Doyle urged to promote state products
Product designers say their work should be part of Wisconsin's image.
Source: Judy Newman, Wisconsin State Journal

MADISON, WI - August 11, 2004 - When visitors come to Wisconsin, they should see pictures of Trek bicycles, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kohler plumbing fixtures at airports and on interstate highway billboards, Gov. Jim Doyle was told Tuesday.

"World-class products are designed and manufactured here," said David Franchino, managing director of Design Concepts in Madison, and they should be part of Wisconsin's image, he said.

Franchino hosted Doyle, as well as product design professionals from about a dozen major companies either based in Wisconsin or involved in product development here, at Design Concepts' offices in the American Center business park on the far East Side.

Product design should be considered one of the state's important clusters, along with industries such as manufacturing and biotechnology, Franchino said.

"It's not just designing products," he said. "It's observing needs within society and culture and having the skills necessary to translate those into business solutions." Those solutions help drive the state's economy, Franchino said, as they spark business for lawyers, bankers, manufacturers and distributors.

"The economic benefit from product design is really tremendous," he said.

Doyle agreed that innovative product development is part of his goal for the state "to compete at the high end."

"People who understand the state know we do stand for quality," he said. "When we project ourselves to the world, it's often through the products that are made here."

Doyle said when the Legislature returns to session, he would like to see a bill approved that would provide free training to any company making a major capital investment in equipment, creating a lot of new jobs. That would help a company's bottom line by making a "real investment in the skills of workers," not just providing a handout, he said.

Franchino asked if programs like that might be extended to cover product design. For example, when Huffy starts to develop new sports equipment, it can take two years before the final product is built, he said, and tax credits or training funds would help.

"Companies create economic value during the design process, as well," Franchino said.

He said the state should take steps to protect its product design industry by keeping the University of Wisconsin System and the state's technical schools strong, by maintaining Wisconsin's quality of life and by supporting its manufacturing base, from tool and die shops to plastic parts fabricators to software engineers.

Wisconsin should do more to support small manufacturers, in particular, said Neil Holland, vice president of electronic systems for Hospira, a spinoff of Abbott Laboratories, in Lake Forest, Ill. "We're designing state-of-the-art products ... and we need state-of-the-art manufacturing."

Hospira, which makes specialty drugs and critical care devices, has parts made by Phillips Plastics Corp. in Hudson, a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie and industrial and mechanical designs developed by Design Concepts.

John Zebley, director of design at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, suggested establishing a school of industrial design in Wisconsin to help raise the reputation and awareness of the design industry's role here.

Product design involves not only engineering, but also artistic skills, product research and cultural considerations, said Design Concepts engineer David Lee.

Another way to heighten recognition is by erecting posters at the state's entry points for some of the key products designed in Wisconsin, said Richard Valiga, principal designer for GE Healthcare in Waukesha. "We have advertisements for Noah's Ark, Wisconsin Dells and Door County," he said, so why not for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Trek bikes and Kohler faucets, too?

That would provide a "subtle, subconscious" message that Wisconsin has more to offer than "lakes and streams and the Packers," Valiga said.

Contact Judy Newman at jdnewman@madison.com or 252-6156.

David Franchino, managing director of Design Concepts, urged Gov. Jim Doyle to think of product design as one of Wisconsin's significant industry clusters. Franchino spoke at a gathering of designers from some of the state's top companies Tuesday in Madison.