Factsheet

Overview

Davison is an award-winning new-product development firm located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA, that builds ideas into inventions and working product samples, complete with graphics and packaging, and presents them to corporations for licensing consideration using our exclusive method. Davison innovates, designs and develops new products for inventors, entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporations. The comprehensive Davison Inventing Method of building ideas into products makes the process affordable for all of the above — corporations, as well as individual inventors and entrepreneurs.

CEO George M. Davison founded the company as a one-man operation in his grandfather’s basement in 1989. A creator himself, George started the company to help “idea people” by creating a comprehensive, efficient and effective method of new product development. Today, Davison is a cutting-edge new product design and development firm employing designers, researchers, licensing professionals, and many other skilled professionals. The firm occupies approximately 110,000 square feet of factory and office space. This includes Inventionland, a cutting-edge design, and development facility where all facets of the inventing process take place under one roof in a Disneyesque setting that inspires creativity. There, teams of designers produce more than 2,000 new product samples each year, so Davison can deliver a constant flow of new products to companies. Davison’s inventions have been sold by over 1,000 different retailers, including such major names as Walmart, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, QVC, and many other and online and specialty retailers.

Our Vision

• Build the most efficient Idea-to-Product Method to make new product development more affordable.

Our Strategies

• Build Ideas – Through our comprehensive inventing method, we combine experience, trade secrets, technology, and creativity to effectively refine concepts and ideas.
• Build Products – We deliver high-quality working product samples for our clients and present them to corporations with the goal of producing licensed products that can be manufactured efficiently.
• Build Relationships – Earn the respect and confidence of our clients, corporate and individual, through high-quality production coupled with customer-friendly service.

Our Guiding Principles

• Devotion to our clients – Our method is designed for our clients. This trade-secreted method marries each client’s idea with the right design, engineering, manufacturing process, graphics, and packaging.
• Adherence to a streamlined, flexible system of design – We strive to increase the speed of production while maintaining the innovative spirit that accompanies great design.
• Desire to win – The execution of our plans, our development, our strategies, and our innovations have one goal: success.

Our Business Segments

• Davison
  Davison provides high-quality pre-development and development services at a reasonable cost to individuals with new product ideas around the world.
• Davison International
  Davison International accommodates corporations that seek to create new products, innovate existing lines of products, or that desire innovation consulting services from our forward thinking “Creationeers.”

Our Services

• Our services include pre-development, design, product sample building, packaging, presentation, and royalty management.

Our Capabilities

• Our capabilities include product design, rapid prototyping, woodworking, metalworking, ultrasonic welding, laser cutting, circuit board building, acid etching, sewing, custom packaging, milling, lathing, shearing, etching, vinyl printing, cutting and more.

Our Awards

• In 2014, two Davison-designed products, the Mrs. Fields Cool Bake and the Mrs. Fields Fill N’ Flip Locking Layer Cake Set, were both finalists for the International Housewares Association Innovation Awards at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, IL.
• In 2012, George Davison and our client, Lennell Parks, along with her TheraPED invention, were featured guests on Lifetime TV’s “The Balancing Act.” Additionally, this Davison-designed product was included in gift bags at the 45th Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.
• In 2011, The Better Tether that is licensed by Hugs Pet Products was named a Pet Product News International Retailers’ Top Pick.
• In 2011, the Pittsburgh Technology Council awarded Davison’s Inventionland the prestigious inaugural Creative Rooms in Business (CRIB) award, which “celebrates creative work environments, incorporating non-traditional design, unique methods of company community, artwork or space that encourages creativity.”
• In 2010, the Davison-designed Hydro Bone was named a Dog Fancy Magazine Editors’ Choice Award Winner.
• In 2010, George Davison was profiled in the widely read American Executive magazine. The article, “Creative Profits,” explains how the Davison Method builds new product ideas for corporations and independent inventors, remarking that the method is earning its creator the title “Henry Ford of Inventing.”
• In 2010, George Davison was featured on the hit morning show “The Balancing Act” on Lifetime TV. He was joined by the inventor of the Cool Cot House and the president of Hugs Pet Products to tell the full story of new product development.
• In 2010, “Edison’s Concrete Piano,” a new book about celebrated innovators of historic and modern times, includes a chapter on George Davison. The fourth-generation business leader is one of 12 “great inventors” detailed in the revealing new book.
• In 2009, two Davison-designed client products made highly successful marketplace debuts on QVC. The Meatball Baker sold out in less than 20 minutes and also sold out in subsequent airings. The Party on the Go, which was featured as a “Today’s Special Value” item on QVC, sold more than 25,000 units in one day. Both new products also were featured at the International Home & Housewares Show.
• In 2008, Davison’s 360° Hot / Cold Therapy Wrist Brace received an honorable mention in the Consumer Products category of I.D. Magazine’s 54th Annual Design Review.
• In 2008, I.D. Magazine recognized Davison’s creative workspace as one of “40 Amazing-Looking Design Offices.” The article reveals that Inventionland is “teeming with productivity.”
• In 2007, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! featured Inventionland in its new book, “The Remarkable… Revealed.” The book includes Inventionland among many unique places, people and events from around the world, describing it as a “Tree-mendous Office.”
• In 2007, Davison was named one of Pittsburgh’s “Top 50 Best Places to Work.” The ranking was determined through a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette employee-submitted survey.
• In 2007, Davison’s Jack ‘N Stand, an innovation of the automobile jack, received an honorable mention in the Concept category of I.D. Magazine’s 53rd Annual Design Review competition.
• In 2006, Davison won two IDEAs (Industrial Design Excellence Awards) in a competition sponsored by Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek magazine
  • A Bronze IDEA was awarded for the BikeBoard, a bicycle-scooter hybrid that pioneered a new category of wheeled recreational products that mimic the sensation of surfing.
  • A Silver IDEA was awarded for the Hover Creeper, a reinvention of the mechanic’s creeper that hovers on a thin layer of air, improving navigation and eliminating the breakage-prone wheels.
• Davison received its first award for product design in 1997. The Oil Filter Gripper, which eliminates the mess and hassle of changing automotive oil, was awarded a bronze IDEA by Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek magazine.