Larson Design Group’s Retail Design Division Investments in Innovation Produce 20:1 ROI in First Year

Larson Design Group’s Retail Design Division is going through rapid growth and expanding its client base nationally. One of the keys to that success is the commitment to use innovative technologies to create internal efficiencies and client-facing technologies that create a competitive advantage. Over the past year, the division generated an astonishing 20:1 return on a purposeful investment in new efficiencies, quality, speed, improved deliverables and technology.

The innovation group, led by Brent Dressler, drove the research, development and integration of high-value innovation tools in collaboration with project teams and management.

“We agreed to invest a certain percent of the division’s yearly revenue goal into innovative development,” Dressler said. Funding was allocated according to the innovation horizons 70/20/10 rule to align focus and prioritize budgets. In this model, 70 percent of the funding is directed toward efficiency, 20 percent to new and alternative technologies and 10 percent to groundbreaking or disruptive developments.

Among the successes in year one have been research and development of visualization tech and virtual reality, deploying mobile technology for building surveys, as well as using 3D scanning and data processing technology that can quickly create accurate models of buildings and sites.  Some of the ongoing innovations under development range from expanding use of Bluebeam Revu for digital quality reviews to the exploration of mobile 3D scanning.

“We want to market and vocalize our innovations,” Dressler said. “Internally, we want to promote ideas which have passed our trials to encourage participation from other divisions and departments. Externally, we want to position LDG as forward-thinking problem solvers. Technology-based innovation is imperative for success in a competitive business environment.”