Design and Massachusetts Manufacturers

This survey is being conducted by a partnership of the Design Industry Group of Massachusetts (DIGMA) with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. DIGMA's mandate is to grow the Massachusetts design economy by promoting it as the center for design excellence and to explore how design can increase market share, profits, and productivity for all businesses in the Commonwealth.

This short survey is intended to learn the extent to which your company uses and values design today and how it views its future potential so that we can better understand the importance of creativity and design to manufacturers in Massachusetts. Your responses will enable us to communicate the story of the state's manufacturing strengths locally, regionally, and nationally and ultimately will help strengthen the state's economy.

Although there are many definitions of "design," for the purposes of this survey we are using the following a definition. "Design is a structured creative process. Design is readily associated with industrial product design for manufactured products -- specifically the `look' of a product. However, the application of design is much broader, for example designing for function; for aesthetic appeal; for ease of manufacture; for sustainability; and designing for reliability or quality and business processes themselves. Elements of design, particularly graphic design, will form part of product, service and company branding and advertising strategy."

The survey is anonymous and will be kept confidential. We do not require any identifying information, and the responses will be reported only in the aggregate.

Question Title

* 1. What industry are you in?

Advanced materials

Apparel and textile

Defense and security

Food processing and technology

Furniture and wood products

Chemical and chemical-based products

Glass and ceramics

Computer and electronics products

Electrical equipment, appliances, and components

Information technology and communications

Transportation equipment

Primary metals

Fabricated metal products

Machinery

Biomedical/biotechnical

Printing and publishing

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. What are the primary products you manufacture?

Question Title

* 3. Are your products aimed primarily at

individual consumers (clothing, food, electronics, motorcycles)

businesses but visible to clients (office furniture, dental equipment, vans)

industrial products (tools, machines, semiconductors)

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. How many employees do you have?

0-9

10-19

20-49

50-99

100-249

250 or more

Question Title

* 5. What city or towns in Massachusetts do you have offices or facilities in?

Question Title

* 6. Which of the following best describes your company's use of design?

Design is primarily functional, performed by engineers or others

Design is used to determine shape, color, and generally aesthetics to appeal to customer

Design is integrated across all aspects of business, from communications through marketing

Design is integral to the company's strategy and innovation process

Question Title

* 7. How important is design to your competitiveness in each of the following areas? 1 is least important and 5 is most important.

	1	2	3	4	5	Not applicable
Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness)	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) 1	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) 2	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) 3	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) 4	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) 5	Product design (aesthetics or distinctiveness) Not applicable
Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost)	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) 1	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) 2	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) 3	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) 4	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) 5	Product design (manufacturability, reliability, or cost) Not applicable
Industrial design of the manufacturing process	Industrial design of the manufacturing process 1	Industrial design of the manufacturing process 2	Industrial design of the manufacturing process 3	Industrial design of the manufacturing process 4	Industrial design of the manufacturing process 5	Industrial design of the manufacturing process Not applicable
Advertising	Advertising 1	Advertising 2	Advertising 3	Advertising 4	Advertising 5	Advertising Not applicable
Packaging	Packaging 1	Packaging 2	Packaging 3	Packaging 4	Packaging 5	Packaging Not applicable
Interior design	Interior design 1	Interior design 2	Interior design 3	Interior design 4	Interior design 5	Interior design Not applicable
Exhibit design (trade show booths)	Exhibit design (trade show booths) 1	Exhibit design (trade show booths) 2	Exhibit design (trade show booths) 3	Exhibit design (trade show booths) 4	Exhibit design (trade show booths) 5	Exhibit design (trade show booths) Not applicable
Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site)	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) 1	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) 2	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) 3	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) 4	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) 5	Communications design (branding, corporate identity, web site) Not applicable

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 8. How important is design to your competitiveness?

Integral role

Significant role

Limited role

No role

Question Title

* 9. Has design had any impact on how your company has weathered the recent economic downturn?

Yes

If yes, please describe how design affected your company during this period

Question Title

* 10. About what percent of your product sales do you estimate is due to design that distinguishes your product?

None

1-25%

26-50%

51-75%

76-99%

All

Question Title

* 11. Over the past three years, has your company's use of design

grown considerably (>10%)

grown a little (0% - 10%)

stayed constant

declined a little (-1% - -10%)

declined considerably (>-10%)

No Applicable

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 12. Over the next 3 years, do you expect your investment in design to

grow considerably (>10%)

grow a little (0% - 10%)

stay constant

decline a little (-1% - -10%)

decline considerably (>-10%)

No Applicable

Question Title

* 13. Which of the following characterizes how you undertake design at your company? For the purpose of this survey we are defining "designers" as individuals who address the aesthetics of a product and/or its functionality. (Check all that apply)

We have an in-house design department with full time, professional product designers working on both the aesthetics and functionality of our products or professional graphics and communication designers working on product marketing.

We have professional products designers on our staff working on the aesthetics and functionality of our products and/or professional designers working on marketing and communications, but no design department

We have employees who are not professional product or graphic designers, but who provide in house design services

We contract out for design services from outside, specialized design firms who help companies develop innovative products or provide specialized services around corporate communications.

We contract out for design services to individual freelancers who provide support in the design of the aesthetics of our products or in the marketing and branding of our products.

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 14. If you have internal professional product designers on your staff how many are currently employed by your company in Massachusetts?

Question Title

* 15. If you have internal professional graphic designers on your staff how many are currently employed by your company in Massachusetts?

Question Title

* 16. If you contract out for product design services from a professional product design firm, is the company:

Within the Boston region

In Massachusetts but not from the Boston region

Out of state

Question Title

* 17. If you hire product designers (individuals with professional degrees in commercial and industrial design), what colleges and universities do the greatest numbers graduate from? (Both within Massachusetts and outside of Massachusetts)

Question Title

* 18. If you hire graphic designers, what colleges and universities do the greatest numbers graduate from? (Both within Massachusetts and outside of Massachusetts)

Question Title

* 19. Which of the following limit your use of design?

Difficulty hiring or retaining professional product designers with skills in the aesthetics and functionality of the product (i.e. not engineers).

Availability of local product design firms with relevant expertise (non engineering firms)

Cost of investment

Lack of knowledge about application of design to my business

Lack of knowledge about how to protect intellectual property

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 20. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (Note: refer to the definition of design in the introduction of the survey).

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neither agree or disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts	Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts Strongly disagree	Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts Disagree	Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts Neither agree or disagree	Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts Agree	Design is important to the competitiveness of manufacturers in Massachusetts Strongly agree
It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive	It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive Strongly disagree	It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive Disagree	It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive Neither agree or disagree	It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive Agree	It is important that our company increase its investment in design if it is to remain competitive Strongly agree
It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts	It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts Strongly disagree	It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts Disagree	It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts Neither agree or disagree	It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts Agree	It is easy for us to find people with the appropriate design skills in Massachusetts Strongly agree
More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts	More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts Strongly disagree	More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts Disagree	More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts Neither agree or disagree	More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts Agree	More could be done to promote design in Massachusetts Strongly agree
There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability	There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability Strongly disagree	There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability Disagree	There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability Neither agree or disagree	There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability Agree	There is a positive link between investment in design and profitability Strongly agree
Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago	Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago Strongly disagree	Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago Disagree	Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago Neither agree or disagree	Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago Agree	Investing in product design is more important today than it was five years ago Strongly agree

Question Title

* 21. How would you characterize your current profitability as compared to three years ago?

Decreased a lot (10% or more)

Decreased a little (<10%)

Stayed the same

Increased a little (<10%)

Increased a lot (10% or more)

Do not know

Question Title

* 22. Do you have any suggestions about how to better link manufacturing and design in Massachusetts?

Question Title

* 23. Thank you very much for your time. If you would be willing to be contacted for a short conversation about this survey or about our project, please put add contact information below. Thank you.

Name

Company

Phone Number