Training model for JAPTI

Aimed at small and mid-sized companies, the Industrial Product Design Education and Training Model was JAPTI's (Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments) pilot project that was intended to introduce the concerns of industrial design into the process of product development. The project was carried out by Gorenje Design Studio, as part of a public initiative for industrial design companies and agencies, and was part of a 2008 competitiveness-stimulation program for Slovenian entrepreneurs.

GDS developed the Industrial Product Design Education and Training Model in order to show how companies could increase the added value of their products and, subsequently, their competitiveness in the market by developing an understanding and equivalent integration of industrial design into their business processes. After receiving applications from numerous companies, GDS chose Iskra Medical, Slovenia's leading manufacturer of devices for physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and cosmetics, to participate in the flagship project.

Many experts were involved in this initial implementation of the project, these include: Andreja Križnič, project management advisor; Ladeja Godina Košir, communications advisor; Miloš Ebner, Development Director at Trimo; as well as experts from GDS and other companies.

The model provides a three-phase introduction to industrial design, as follows:

I. Identifying the need for industrial design

• In the first phase, they analyze market potential and, on the basis of the expectations of target user groups, they identify the key characteristics of the product that the company intends to introduce to the target market.

• They also evaluate the position of industrial design within the company and define the program strategy of training and education for the introduction of industrial design into the company.

II. Training and qualifying for the Industrial Design Implementation Plan

• The company's project group is trained through educational modules, and in GDS´s workshops, they prepare the company to execute a plan for the introduction of industrial design.

III. Introducing industrial design in accordance with the Implementation Plan

• They monitor the company throughout this process giving them support and advice.

Dominika Sambolič, JAPTI: "The selection committee chose GDS because of its great balance between experience and price. The first assignment for GDS was to develop an industrial product design model that could be used in any interested company. We then worked together to find a suitable company that could apply the model as a pilot project in its existing process. Although this program no longer exists, the incredibly positive results of this pilot project have been the basis of corporate education for companies in this sector, and the project information remains accessible for everyone who's interested via JAPTI's internet site and publications. We firmly believe that this great experience with GDS will further serve as an example of how to develop the added-value and competitive advantages of your product."

JAPTI, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments is a member of the World Association of Agencies for Investment and Promotion. Its role is to cater to the needs of start-up companies as well those who are beginning to target foreign markets by offering them all the essential services tailored to the needs of foreign investors. JAPTI's primary mission is to stimulate Slovenia's economic competitiveness by providing necessary technical and financial assistance. The agency's public programming is one of the very important ways that it delivers this assistance, and the Industrial Product Design Education and Training Model for Small and Mid-sized Companies was one of their most successful programs.