Fast Cycle Times

Talk about shrinking cycle times. This small company used a trade show floor to generate product ideas from passers-by (or potential customers) and then used online tools to vote for the best idea - then product prototypes. All in 4 days. Now the top products are going into production.

Racing from idea to prototype at Macworld
Mophie, which makes a line of iPod cases, used a good chunk of its booth to solicit attendees' designs. The company got 150 ideas in about four hours at its booth. A quick round of online voting helped the company choose three finalists. By Friday, the last day of Macworld, the company had marketing pitches and rough, but working, implementations of all three finalists.