EDGE-pdc in the Wallstreet Journal: They Came. They Saw. They Innovated.

Cutting concrete blocks can slow down a construction project. Enter the portable saw.
By SUZANNE BARLYN
June 23, 2008; Page R7

Masonry contractor Joel Guth was frustrated by the inefficiencies that slowed his crews while they were cutting concrete blocks to use for building walls.

He recalls a stadium construction project about seven years ago, during which workers hauled heavy blocks to and from the one or two saws on the site each day that were powerful enough to cut masonry.

The scene was typical for masons at the time. They often carried or forklifted heavy blocks through a construction site to a masonry table saw, a machine weighing some 200 pounds, stationed in a fixed location. They waited in line to cut their blocks, then returned them to the area where they were building walls. Then they picked up another batch to cut, repeating the task hundreds of times — a process that often delayed completion of the job and drove up costs.

Mr. Guth, who is based in Moreno Valley, Calif., envisioned a lightweight portable masonry saw, but he didn’t know of one. So he built a crude one for his crews to use at the stadium, and when that proved serviceable he made several more. Eventually, he approached MK Diamond Products Inc., a Torrance, Calif., manufacturer of masonry cutting and polishing equipment, and suggested it produce a more refined version of the saw.

The result, with the help of a design firm and input from contractors and from the equipment suppliers that sell MK’s products, was the first lightweight portable masonry saw to be sold commercially. After feedback from customers pointed out some design flaws, a second round of research and development produced the improved version that MK began selling last year — a model that also helped inaugurate a new marketing strategy for the company.

Staying On Track

Brian Delahaut, vice president and general manager of MK, recalls talking with some executives of a toolmaking company that he hoped to land as a customer around the time that Mr. Guth was making his own saws. Mr. Delahaut says the executives were concerned about an unusually high number of returns of a portable metal-cutting saw that their company sold, with the motors clogged by masonry dust. It seemed the contractors were trying, unsuccessfully, to use the tool to cut masonry, he says.

Soon after that encounter, Mr. Delahaut heard about Mr. Guth’s device from an MK sales representative who had seen it at a work site of Mr. Guth’s company, Masonry Technology Inc. At that point, Mr. Delahaut says, it was clear to him that there was a potential market for a masonry saw that was easy to carry. When Mr. Guth, already an MK customer, approached the company about producing such a saw, MK set about designing the MK BX3.

MK enlisted the help of Sonos Product Development, a division of Sonos Models Inc. in Huntington Beach, Calif. But MK executives were actively involved in the design process. For instance, Mr. Delahaut’s father — MK President Robert Delahaut, then 72 years old — carried a prototype up a ladder and onto a scaffold to test the design’s portability. And Brian Delahaut kept the project on track as design ideas swirled. The danger, he says, is that designing “becomes a democratic process. If someone is not the leader, you just go through perpetual drafting.”

In one case, he says, the design team reached an impasse on the shape of the cutting head, the part of the tool where the blade guard and motor are mounted. “They had all these designs and no one wanted to pick one,” he says, because no one wanted to make a choice that might turn out to be impractical and costly to correct. Finally he made the choice, which turned out to be impractical and costly to correct. But, he says, there was an upside to taking that step: “It stimulated the design team to work on a solution for the cutting head. Once someone picked one design, they could finally work on it.”

Mr. Delahaut also resisted the urge to reinvent the wheel. He rejected what he calls a “cool” design for a rolling table — a tray-like feature that allows masons to roll bricks and stones under the blade to facilitate longer cuts — not because it was flawed in any way, he says, but simply because MK could easily incorporate a rolling-table design it used for other saws into the design for the masonry saw. “There was no practical value in going through that whole process” of creating a new rolling table, he says. “It was like taking one of those fine Cuisinart mixers and changing it, when you didn’t need to.”

Showing Them the Beef

Performance and cost weren’t the only issues in the design process — appearance was important too. For instance, in the original design for the blade guard, a seam ran through the spot where MK wanted to place the company logo. Rather than move the logo, Mr. Delahaut and the designers changed the shape of the blade guard.

A bigger challenge concerning the saw’s appearance emerged in MK’s meetings with focus groups. Since the saw was built to be as small as possible to keep its weight down, some contractors thought early designs looked too much like toys. One told Mr. Delahaut he couldn’t be seen carrying something like that and asked, “Where’s the beef?”

But MK didn’t go back to the drawing board to change the saw’s appearance. “We were convinced that we didn’t need to do anything,” says Mr. Delahaut. “All we needed to do was show them that it had the beef.” The company arranged demonstrations at construction sites and for distributors. “Once we showed them that the saw had performance, their concerns went away,” he says. The demonstrations proved that despite its lighter weight, the saw was powerful enough to get the job done, he says.

MK used the same motor in the masonry saw that it used in metal-cutting saws — a powerful motor that is relatively inexpensive, enabling the company to keep the masonry saw’s manufacturing costs within reason. “The construction industry is all about adapting existing tools to new applications,” Mr. Delahaut says.

The completed product, released in 2003, was an immediate hit, selling 3,120 units in its first year. But through customer feedback, the company began learning about design flaws in the BX3.

For example, the design assumed that most masons would operate the pull-down handle that brings the saw into cutting position with their right hand. It turns out, though, that masons typically grip the material they’re cutting with their right hand and pull the handle with their left. That made the handle somewhat awkward for many users.

The company also realized there had been a critical flaw in its design process: It had conducted focus groups with contractors and suppliers who would buy the saw, but not the masons who would actually use it. After four years, MK Diamond decided to redesign the saw, and invited masons to its focus groups.

One thing MK learned from the masons was that some disliked cutting stone without water. Traditional “wet” stationary masonry saws use a flow of water to capture the dust that’s created when concrete or stone is cut. MK’s BX3 was designed to cut without water. That way the user’s range isn’t limited by the availability of a water source.

But dry cutting means dust, something that some of the masons in MK’s focus groups said they didn’t like. Additionally, some cities and states began prohibiting dry cutting due to environmental concerns regarding the dust. So MK built a misting system into its second-generation lightweight masonry saw, the BX4, that eliminates about 70% of the dust from cutting. Its two-gallon tank is designed to last all day, eliminating the need for a continuous water source.

This and other enhancements in the BX4 were made with the help of Edge Product Design & Development, based in Newtown, Pa., and Santa Clara, Calif. “We were so close to the product that we were losing sight” of what needed to be done to improve it, says Mr. Delahaut.

Edge’s designers became familiar with the BX3 by mimicking its everyday use — carrying it around, transporting it in a pickup truck and cutting cement blocks. All that was videotaped and photographed, and the designers examined the images to help them find ways to make the saw easier to use.

One conclusion was that the saw folded in a way that required a mason to extend his arm outward while carrying it, causing shoulder strain. Tweaking the design, so the user could hold the folded saw closer to his leg, would make it seem lighter and reduce the strain, says Daniel Massam, an Edge industrial-design manager who headed the redesign team.

MK also placed the pull-down handle for the BX4’s blade so that it can be easily used with either hand. And it extended the motor’s life by improving its electrical components. But it went beyond improvements to the saw’s performance and ease of use.

Selling the Brand

The redesign was also an opportunity to promote the MK Diamond brand. “They wanted a design that would also set the tone for the company overall,” says Mr. Massam. His team created visual characteristics, such as distinctive knobs, that MK Diamond could also incorporate in its other tools. Some of the details, like multiple diamond-shaped cutouts on the rolling table, are designed to be visible even if the machine is covered in dust or dirt.

MK Diamond gave away its initial production run of about 10 saws to masons who tested them on job sites. By doing so, the company discovered, and ultimately corrected, two problems: The material used for a lock designed to hold the rolling table in place during transport wasn’t strong enough, and the nozzles on the misting system were too small, causing clogs.

Sales of the BX4, released a year ago, are on track to match those of the earlier model, says Mr. Delahaut, who points to the feedback from masons as a key to the saw’s success. “The end user became the voice for the saw’s design — and we listened,” he says.

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