iRobot 2011 Annual Report Download - page 51

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improvements, more sophisticated sensor suites and advanced human interfaces, remote presence systems will
expand in effectiveness and efficiency and reduce the requirements for actual physical operator presence and
control. In the area of automated home maintenance, we seek to improve the quality of life with robotic solutions
requiring as little human physical intervention as possible. Key elements of our strategy include:
Leverage Common Platforms and Software. By committing long-term to a given platform and providing
incremental upgrades, we create a valuable installed base that supports third-party development and greatly
simplifies service and support. When entering new product areas that cannot be serviced with existing platforms,
we intend to develop a multi-generational platform strategy that allows for rapid learning and long-term
incremental improvements. Through the use and development of a common software architecture, we intend to
create a robot intelligence system of enduring value and build a formidable advantage that stifles competition.
Our common software will allow high reuse, reducing development costs of new systems and payloads, as well
as reducing development timelines.
Continued Growth through Profitability, Operational Excellence and Customer Focus. We intend to
consistently improve our profitability through disciplined allocation of resources and by reducing costs of
materials, adjusting prices, optimizing our product and channel mix and focusing on our discretionary spending.
We will continue to focus on improving the scalability and efficiency of our supply chain process and on
mitigating single source supply exposure. We will identify, develop and enhance product features and
functionality while also aggressively focusing on product reliability.
Leverage Research and Development Across Different Products and Markets. We leverage our research
and development across all of our products and markets. For example, we use technological expertise developed
through government-funded research and development projects across our other product development efforts.
Similarly, expertise developed while designing consumer products is used in designing products for government
and industrial applications. This strategy helps us avoid the need to start each robot project from scratch,
developing robots in a cost-effective manner and minimizing time to market.
Continue to Strengthen Our Brand. Our robots’ performance and uniqueness have enabled us to obtain
strong word-of-mouth and extensive press coverage leading to increasing brand awareness, brand personality and
momentum. We intend to continue to invest in our marketing programs to strengthen our brand recognition and
reinforce our message of innovation, reliability, safety and value.
Complement Core Competencies with Strategic Alliances. Our core competencies are the design,
development and marketing of robots. We rely on strategic alliances to provide complementary competencies
that we integrate into our products and to enhance market access. We outsource certain non-core activities, such
as manufacturing and back-office functions, which helps us focus our resources on our core competencies.
Develop a Community of Third-Party Developers Around Our Platforms. We have developed products
around which communities of researchers, third-party developers or robot enthusiasts can create related
accessories, software and complementary products. We intend to foster this community by making our products
into extensible platforms with open interfaces designed to carry payloads.
Technology
We are focused on behavior-based, artificially-intelligent systems developed to meet customer requirements
in multiple market segments. In contrast to robotic manufacturing equipment or entertainment systems that are
designed to repeat actions in specific, known environments, our systems are designed to complete missions in
complex and dynamic real-world environments.
Our robots rely on the interplay among behavior-based artificially intelligent systems, real-world dynamic
sensors, user-friendly interfaces and tightly-integrated, electromechanical designs to accomplish their missions
efficiently.
AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems. Our proprietary AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems are code bases
that enable the behavioral control of robots. Moreover, the AWARE systems include modules that control
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