Critical Facts• Introduction and Growth: Santa Cruz Bicycles (SCB) is a company founded in 1993 by former professional skateboarder Rob Roskopp who teamed up with fellow skaters Mike Marquez and Rich Novak. The company has evolved from producing "simply advanced" full suspension bicycles in 1993 to today's "cutting edge" high-performance bikes, known for their unique Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) system. (Santa Cruz Bicycles, 2014) A company that had $6 million in revenue in the 1990s increased its sales by more than 40% per year. (Duvall, 2007)• Ride with the new suspension system, VPP: After acquiring the patent for their VPP from Outland Bikes in 1999 (Roskopp, 2001), the first prototype of the frame designed by the VPP suspension system after 3 months of design work and 4 months of custom manufacturing by external machine shops. The first test results were devastating and Joe Graney, the technical manager, said in one of his interviews that: "It only took one run to realize that the thing sucked. We had been here for seven months, with a lot of money in the hole, without a bike to bring to market." This failure exposed the weakest link in the company's research and development process. (Duvall, 2007)• First prototype, a revelation: Santa Cruz Bicycles quickly realized that to leverage its patented VPP technology and ultimately grow the business, it needed to find a way to take designs off the table from drawing to prototypes Faster. Although the company used AutoCAD software to render new designs, it took too long to get the working prototype from suppliers. The delays meant that if prototypes failed, designs had to be redesigned, which had a catastrophic effect on the company's finances. (Duvall, 2007)......middle of paper......les. (D. Milner, interviewer) Retrieved from http://www.bikeradar.com/: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/interview-rob-roskopp-owner-of-santa-cruz-bicycles- -28844/Santa Cruz Bicycles. (2008). BLUR LT 2008 version. Retrieved from santacruz-pl.com: http://santacruz-pl.com/attachments/article/71/Old%20BLT2%20Press%20Release.pdfSanta Cruz Bicycles. (2014). Santa Cruz Bicycles. Retrieved from www.santacruzbicycles.com: http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/companyShepherd, K. (2013, February 15). PTC Creo helps Santa Cruz Bicycles increase revenue in a struggling economy. Retrieved from creo.ptc.com: http://creo.ptc.com/2013/02/15/ptc-creo-helps-santa-cruz-bicycles-grow-revenues-in-a-down-economy/Stackpole, B. (2006, November 3). Smooth transition to PLM. Retrieved from www.managingautomation.com: http://www.managingautomation.com/maonline/magazine/read/view/Smooth_Ride_to_PLM_3571735