FirstBuild’s Product Evangelist to Present at CIMdata’s Workshop on Innovation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Aug. 4, 2015 - PRLog -- CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm announces that Taylor Dawson, Product Evangelist at FirstBuild, GE’s incubator for the next generation of home appliances, will make a keynote presentation at CIMdata’s workshop on the New Age of Collaboration, Innovation, and Product Development. The workshop will take place in Louisville, Kentucky on October 7-8. In addition to Mr. Dawson’s presentation, the workshop will feature presentations from Local Motors and BASF Corporation and will include a tour of the FirstBuild Microfactory.

Mr. Dawson’s presentation, Product Development in the Age of the Internet, will show how a maturing internet has helped lower the barriers to engaging in on-line collaboration. This phenomenon has given rise to major movements in crowdsourcing and open sourcing. As GE’s innovation incubator, FirstBuild has embraced transparency and openness in product innovation through a process known as “co-creation.” By teaming both virtually and locally with inventors, hackers, and tinkerers, FirstBuild is developing the next generation of home appliances. This represents a novel and effective approach to solving the problems that are targeted by Lean Product Development.

The workshop will start during the afternoon of October 7 and will end on October 8. A personal tour of First Build’s Microfactory (https://firstbuild.com/microfactory/) followed by a networking dinner will be part of the first afternoon’s highlights. Throughout the workshop real-world examples of how mature companies are inventing and adopting new collaborative partnership models for innovation and joint value creation will be shared.

For more information on the workshop visit http://www.cimdata.com/en/education/knowledge-council-workshops/2015-spdc-workshop.

About Taylor Dawson, Product Evangelist, FirstBuild
Taylor Dawson has been developing products as an engineer, team leader, and marketer for 11 years. His passion for product has been established through four new product launches over the course of his career at both General Electric and Lexmark International. An advocate for the end consumer, Taylor practices and teaches the principles of Lean Startup in his professional work. He is currently the Product Evangelist at FirstBuild, GE's incubator for the next generation of home appliances. As Product Evangelist, Taylor is responsible for launching 8-12 new products per year, a pace and scale that defy the traditional model for new product development.


About CIMdata
CIMdata, a leading independent worldwide firm, provides strategic management consulting to maximize an enterprise’s ability to design and deliver innovative products and services through the application of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions. Since its founding in 1983, CIMdata has delivered world-class knowledge, expertise, and best-practice methods on PLM solutions. These solutions incorporate both business processes and a wide-ranging set of PLM-enabling technologies.

CIMdata works with both industrial organizations and providers of technologies and services seeking competitive advantage in the global economy. In addition to consulting, CIMdata conducts research, provides PLM-focused subscription services, and produces several commercial publications. The company also provides industry education through PLM certificate programs, seminars, and conferences worldwide. CIMdata serves clients around the world from offices in North America, Europe, and Asia- Pacific. To learn more about CIMdata’s services, visit our website at www.CIMdata.com, follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CIMdataPLMNews, or contact CIMdata at: 3909 Research Park Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA, Tel: +1 734.668.9922. Fax: +1 734.668.1957; or at Oogststraat 20, 6004 CV Weert, The Netherlands, Tel: +31 (0) 495.533.666.