The design integration journey

Methven had already begun transforming itself from a basic plumbing and valving manufacturer into a more sophisticated showerware and tapware designer, when the company decided to engage Better by Design in 2005.

To outsiders, Methven might have already appeared to be design focused, but the company soon learned that they had a long way to go to complete the design integration journey.

"We were very much an engineering focused company. We knew how to move water in the most efficient manner possible. We had elements of design but not in a holistic manner," says Rick Fala, CEO, Methven.

"The best analogy," he says, "is that the company had a Mercedes engine inside a Ford Falcon body."

One of the first areas the Better by Design team worked on was to help the company articulate its corporate vision and values, which Fala said was invaluable to people inside the team.

"What Better by Design does is help you to understand what you are good at and more importantly, what you can be world-class at."

Championing design in the company

The Design 360 recommended that, if Methven was to grow its business and product offerings, it needed the following: a design champion to lead the way; a stronger brand; and to boost its marketing expertise. Methven quickly appointed a design director, thus elevating design to executive level. The company now boasts a design team of 25, compared with two in 1998.

The next major changes revolved around product design. Rather than the overcrowded tap market (the Italians had that thoroughly cornered),
Methven decided to specialise in luxury shower fittings.

The company set up a wet lab, so that all products could be tested from a human perspective. This research led to the development of Satinjet tecnology in 2003, which has the potential to use less than half the water of a conventional shower head and which is ideal for water starved regions such as Australia, where it is now the leading shower brand.

Since 2006, the company has developed a pioneering product range which includes: Maia, the world's first beauty shower; the Kiri, an ultra low flow shower; Tahi, a high end Satinjet shower system and HomeSpa which dispenses moisturising, therapeutic and aromatic infusions into the shower.

Focusing on consumer benefits

Fala says that Better by Design taught Methven to focus on consumer benefits.

"One area that had a tangible change was in recognising the importance of the shower experience to the end user. Our research showed that our end-consumer base is predominantly female, so our products are developed now with a heavy female bias: hence the developments of products like HomeSpa. Amazingly, men like our products as well."

Fala says that Better by Design has already brought enormous benefits to Methven.

"Our design team is producing products that are truly world-class. We are winning international awards and that creates in people's minds that we know what we are doing from an investor point of view, because Methven is a listed company, but more importantly, it provides credibility for customers.

"We are seeing the benefit now in our numbers. Our new innovative products, such as Satinjet, are our highest margin products. We still have a lot of core products but our drive is to provide proprietary products with the highest margin."

Growing market share in New Zealand and overseas

The company's focus on innovation and design has led to a market share of 55 percent in shower sales in New Zealand. Methven is the premium shower supplier in the Australian market, with 35 percent market share. Methven has acquired a tapware company in the United Kingdom, and it is still early days there, but its intention is to be the number one shower company in the United Kingdom.

"Better by Design has been a very important link in establishing ourselves as a company that has design at the heart of its business.

"We could only have done this by attention to detail and by being ingenious. This is what Better by Design helped to focus us on: that our real niche is in shower technology, and we are winning that battle in every market we go into."

Fala has invited Better by Design to return to the company, five years on. This time he wants the team to concentrate on a holistic look at the whole business and particularly on its strategic planning process.

"I don't think anyone can ever finish the design integration journey. By the sheer nature of the world we live in, design is dynamic... Design will always change and design changes everything."