In
his seminal contribution to economic thought published in 1942 and titled
Capitalism, Socialism & Democracy, Joseph Schumpeter coined the term
‘creative destruction’ to describe the dynamic operation of the economy. This
‘industrial mutation… incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from
within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one’.
Schumpeter saw this ‘industrial mutation’ or ‘creative destruction’ as being
driven by innovation and, more importantly, by the entrepreneur. For
Schumpeter, entrepreneurship was the application of innovation. It was the
origination of superior organizational models, the development of more
efficient methods of production and a wider range of products offering the
consumer more satisfaction or, as economists are fond of saying, greater
utility. No doubt the great man would have been happy with the creative
destruction at OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO). OPCO is an innovative powerhouse
with ‘over 160 patents, issued or pending’ and three-quarters of its revenues
come from proprietary products.
OPCO’s
story is, indeed, one of innovation. The company was founded in 1996 by
entrepreneur Dr. Steve Tsengas because he saw how mired in the past the pet
care industry was. He set out to destroy the old ways of thinking about pet
care. And so, like the plot of many a good story, OPCO’s path of innovation is
one of adventure and happy endings. The development of the Intelligent Pet
Care™ line is one such chapter. The seed was planted at SuperZoo, The National
Show for Pet Retailers, which was held July 21 – 23, 2015, at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las Vegas when OurPets® Catty Whack® received the Best New
Cat Product Showcase Award.
OurPets®
Catty Whack® is an unpredictable game of hide and seek designed for cats of all
ages. Cats love the electronic RealMouse® sound and the erratic movement of the
feather keeps the cat guessing as it darts in and out at random. Catty Whack®
sales ‘have started accelerating at the end of the year’.
The
success of OurPets® Catty Whack® sparked anew the creative energy of OPCO’s
designers and resulted in the development of the Intelligent Pet Care™ line. As
Dr. Steve Tsengas explained in a recent MissionIR interview, the Intelligent
Pet Care™ line of products is ‘the application of Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi to
improve the connectivity between humans and pets’. Our pets cannot communicate
with us in ways that we will understand. Nevertheless, we can infer a lot by
collecting and analyzing data on their behavior.
The
Intelligent Pet Care™ product line includes the SmartLink™ Feeder, SmartLink™
Waterer and SmartScoop – Intelligent Litter Box, which allows pet parents to
monitor their pet’s behavior through the IntelligentPetLink™ smartphone app,
which can be downloaded from the Apple or Android app store. The
IntelligentPetLink™ smartphone app monitors a variety of data from the various
Intelligent Pet Care™ products, such as the frequency and duration of feeding,
water drinking and waste elimination.
The
SmartLink™ Feeder – Intelligent Pet Bowl fits well in households with many
pets. Using the Bluetooth® technology it will detect when your pet, wearing a
unique SmartLink™ Tag is near and will only open for that tag. This eliminates
feeding confrontations between pets, protects diet-sensitive meals and prevents
small children from getting to the pet’s food.
Another
product in the line is the SmartLink™ Waterer – Intelligent Water Fountain,
which, employing the Bluetooth® technology, will detect when your pet, wearing
a unique SmartLink™ Tag that is paired with the waterer, is near. It will then
dispense filtered water from the reservoir and so allow your pet to drink
clean, running water.
The
line includes the SmartScoop® – Intelligent Litter Box, which uses infrared technology
to sense when your cat enters and exits the box and engages the scoop mechanism
accordingly to clean the box.
Over
its 20 years in the pet care industry (the OurPets® brand has been around since
1996), the company has been practicing Schumpeterian creative destruction.
OurPet’s Company has been destroying the obsolescent and creating the future
for pets and for pet parents.
For
more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com
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