DYNA-TECH DIABLO

Racin'snake":3moioy24 said:

The U.G.L.I is anything but...love it

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66 triumph daytona":20tmn5js said:

Racin'snake":20tmn5js said:

The U.G.L.I is anything but...love it

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Did that really stand for Uncle Gerald`s Latest Invention after RSP`s Gerald Donovan or was that a myth?

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cherrybomb":30382euc said:

How did the painting go? It's not been very warm recently.

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66 triumph daytona":3kdei6ld said:

Racin'snake":3kdei6ld said:

The U.G.L.I is anything but...love it

Click to expand...

Did that really stand for Uncle Gerald`s Latest Invention after RSP`s Gerald Donovan or was that a myth?

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.7.3 Special Products Division

The demise of the European team in the early 1980s led to the closure of Ilkeston but resulted in Gerald O’Donovan and Melvyn Cresswell teaming up on product development at what became known as Special Products Division. Shortly before this, and supported by his ‘indulgent boss’ Yvonne Rix, Cresswell had designed and launched the Randonneur tourer. It was based on personal experience and inspired by his first ‘serious’ bicycle, which Gerald O’Donovan had built for him many years previously. Although Raleigh’s most expensive complete bicycle, it was an instant success. The Randonneur proved that Raleigh could still sell high-end product if it was thoughtfully designed and manufactured.

The small team gathered together at Special Products built on this success. They produced many viable new bikes, which initially sold in good volumes. Derby encouraged this development work and Ed Gottesman, leader of the Derby buy-out, was particularly supportive. An avid collector of high-end Raleighs, he was always looking to add to his collection. Moreover, he always paid for his Special Products bikes.

Managing director Sandy Roberts was also a keen supporter of the unit. However, after he retired in 1990, support waned. Despite pioneering work on thermal bonding technology (DynaTech) and frame manufacture using titanium and metal matrix composites, the Raleigh board was unsure how to make use of Special Products Department. Should it be required to make a profit? Should it be a development overhead? Was it a marketing tool and hence part of marketing costs?

Yet, even breaking even was difficult. This was the era when internal transfer charging became fashionable in the corporate world. Despite being autonomous, Special Products had to contribute disproportionately to corporate IT costs, human resources department costs and even the running of directors’ cars. Meanwhile the sales department had little interest in Special Products and was so tied to the Raleigh 5-star dealer network that access was denied to quality independent dealers capable of selling the product. The decline of Special Products was therefore inevitable, although the unit still exists.

3.7.4 Special Products as niche support for volume production

The Raleigh view is that the company always has been and remains primarily about mass-production. The brand philosophy also dictates that Raleigh must make the best end of the bicycles sold in volume. Therefore, if Raleigh sells mountain bikes, it must make the top niche Raleigh MTBs. Consequently, Special Products development unit now makes MTBs for the Raleigh team, whose mission is ‘to demonstrate that Raleigh make the best mountain bikes in the world’. This is not particularly profitable in its own right, but is worthwhile because of the brand enhancement when selling ordinary bicycles. Moreover, there is a trickle down of technological development and refinement from the team machines to ordinary production.

The philosophy today regarding Special Products is that any niche markets catered for must relate to the mass-produced products.

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