Ping Pioneers Custom-Fit Creations
Ping is one of the best-known brands in golf equipment. The company was founded by Karsten Solheim, a mechanical engineer who in the late 1950s took his experience in the aerospace and computer industries to build a brand credited with numerous innovations in the design and manufacturing of golf clubs.
One such innovation is the ability to custom fit golf clubs based on factors such as a customer's gender and size and how the person swings different types of clubs.
"There were competitive golf club manufacturers and other companies making software for the custom-fitting market," says Greg Swartz, director of Innovation at Ping. "When we evaluated the market and took a close look at the computer-based solutions, we saw an opportunity to pioneer an entirely new type of fitting software system."
A Ping design and development team led by Swartz started development on an application called nFlight in June 2006. The goal was to have the software ready to demonstrate 18 months later at the 2008 Professional Golfers' Association Merchandise Show. However, a year after starting the project, the team found itself bogged down on the user interface. The development work was not moving fast enough.
"We were trying to make an application that did some very complex things, yet also looked beautiful," says Swartz. "By September 2007, we had hit a wall. At the rate we were going, we realized that we would not get the application done in time for the merchandising show."
Moving to Plan B
Around the same time that the Ping team realized it would not meet its deadline, one of its members learned about an early version of Microsoft Expression Blend, a scalable, design-oriented application built using Windows Presentation Foundation. The Ping team quickly decided to use the new solution in tandem with other development tools, including the Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 development system and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
The result? Ping completed the application in time for the PGA show in January 2008, reworking its original efforts in less than three months in order to create a highly functional prototype. Two months later, the production version of the application was finished. By early 2009, about 400 Ping equipment dealers around the world had the application installed.
The nFlight software provides five windows that deliver an interactive, three-dimensional view of a golfer's shot profile and club movements. As the golfer uses various clubs and grips under the direction of a professional fitter, the software helps select the optimal clubs and fit using data that is based on Ping engineering and fitting expertise. Visualizations are shown on a large monitor so the customer can see the effects of using different clubs under varying conditions that mimic actual playing conditions, such as humid climates or specific altitude and wind conditions.
After a dealer fits a customer with golf clubs using nFlight, the specifications are sent to Ping customer service using a built in e-mail client. The customer's order is forwarded to the nearest manufacturing facility where the custom clubs are made, and then shipped to the customer's dealer, usually within 48 hours.
The Course Ahead
The rapid improvement in the Ping team's development efforts helped expedite the completion of an application that is playing an important role in the company's image. Ping is now looking at further developments and improvements for nFlight, including the incorporation of the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in with which Ping could extend fitting sessions to Web browsers and allow customers to view their sessions on portable computing devices or cell phones.
"We believe we are now at least two years ahead of competitors," says Swartz. "The Microsoft tools provided the technology we needed to leapfrog the competition and reinforce the Ping brand as a market leader."