About Us

Formed in 2009 by Rob Bangerter, Rapid Development and Sourcing (RDS) seeks to provide industry expertise to product companies in consumer and non-consumer markets. Using an approach developed by RDS that is easily applied across product, material, and process categories, we are not limited to one area of expertise, unlike many other consulting firms.

Rob began his career as a process engineer in the domestic manufacturing industry. This experience proved to be a unique and valuable skill set. As manufacturing began to shift offshore, Rob progressed in a series of roles at industrial and consumer-based product companies in sourcing, development, and end-to-end supply chain operations. In these roles, he not only learned how to find the best-in-class suppliers, but also how to develop high-quality products while lowering product and operational costs. Using his engineering and manufacturing expertise, he has helped many companies exceed cost reduction targets as well as achieve optimal cost-efficiencies in new product design.

Rob has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and a Masters of Business Administration with a focus on Technical and Engineering Management and has developed his expertise over 30 years.

What People Are Saying

  • Cranium

    “Rob managed an increasingly complex portfolio of Cranium products and manufacturing partners with ever improving efficiency. He moved heaven and earth to beat impossible deadlines, reduced costs while improving quality, and built long-term, valuable relationships with our manufacturing partners. Hard-working, ethical, knowledgeable, and creative, Rob was a valuable addition to Cranium’s “secret sauce”.

    — Whit Alexander, Co-Founder

  • Snupi Technologies

    “Snupi Technologies hired RDS to bring up our operations capabilities, and he did an excellent job creating processes and managing vendors. To get these results, he leveraged his deep knowledge of supply chains and technical expertise. His efforts were instrumental in the on-time delivery of our first units. For those companies in the market for an experienced operations consultant, I highly recommend RDS!”

    — Aanand Esterberg, Senior Program Manager / Product Manager

  • SimplyFun LLC

    “RDS extensive network and years of experience has helped us reduce our product costs by double digits while maintaining SimplyFun’s commitment to heirloom products. RDS has introduced us to many new partners and taken our business to a new level for international manufacturing. RDS is a pleasure to work with and is a valued partner”

    — Gail DeGiulio, Chief Funster and Founder

  • Department of Recreation LLC

    “I worked with Rob at both Cranium and Discovery Bay Games and would recommend him wholeheartedly to any organization. He has such deep experience, expertise, insight, and wisdom that he has cultivated over the years at various companies. At the same time, he has a youthful enthusiasm for making innovative products and a genuine love of the work he is engaged in. I have seen him pull off what seemed to me to be production and manufacturing miracles so that we could be the first to market with DBG’s new line of iOS appcessories. Best of all, Rob is an absolute pleasure to work with. He treats everyone with complete respect and professionalism. He has authentic integrity and kindness and he shows calm fortitude and thoughtful leadership during the most difficult challenges facing a company.”

    — Marisa Pena, Principal

  • Education Outdoors

    “I can’t say enough about how fortunate we are to have a sourcing partner like RDS in our corner. Their strong vender network maximized our potential to create the best products possible for our growing brand. RDS not only brings a wealth of knowledge and creativity to their clients, but ethical and honest business relationships. Their hands on approach and enthusiasm bring a new energy to our product design process. I look forward to working with RDS for years to come, they are a huge asset to any company, big or small.”

    — Jesse DenHerder, Director of Marketing and Product Development

  • Zoom Systems

    “RDS jumped into our project and came up to speed quickly at a time we needed to move fast. They identified several great partners and moved through the set-up process efficiently and drove UL certification so we could move into mass production faster than we targeted!”

    — Jack Lawrence, President and CEO