs and goals and design a customized R&D plan around your overall strategy.

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Industrial Designer sketching on a digital tablet

Nurturing Innovation and Continuous Improvement Through Great R&D

Regardless of your objectives, DISHER believes that great R&D nurtures innovation and continuous improvement. R&D equips companies who are facing accelerating innovation cycles due to the rapid pace of technology. Creating new ways to solve problems in a fast, efficient, and effective way brings great value.

Consultants like DISHER help organizations grow their business, compete in their market, reduce costs, and build profits. Because our team is comprised of diverse skillsets, knowledge, and expertise within a spectrum of industries—our ability to innovate is high.

We can accomplish everything in-house from market and user research to product design, prototyping, and detailed engineering. Our clients receive excellent team collaboration and communication along with streamlined processes for improved speed to market.

How We Work

DISHER's R&D Process

Clients can trust DISHER’s proven R&D process to meet their needs. Whether you need to develop a new product or feature, update existing product, or drive efficiencies, our diverse team of over 100-degreed engineers is ready to help you succeed.

1. Align on Goals

DISHER sits down with our clients to gain a thorough, detailed understanding of what their primary needs are. This usually involves a kick-off meeting. Sometimes we even visit the organization to assess the opportunities firsthand.

We work to unify all stakeholders around the scope of the project through clearly defined goals, budgets, timelines, and deliverables. DISHER maintains trust throughout each phase of R&D by keeping an open line of communication and providing full transparency throughout the process.

2. Conduct Research

During this step, our Advanced Product Development (APD) team gathers secondary and primary research around the market and user. Benchmarking research on competitors, technologies, materials, and methods is also collected.

The primary goal of the data gathered is to gain new knowledge around the project objective. Research helps organizations respond to the current needs of their target audience. This discovery process takes two to four weeks depending on the objective of the research.

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3. Idea Generation

Once opportunities are identified through meaningful research, DISHER facilitates problem-solving ideation with our client and a cross-functional team (Subject Matter Experts, Product Development Engineers, an Industrial Designer, and a trained facilitator).

DISHER uses our proven Whiteboard Wednesday process and our Innovation Workshop process to generate numerous ideas. Top concepts are sketched, iterated upon, ranked, and vetted. A playbook with the top ideas is presented to our clients. This process takes one to three weeks depending on the complexity of the project.

4. Build Prototypes

DISHER’s Advanced Product Development (APD) team leads the development of prototyping with appropriate fidelity to gather user and stakeholder feedback in a rapid, iterative way. Our team has the skill level to create everything from simple cardboard prototypes to show-quality works-like and looks-like prototypes. The length of the prototyping phase is quite variable based on the level of technology and complexity of the project.

Industrial designer working on rapid prototyping with cardboard

5. Execute Tests

DISHER’s APD team will screen prototypes with users and key stakeholders to gain valuable feedback for continuous improvement. User clinics, interviews, and surveys are implemented as needed to further vet concepts.

Product designers and engineers gain information on form, fit, function, and manufacturability. Testing is essential in the development of high-quality, sought-after products and services and reduces risks before the manufacturing stage.

6. Present Results

After DISHER analyzes the user testing feedback, the findings are communicated to our client. The team decides whether to continue to iterate, create a different design, or proceed forward to the engineering, manufacturing, and marketing phases of product development.

When the idea makes it to the stage of detailed product development, all the learnings from the front-end R&D process are documented into product requirements for the launch engineering team. DISHER’s engineering team can move the project forward to production launch making the process simple, streamlined, and comprehensive for our clients.

Why R&D is Vital to Your Company?

Our world is moving fast, and your R&D efforts need to do the same to survive. Wise investments in your R&D strategy will keep you in the game. An effective R&D initiative will inspire ways to continually improve, innovate, and grow your business. Effective R&D will help your organization do the following:

  • Gain a Competitive Advantage

    Drive differentiated offerings and new product breakthroughs with fresh innovative concepts and technologies.

  • Increase Connection to your Customers

    Gain critical new information about the changing needs and wants of your consumers through the R&D process.

  • Increase Efficiency

    Optimize your business processes to boost productivity.

  • Save Money

    Mitigate potential risks and expenses by focusing on user desirability, commercial viability, and production feasibility throughout the R&D process.

A woman puts a sticky note on a whiteboard while brainstorming
Engineering looking at CAD on a computer screen

Why Trust DISHER for Research and Development Consulting?

DISHER supports every client with hand-picked talent to meet your specific needs. We bring depth and breadth in our skillsets, experiences, and industry knowledge which inspires great innovation.

Our cross-functional team brings full-service, end-to-end R&D solutions from user-centered ideation and prototyping to detailed engineering and launch. Our team is passionate about developing superior solutions to real-world problems that make a positive difference in our world.

DISHER Can Help you Build your R&D Dream Team in Three Ways

With DISHER, clients have access to the specific talent they need for as long as they need it. Our team members are smart, fast, flexible, and easy to work with.

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Flexible Specialists

Contract a DISHER industrial designer, R&D engineer, or project manager to fill a skills gap on your team for as long as you need them.

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Project Teams

Hire a cross-functional team of DISHER designers and R&D engineers to bring unique ideas, diverse perspectives, and exceptional outcomes on time and within budget.

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Direct Hires

Recruit, vet, and hire the specific hard and soft skills you need to grow your internal R&D team with the DISHER Talent Solutions team. We can work with your HR team to deliver candidates that are a great fit for your long-term success.

Need a Custom Solution? Talk with us about your specific needs and we’ll find an answer!

Work with Top R&D Engineers

Partner with an R&D engineering firm you can trust. DISHER’s cross-functional team can’t wait to not only develop innovative solutions with you—but help you create a culture of innovation.