THG_S. Mitchell - June 9th 2010 1

TH Group

Innovation, Value, Experience

Stephen Mitchell - MD

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Global Brands – Made in Scotland

• Teknek – global leader in contact cleaning

• Coughtrie – Scotland's oldest industrial lighting company – formed 1938

• MESO design – Technology and Product Realisation services

• Keizai – Operational Excellence development services

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Who are Teknek?

• Teknek are:– World leaders in contact

cleaning market– Manufacture solely in West

of Scotland– 80% of suppliers within 30

miles of site– 98% export of finished

goods• Around 50% goes to Asia

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Coughtrie

• Vandal Resistant Lighting – Social housing– Custodial– Railways– Urban

• All made in Scotland

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Collaboration

• Innovation in all things– Products, process, distribution

• Key Values for TH Group– Innovation, Value, Experience

• Major competitors – Asian copycats – Innovate fast and regularly

• Two Different Projects– Short Term – Herriot Watt– Long term – Glasgow University

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Why collaborate

• We have well developed traditional R&D

• Need to be more innovative in the R&D process

• Merge the ‘tried and tested’ with the ‘wacky idea’

• Looking for best practise, and long term sources of expertise.

• IP major issue, so keep it local

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Herriot Watt

• Coughtrie– 70 year old business – conventional lighting– Rescued from bankruptcy in Nov 09– Identified a major gap in LED knowledge– Starting with our local SE account manager

constructed a brief of the skills we needed– Herriot Watt had the appropriate skills– Short Term specific project ~ 3months– Provided specific results and up skilling– Jump start – project will continue with new internal

team– First major Social Housing LED project – Lambeth

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Glasgow University

• Teknek– Gap in the innovation process

• Needed both faster innovation and latest thinking

– Three Universities ‘pitched’• Glasgow, Strathclyde, Caledonian

– Chose PDE (Product Design Engineering) at Glasgow

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Dare to be different

• First project– Unspecified

• Had two of the best MEng students over the summer• Worked on injecting ‘wacky’ innovation into R&D process

– 1st product launched only 6 months after started

• Project 2– Harness innovation at PDE

• Principle sponsor of PDE course– £2k student prize for the most innovative design

– Formed an Innovation and Design Business using PDE graduates – MESO Design

• That resource is blended with PDE to provide innovation for both TH Group companies and third parties

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Interface to Business

• Meso Design– Technology and Design

• 1 year old– Lodged several patents ranging from

» Personal air pollution monitoring» New concept in Vivariums

– Third party products already appearing, for example» Weight Angel» Commercial vehicle weight and weight distribution

system

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Does Collaboration work?

• We liked it so much we bought the business !!!– Pick your project well– Pick your partner well– Don’t pick the partner who has access to the

best funding– Ask for the moon– Have fun

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Support

• Well supported by SE

• All Academic interactions good

• Now giving back– Provide £25k per year to PDE– Industrial Liaison Board

• Finding industrial projects for students

– Taking Innovative idea from PDE and helping commercialise them