b.d - barcelona design is a company with international prestige of art and design. it was founded in 1972 as “bd ediciones de diseño” by a team of architects and interior designers. in the course of time the company has discovered fields of art and design beyond of these two specialities and meanwhile their catalogue contains products designed by worldwide recognized designers and artists - both contemporary and historical. the company was several times internationally awarded and since october 2011 has a showroom in barcelona, spain.
sector - company description
in collaboration with
the present project defines a new business model concept with sustainability as a central driver.
innovation module
sustainability
lecturer
“reinforce a stronger market position for b.d by creating a sustainable 3d printed product range, specifically addressed to technogreen consumers emphasizing the value of b.d design.”
value propositioin
a growing number of companies leave the conventional model of “take-make-waste” behind, because natural resources are not infinite and at a certain point of time enterprises will face drastically increasing prices and shortages of raw materials - until the recourse is completely exhausted and the production line has to be amended.
starting point
sustainability in a business context
* implementation of a sustainable business approach is a company issue
currently b.d does not cover the topic of sustainability within their product lines yet. tackling this challenge can provide access to a new market and new target groups. In the long run an ecological approach towards design can reinforce the current strong market position by capturing a solvent scope.
* following an environmentally supported concept is a trend
the recognized trend of “green thinking” has proved to be a game changer. big, international enterprises have already surprisingly risen or devastatingly fallen due to environmental issues facing their business context.
in addition if a company ignores sustainability as a trend, open-minded customers might question why a sustainable approach has not been implemented in this particular company yet.
more and more innovative companies follow a different way of production in order to strengthen their market position, attract new target groups and make a valuable contribution to the environment. the individual motivations to undergo these fundamental changes within a business concept are diverse and often a composition of various factors. the starting points for the following sustainable business concept for b.d however evolve from two main key aspects:
building on these two main pillars the suggested business concept represents a valuable business approach - namely a “green branch” within the company. the sustainable notion of this branch is not going to be communicated to the consumers as such, in order to avoid degrading the existing product range. it will be rather an attractive alternative for the targeted user profile.
business idea - green branch
one new sustainable product line within the company
help position the company towards enduring production
for the present business concept “technogreen customers” are identified as main target group. these solvent consumers live mainly in urban areas, are well-educated and cover an age group between 25 and 55. often they consider ecological products as not sophisticated and little attractive. technogreen consumption behaviour can be described by the following three aspects:
target user profile - techno greens
* techno greens are aware of environmental issues, but in order to change their habits more inputs are required - they need to feel to be called upon to change something.
* techno greens value quality and efficiency of products as added value.
* techno greens like to be pioneers and early adopters - especially in fields they are interested in.
* techno greens are interested in any object which is innovative and technology driven.
aware of environmental issues
value quality and efficiency of products
like to be pioneers and early adopters
interested in innovative technology driven objects
preconceptions to eco-design as unsophisticated
* the value proposition builds around enhancing the user experience for technogreen customers. this model offers clients the opportunity to customize and design their own, unique product within a framework of given components.
* workshops and design competitions promote the customer bonding of this modular design concept.
* for the subsequent 3d production phase a cooperation with fablab barcelona is conceivable. this mode of manufacturing appeals to technogreen customers, because it is not only one of the most popular technological trends at the moment, but as well represents an ecological and local production alternative. this serves both: the local economy and the global environment, because worldwide shipments are a thing of the past.
an additional company-customer-bonding is reached by giving clients the opportunity to recycle and reuse everyday plastic into filament, which is the ink of a 3d printer. the technology invented by a company named “filabot” makes it possible to convert ordinary plastic water bottles into 3d printing filament. by implementing this additional step into the value chain and giving technogreen customers the chance to deliver their bottles to the fablab enhances this business model.
sustainable lifecycle model
business model canvas
value web
the concept takes a complete new way of production for b.d into consideration: 3d printing, which means that the impacts of carbon footprint are drastically reduced. encouraging customers to contribute their plastic bottles, in order to be used in the production process of their own object, not only more engages the customer but also makes it even more sustainable because of enduring recycling. at the moment most of the goods are produced abroad and shipped to the country. the new line will allow to reduce this long route by producing the goods locally in the existing fab-labs. moreover this idea has the potential to be spread worldwide in the existing network of fab-labs. the target user profile is technogreen customers, they will feel attracted to this new technology of 3d printing. this advanced technique supports the concept of working in fab-labs in smart cities. all these concepts are nowadays a trend and techno greens will feel that they are the first ones to get on board. also the fact of b.d being behind this new project gives an extra design quality to this new experience. customizing is a trend as well. giving the opportunity to people to customize their objects is a quite unique experience that not many companies offer these days. the feeling of having one of a kind will generate an engagement to this new range of products. the whole process of production is barcelona-based which makes this experience very sustainable and appealing for environmental people. promoting the use of fab-labs can be very attractive for the government as they are following the policy to place barcelona on the top of smart-cities. the suggested business concept can help, fund and promote some of the projects ran by b.d. the sustainable notion of this green branch is not going to be communicated as such, in order to avoid degrading the existing product range. it will be rather an attractive alternative for the targeted user profile. the platforms to promote this new project will be all the social media (like twitter, facebook, blogs...). through these platforms people will be encouraged to customize their products by using the modular framework of component and produce it afterwards by the trendy technology of 3d printing. organizing competitions amongst customers regarding product designs acquired in b.d can become a very powerful tool to give visibility to this new way of production. involving universities and schools of design can be a very useful tool to expand and give visibility to the new branch. organizing workshops, lectures and events in-house can be a way to introduce this green branch to new people and engage them.
discussion
