The document discusses how product design has shifted from focusing on features and functionality to focusing on the customer experience. It highlights how many major innovations like Apple and Google succeeded by directly addressing customer experiences. The document then discusses a new synthetic rope called the KZ-100 that Manitowoc Cranes developed with Samson to provide a better lifting experience for crane operators. It notes how the KZ-100 is lighter, smoother and easier to handle than traditional wire ropes. The document concludes by discussing how companies now need to compete based on providing superior customer experiences and becoming trusted partners rather than just product sellers.

1. 22 | LOOKING UP | SEPTEMBER 2015
TECHNICAL UPDATE
With Dr. Sammy Munuswamy,senior principal engineer of global
engineering and innovation at Manitowoc Cranes.
T
here’s a common theme running
throughout 21st
century design.
Whether it’s software, service,
tangible goods, or in our case, cranes,
you’ll find that designers and
innovators have one endgame in
mind: “experience development” that
demonstrates true differentiation.
Most breakthroughs in our century,
such as Apple’s computing dominance,
Google’s maps and self-driven cars,
Virgin’s airlines, Facebook’s social
networking platform or even Amazon
Prime’s logistical excellence are
successful because they directly
tune into customers. They provide
a platform where people can create
their own experience.
In the 20th
century, the emotional
component of a job was often
neglected. The notion was that
simply designing tools or equipment
with features and benefits that
completed projects were considered
innovative. Lean Design, New
Product Development, Design
for Manufacturing, or Design for
Manufacturing and Assembly, were
the main theme.
With cranes we saw this type of
design in the proliferation of tower
cranes, crawler cranes, mobile cranes,
boom trucks and industrial cranes. But
the goalpost have moved and a new
design ethic has taken hold with it’s
own unique set of goals.
In the 21st
century, experience
providers and experience empathizers
drive the global economy. Innovative
products and services emotionally
engage with customers – they don’t
just buy the product, they buy into
the reason behind the product and
the experience it brings.
The winners in the new market
landscape will provide superior
customer experiences – products
or services that change customer
behaviors or attitudes, rather than
those simply facilitate a need.
Design for experience relies on
emotion and empathy-based design
techniques. It seeks to understand
a customer’s pain and inherent
difficulties—even if that customer
doesn’t realize the difficulty they
are dealing with because it has
become second nature. The goal is
to ease those pains through a better
experience by blending technology
with humanity.
Enter the KZ-100
It’s with this concept in mind that I
helped lead a joint venture between
Manitowoc Cranes and Ferndale,
Washington-based synthetic rope
developer Samson. The company is
our partner in innovation, helping
co-create a new lifting experience with
the KZ-100 synthetic hoist rope for
crane application.
For our team, it’s not just a rope,
it’s an experience. Sure, the product
is as strong as conventional ropes and
does not require replacement due to
common damages such as load spin,
cabling, bird caging, kinking and
diving. And yes, it is stronger than
steel and lighter than water. But we
consider the KZ-100 a success because
of the superior experience it provides.
For example, the KZ-100 is
significantly lighter than traditional
ropes, making it easier to handle
when rigging—a better experience.
Conventional wire rope gets very
dirty and greasy when being dragged
around a job site. The KZ-100 is
aesthetically more pleasing; it’s
soft, smooth, gentle, and much
more pliable in handling—again,
a better experience.
Ultimately, by considering the
inherent difficulties that have
become second nature to riggers
and operators, we hoped to design
a lifting experience with synthetic
rope that changes their attitude and
behavior. We sought to establish
an emotional connection between
operators and the KZ-100.
The synthetic rope makes people
happy the job site a more fun place
to work. It makes a real difference
in day-to-day operations. It makes
projects easier and more efficient.
The innovation curve
And as we design for experience, it’s
important to remember that these
experiences will be new to customers.
In his book, Diffusion of Innovation,
Everett Rogers showed how
innovation in the marketplace
adheres to a bell-shaped curve.
On one side of the tail are early
innovators and early adopters; on
the other side, laggards. Throughout
the middle of the curve are the early
Dr. Sammy Munuswamy, senior engineer
of global engineering and innovation
at Manitowoc.
Designing for experience

2. SEPTEMBER 2015 | LOOKING UP | 23
majority and the late majority of the
market. The laggards will not adopt
until they are forced to.
We are seeing the diffusion of
innovation play out now with the
KZ-100. Early adopters, such as the
U.S. Navy, are on board and reporting
great use with the synthetic rope. The
laggards will see the benefits of the
KZ-100 when their current method
stops being useful.
I recall speaking with one of
our customers in Florida that
was cautious to embrace the fiber
technology on crane, but had already
been using a fiber sling for more than
25 years. I asked, “You are using a
fiber sling under the hook already.
Why would you be hesitant to use
similar but better fiber technology
above the hook?”
That customer quickly realized
the irony and embraced the KZ-100.
The company is now a champion
of synthetic rope because of the
experience it provides. Surely we
will see the switch to synthetic
ropes take hold in the marketplace—
it’s just a matter of the experiential
knowledge making its way across the
innovation curve.
The land of lifting experience
Since experience providers dominate
the 21st
century economy, companies
will have to compete on customer
experience with empathy. They will
have to become trusted partners, not
just the sellers or dealers of goods.
That’s why I like to call Shady Grove,
Pennsylvania “The Land of Lifting
Experience.” At Shady Grove, more
than building cranes, we create a
lifting experience for our customers
around the world.
My definition of innovation is:
“PEOPLE creating EXPERIENCE
through CONNECT and DEVELOP,
and the IMPLEMENTATION of ideas
to disrupt the status quo and stay
AHEAD in business.”
The great thing about innovation
is that it’s not confined to any one
medium—I may be talking about
products, but the method is applicable
in many areas, such as the support
you provide your own customers.
It’s worth thinking: “How might my
company design a better experience
for my own customers?” 