Monument Tools Olive Puller
Neil Moore introducing the Olive Puller
Monument has long since been associated with designing, manufacturing and marketing innovative tools and the Monument Tools Olive Puller is no exception to the rule. As part of the original strategy of the business Monument helps inventors bring products to market. Monument Tools are often approached by inventors and a number of years ago were approached by Neil Moore and Gerry Lilley from Lillemor Ltd. The problem Neil and Gerry had when fitting a cistern was how to remove an olive without damaging the pipe. Traditionally the olive or gland nut is removed using a hacksaw. This has the problem of possibly damaging the pipe. The idea of pulling the olive off was the first step inventive step.
John Collier, Chairman of Monument Tools wants inventors to feel comfortable when approaching a manufacturer to design and market their invention. Often inventors have no experience of working with manufacturers, let alone bringing a product to market.
“It’s pretty daunting trying to pitch a product to a business and watching what happens on Dragon’s Den can seemingly make it even more unnerving. We want to be realistic but also help inventors in a comfortable friendly environment”
The Design Process
Original Monument Tools Olive Puller in Screwfix
Neil and Gerry first came up with a rough and ready prototype of the Monument Tools Olive Puller. The first draft of the product was big and bold. From this initial concept tool Monument further refined it to become the first version of the Monument Tools Olive Puller, still available from Screwfix. Monument Tools help to evolve products with its manufacturing experience as well as working with focus groups to help further enhance the design.
Neil comments “One of the challenges is the time it takes and there are no rule books [when designing a product and bringing it to market]…with hindsight it would have been nice to bring the product out at the same time as the patent…it’s good to work with a family business like Monument Tools.
Power Tool Attachment
Power Tool Attachment
The Monument Tools Olive Puller has been further recently enhanced by the addition of a power tool attachment (v1658-180224) making the removal process of the olive quicker and easier than previous versions.
Jonathan Collier, Managing Director adds “products will go through iterations which often we never see at the original outset of the product; we also have new designs of the product coming out in 2018.”
The power tool attachment allows olive to be removed quicker and easier. Always remember to use the drill in the forward / drive setting when removing the olive.
The Importance of Intellectual Property IP
Whether it is Registered Designs, Trademarks or Patents all new products should have some kind of IP. The Monument Tools Olive Puller has a patent which protects the way the tool works. Neil suggests and Monument would always recommend a “good” patent lawyer in the area of the product being designed.
All IP comes with caveats and it must be stressed that Monument are not patent lawyers.
Routes to Market
Monument Tools also has deep understanding of routes to market and can help inventors see pitfalls which may be otherwise invisible. Routes to market differ greatly from the early 2000s with the ability to get the product in front of a (possible) global audience very quickly. Export is a key feature of Monument Tools and products which have export potential potentially have bigger rewards for the inventors.
Do you have an idea for a new product ?
Have a read of our Inventor Den page, complete the form and get in touch. We currently are working with about a dozen inventors pre and post production. We aim to offer honest advice but sometimes unfortunately products don’t fit within our range or our timescales.