The “Right” Innovations

 

 

 

Optimized Development

 

 

 

Maximum Market Impact

Working on the wrong products waste time and money

Learn More

Companies hit roadblocks that keep them from optimized launches

Learn More

Ineffective market positioning is costly

Learn More

Efficient, Optimized Development With Maximum Results

Concepts & Innovation

We ensure you are working on the right products that give you the best chance to win!

LEARN MORE

Development Roadblocks

We help the team overcome common obstacles to optimize the development process.

LEARN MORE

Market Positioning

We focus your product position to create impact in the market.

LEARN MORE

What Can AMG Do For Your Business?

The world’s best athletes have specialists who help them hone their skills and guide them  to the next level.  The best leaders have councils and teams that give them insights and perspectives they may not see leading the day to day activities.  We highlight, optimize and build alignment and clarity.

Innovating with AMG we do not change what you do or implement fancy initiatives. We analyze what you are doing, how your business drives programs and where the business opportunities are.  We optimize it and bring it to market in the most efficient way possible.

We focus on:

  • Working on the right products.
  • Identifying the best position in the market.
  • Bringing those products to market in the most efficient way.

Inefficiencies in Innovation Drain Results

Watch Justin Kalvitz discuss wasted time, money and energy and solutions to this widespread problem throughout businesses in this 1 minute highlight video for insight into our philosophies and what we do to solve problems in business!

Insights

Companies often fail to put resources behind the right projects, concepts or ideas.  Sometimes what to work on and what not to work on is the best place to start change…

Companies often get tripped up bringing even the best ideas to market in common ways.  Lack of resources, misalignment across the teams, lack of communication or unimpactful strategies often derail programs…

We see it all the time, no one asked if the market would want a product or failed to define if this would drive incremental business.  Simple questions like how the competition will react affect where you start and how you launch

Case Studies

Focus around what we are able to sell, built a fledgling group of scientists into a globally recognized business

Turned a $3M business struggling to find an identity and not generating profit into more than a $40M focused global platform.  This tech development company shifted from, “develop technology and license it” into a globally recognized retail brand generating 23% CAGR.  In the early years the business was doubling every year with a focus in 4 key strategic areas and as the consumer goods product took off the business shifted resources and energy to support and build on the market support.  Critical to the change in the business was a shift from internal efforts around what the R&D team thought they could do to a focus around what the market would react to, and the company could sell.  Als experience at SAIC, working with both science and government programs allowed him to understand and challenge the teams but also provide a vision for the business that built the success.

Strategic thinking leading innovation in a new direction

With a goal of increasing jobs in the region, Al brought a vision and focus on more effectively building innovation through the Cleveland Innovation Project.  The region was competing with other local markets to create more jobs and drive population and NE Ohio was falling behind.  Al was able to outline the key areas for the region to focus on that would affect the next 20-30 years.  The need was to find the areas the region could make big bets that would drive jobs and increase population.  The areas of focus were Health, Water and smart manufacturing and were driven by Capital investment, Talent Acquisition and Tech Commercialization.  The outcome of the project was a results focused plan the region could build on and align resources around.  Al’s leadership and guidance created a concrete plan that overcame challenges and built a successful strategy working closely with a variety of organizations such as the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Cleveland Foundation, Fund for our Economic Future, Jumpstart and Team NEO.

Envisioning the future of tech, leading the path to success

How does a university effectively commercialize technology to benefit the region?  Wanting to do that is not enough and trying just drives teams to spin their wheels.  To truly have success and make progress you need a plan, vision and leadership to guide activities.  Al worked closely with Kent State University and led the introduction of an early commercialization process that created a partnership to align ideas with market needs.  By identifying the gap in projects that had a low likelihood of success to generate income and eliminating wasted time, money and resources, Al created significant efficiencies and aligned a better end game focus.  More income and less wasted effort were just a few results that came from the AMG leadership.

Unimagined tech drives a newly created, billion dollar category

Sherwin Williams purchased the Krylon brand from Borden and used it as a cash cow.  As they continued to acquire businesses for their specialty business, they did not focus on innovation. Soon enough the distant competitor Rustoleum started to make in-roads into their core business.  With all the extensions, formula updates, the market just was not seeing Krylon as innovative.  After losing several key accounts and splitting business with their new platforms, we focused driving an impact type of innovation and worked with R&D to take technology from another industry and develop the worlds first ever paint for plastic, a huge growing market trend. This product single handedly landed them back in the largest account they had lost and created an industry that today is now a billion dollar global platform and put Sherwin Williams back at the top of the innovation pyramid.

Dr. Al Green, the CEO of Kent Displays… develops, and manufactures flexible liquid crystal displays from a state-of-the-art production line in Kent, and is the first of its kind in the world. Dr. Green is turning the table, manufacturing high-tech products right here in Ohio, selling them in the United States and selling them abroad.”

President Obama

News Conference: American Jobs Act – October 7, 2011

 I worked with so many talented people and teams at Sherwin Williams and Justin was the very best at developing truly creative product solutions.
Adam Chafe

Vice President of Marketing, Sherwin Williams

Justin understands the complex interplay of retail, e-commerce, and other channels and knows how to build a sales and marketing plan to grow them in parallel.
Emily Wilcox

Owner, Elevate Growth Group (Amazon)

I worked with Justin to develop and launch a Business to Consumer venture from the ground up.  Justin sees the big picture and has the ability to develop strategies and actions that include the Creative, Operations, Supply Chain and Sales team members.  This effort resulted in customized programs focused on market opportunities and led to our team exceeding budget by 300%
Ross Burnham

Senior Marketing Manager, Macac

Working with Justin on several technologies and adapting them from a B2B to CPG focus has been instrumental in the brands successes.  His marketing guidance, due diligence of the technology applications, and constructing a brand blue print led to multi-million dollar programs surpassing expectations.
Paul Von Mohr

Owner, Meo Mio

I worked with Justin re-trenching products across Asian markets, Japan and Australia. His ability to craft strategies that cater to local regions but stay tied into global business direction was critical and helped dramatically grow the business.
Ryan Street

Sales Manager Asia Pacific, Moose Toys

I worked with Justin on Costco and he was instrumental in growing the business at the retailer by over 35% within the first two years … Justin worked closely with the product development team to create unique and appealing club packs for this retailer, but he played an integral role in structuring the promotion and marketing plans to drive sales.  Justin is a true professional and leader, poised and informed with a firm grasp on both supplier and retailer needs.
Bridget Lutgen

Vice President, xxx marketing

Industries and Partners We Have Worked With

 

Our Partners

Fostering a Partnership Ecosystem for All Your Business Needs

 

Operation Management

Financial Consulting

Executive Coaching

People & Recruiting

Product Engineering

Marketing Strategy

Amazon Optimization

IT Integration

Our Team

Kevin Lu

Dr. Albert Green

Dr. Green is the Founder and CEO of AMG Consulting Group, which focuses on technology scouting and commercialization, Technology-based economic development, international business development and executive mentoring. AMG Consulting Group is a diversity, equity and inclusion evangelist and change agent. We use our 30+ years of experience and vast network to assist organizations that seek to use technology-based innovation to augment or change their business. Prior to founding AMG consulting, he was the CEO of Kent Display, Inc (KDI). During his tenure as CEO, KDI invented and brought to market a new consumer product category, the eWriter. The products are used in business, education, healthcare, military, and around the home. Dr. Green transformed the company from an R&D focused licensing company to a product focused consumer packaged goods company averaging 22% CAGR. He led the construction of the first roll-to-roll LCD manufacturing line in the world, which is based in Kent, OH.

Justin Kalvitz

Justin Kalvitz

Justin Kalvitz has more than 30 years of sales, marketing and global business leadership at companies including Sherwin Williams, Newell-Rubbermaid, Zenith, Boogie Board and Bemis. He has developed products that have equated to nearly a billion dollars in consumer sales, including developing and launching industry first technologies. His broad set of experiences in consumer products and B2B markets with fortune companies, historic brand leadership and creating businesses from the ground up, have helped sustain a successful track record of establishing solid business strategies, launching exciting product innovations and building global commercial programs through distribution, retail, partnerships and web/digital platforms.

Kevin Lu

Kevin Lu

Kevin is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with a degree in physics and economics. Having experiences in basic research as well as business development and technology startups, Kevin excels in converting leading-edge innovations to commercial opportunities. He is deeply involved in various regional economic development initiatives in Northeast Ohio and is based in New York City.

Kevin Lu

Kareem Agag

Kareem has been in many roles across various technology companies and startups and has experience in a wide-range of industries including Additive Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, Micro PE, Media, Transportation, and Robotics. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University where he studied Economics and Environmental Science, and where he served as a ThinkEnergy Fellow. He is heavily involved in many of the region’s initiatives and has deep knowledge of many of the region’s top assets.