Smart Innovation Portfolio
R D philosophy swung from the ivory tower to all hands to the pump now, managers of industrial research pursue a balanced portfolio, but insists on innovation.
Today is an exciting time to be part of the auto industry, even if the requirements of the company have never been greater customer expectations of vehicle quality, reliability, safety and convenience are a record at the same time, worldwide overcapacity has put pressure on the industry to maintain and even reduce the price of the vehicle.
In the US, for example, payment of the average monthly vehicle as a percentage of average household income increased from 12 5 1980 to about 40 today July 5 reduction of environmental concerns, including exhaust emissions, the production of carbon dioxide, and recycling are critical elements of the law maker of the day another challenge gaining increased attention is the increase in oil prices, as has been recently observed in the US urban congestion is a growing problem worldwide, which could limit the use of cars in many major cities.
We are seeing major structural changes in the sector of car manufacturing, as the globalization of the industry is achieved through business alliances and academic public partnerships in the industry who have realigned the automakers of the world into six major groups this process is in the process of sorting the time it is concluded, only a few companies survive independently because they occupy a unique niche market, or possess a special competence for examples of General Motors activity worldwide, see box , GM global.
General Motors acquired stakes in Isuzu, Suzuki and Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan and Fiat in Italy Combined with its 100 owned major subsidiaries such as Adam Opel in Germany, Saab in Sweden, Vauxhall in the UK, Holden's in Australia and GM do Brasil in South America, these new alliances significantly expand the global reach and capabilities of GM.
Other types of partnerships are in the industry because of the progress in information and communication technologies and the explosive growth of the Internet GM has a strong position in the new technological fields, partly due its participation Hughes Electronics Corp. And its market leadership with GM OnStar, a mobile communication system that allows subscribers to access a wide range of emergency and concierge services information.
More recently, GM has formed a new business entity, e-GM, to lead the company's e-commerce initiatives An exciting development in this area is the creation of Covisint, the largest network of business to suppliers e-commerce business the network ultimately allow carmakers and supplier companies to manage all their online transactions, simplifying business processes and increasing the speed at which business is conducted .
With these developments, the industry is the major change point in its products and business structure The speed with which GM has formed new alliances and new business entities shows that the largest automaker can be fast and innovative for example in the world, since the beginning of 1998 GM has expanded its alliances OEM original equipment manufacturer increasing its positions in existing shares in Isuzu and Suzuki, the acquisition of minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru and Fiat, and completing the acquisition of Saab GM also formed non-participatory technical alliances with Toyota and Honda also e-Covisint GM and based on strategic alliances and innovation are the speed of the key requirements of doing business today ' hui.
An important outgrowth of the new global forces that are taking shape is increased attention within the industry R & D In fact, the increased importance appears in almost all sectors as evidenced by a recent survey by the Industrial Research Institute IRI the umbrella organization of the American research organizations 1 the IRI survey found that the three main challenges faced by R & D organizations today understand.
Integration of technology planning with business strategy.
Hypercompetitive business environment today has rekindled the spark GM R & D In response to the pressing needs of business and technology, R & D Center plays a vital role in GM's innovation processes This company processes to scale was developed in 1998 after GM management recognized that the company needed more innovative products to increase its market share in the world because of serious financial problems in the early 1990s, the product portfolio GM slid to a point where, by its own measures of the company, only 5 of the products in the portfolio were considered truly innovative was a dramatic decrease, especially considering GM's heritage, which includes a constant flow innovation dating back to the formation of the area to see R & D Center, GM's heritage in innovation obviously GM needed to step up innovation to find e XCitation the product of the past.
The new process was introduced to rejuvenate innovation within the business process is based on a sense answer out approach Figure 1. 2, which is different from the forecast sale brand business model that has traditionally been used in industry it works that way.
We collect data from clinical customers and marketing surveys and combine this information with estimates formalized new technologies These analyzes are used to guide vehicles and conceptual studies function, which are critically analyzed to determine appropriate responses to emerging markets and business opportunities.
One answer may be that no action be taken on a particular idea if you do not think this will give real value to the customer, but more generally, the answer leads to action, which is taken along one of the two paths.
The first way is to get the product now this trap if the technology is ready and do it in a product is just a matter of final development and vehicle integration In this case, it is for a date production and becomes part of the product plan.
When a technology is not yet mature, it is the responsibility of R D Center to develop to the point where it is ready to be integrated into a future product of a process that I describe later.
The purpose of the innovation process is to ensure a steady stream of product and technology options developed based on the sense that the market is headed The company's options are possible answers that GM can use to quickly take advantage of new opportunities the process is designed to be dynamic, with new information and ideas continuously moving through the system each time the company goes through a cycle of innovation, we gain knowledge and experience new ways to apply it to this and subsequent programs of technology.
Lawrence Burns, GM vice president for R & D and planning, is also responsible for the global GM products, and he was given the challenge of offering a global product portfolio over the next five years, contains 50 innovative cars and trucks in addition, 50 of our remaining traditional products must offer features of innovative products and technologies that offer significant benefits to customers and enhance the character of the mark of a vehicle to say his image product that is a big leap beyond 5 with the new innovation process, GM has been able to achieve the target 50 in its current plan, which covers new product entries for the years 2000 2004.
What do we mean by innovative car or truck There are several ways to create innovation in the automotive market, we can redefine the products and existing market segments, creating new and competitors bastions attack, these products with which a manufacturer captures an important part of the market.
For example, the introduction of a small third door on the Saturn coupe redefined the traditional cut and provided a distinct advantage to customers easy access to the rear seat Interestingly, the son of a GM dealer came up with this idea; use is a good example to detect and respond to comments on the market.
The minivan Opel Zafira shows the creation of a new market segment The Zafira has a capacity of seven passengers, but all seats but the driver can be removed from the simplicity of changing the seating configuration is unmatched This vehicle was a huge success; more than 100,000 were sold in Europe in 1999, the year it was introduced for 2000 sales are even stronger.
Using a materials technology that had its debut at the RD Center, GM attack a stronghold of full-size pickup trucks Truckers like to throw things in the bed of their vehicle, but they do not like it when the bed is scratched or GM dented provide a bed of cargo such all-composite pickup box that eliminates the need for a bed liner and can take much more abuse than conventional sheet metal beds this new lightweight composite box, difficult will be offered optional this year on long-bed Silverado Fleetside, significantly improving Silverado s like a rock brand.
For decades, the industrial research community has explored the role of R & D by asking questions such as How can we manage emerging technologies that could have an impact on business, but are not yet ready for the introduction of products and how we conceive ideas that could lead to game product change can, and business process innovations for society are issues that have been explored by the whole of the industrial research community for decades during their existence, most industrial laboratories have moved across the spectrum of R & D management philosophies in trying to achieve the desired results.
At one extreme was the laboratory that works much in isolation as an ivory tower, focusing mainly on technology just for the sake of continuing to advance the state of the art Little thought was given to the end user, the customer what has been called RD 3 first generation While this approach has indeed led to technological innovation, it has been slow in getting new technologies to market because of weak RD connection with engineering and marketing.
At the other extreme is the second generation of R & D, which is characterized by short-term additional technological progress is driven by short-term goals such as bottom line profits GM R & D Center has gone through such a cycle when GM was in financial difficulty in the early 1990s to DR, we called it all hands to the pump exercising obviously the disadvantage of a short-term research focus is that the company can missed a potential game-changing technology or innovation is, in many companies today, the development of R & D organization is to manufacture key products obsolete in the current company.
What is the right approach for today industrial research, most industrial laboratories have a balanced portfolio of projects with some of the work on short-term needs and other work led to revolutionary ideas and technology the most exciting emerging trend is the focus on the product and innovation of business processes.
At GM, we have developed what we believe is a good organizational structure and focus for the R D Center We have six science labs.
Thermal systems and Energy Lab, which aims to develop next-generation propulsion technology.
The laboratory of materials and processes, which supports the development of new materials in this laboratory, the current direction is the loss of weight through the use of aluminum and advanced materials such as nanocomposites.
Analysis of the vehicle and dynamic laboratory, which focuses on design methods and aided engineering advanced computer for the development of fast vehicles.
The laboratory of electrical integration and controls, which focuses on chassis technology systems advanced e g such as control of the increased vehicle stability and adaptive cruise control and intelligent vehicle of the future.
Chemical science and the lab environment, which helps to drive GM products and processes some of the lowest levels emissions worldwide; and.
Corporate Systems Lab, which looks to the future GM business in its broadest sense, understand the impact of emerging technologies such as the Internet.
The scientific laboratories R D center support GM's innovation process; research programs and innovation projects use a portfolio approach see box, organization GM R D Center.
About 30 of the budget is devoted to exploratory projects, which are aimed at developing game changers accordance with the ideas of Innovation Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired, these projects focus on new products, new categories of products, new methods for products and new business opportunities 4 Some common examples.
Eliminate the process of classical painting to the outside of the vehicle.
The development of a suitable material for hydrogen storage on board for the application of fuel cells, and.
The development of an electronic board software architecture that will plug-and-play options for different vehicle information systems, such as the features offered by GM OnStar.
After an exploratory project team has demonstrated the technical feasibility of the idea or concept to the vehicle an innovation team is assembled to scale up and make it ready for production Innovation programs need more resources that exploration projects and are usually managed by a person from a unit of product to ensure a smooth transition to production Each innovation program has a technology roadmap that sets highlight key technologies needed for the entire map system also connects technology development with the product plan; for example, set a target production date obviously helps create a sense of urgency about 50 resources of R D Center are focused on innovation programs Two examples of innovative programs.
The partnership of GM hybrid vehicles new generation of technology, which has led to the concept of GM Precept vehicle shown in January 2000 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit displayed at the top of the page, and.
StabiliTrak an advanced chassis control system that integrates the steering, braking, and stability control in a single package Originally introduced on the Cadillac Seville in 1998, this function is now in its second generation Figure 2.
Figure 2. Schematic of StabiliTrak chassis control system in Seville in 2001.
20 GM R & D resources are dedicated to remaining development projects These critical projects focus on moving technologies validated in production for the first time, gently and quickly An example of this type of project is the pick box -up all composite mentioned above.
While it is useful to explain GM's R & D work in the field of frontier research, innovation programs and development projects, there is no formal boundaries between different types of projects actually many researchers are working on several projects; For example, a researcher can divide time between an innovation program and an exploration project.
On extremely fast moving programs, researchers can work directly with the business unit and do research at the same time, for example, the R & D Center has provided assistance to the ongoing work at GM OnStar, e-GM, and a recent order-to online delivery initiative in these cases, instead of research and development, the idea is to connect and grow, which is one of the best ways for the company to be really fast.
Under the concept, GM is working with some of the world's best researchers to connect, and develop the R & D center has always had excellent communication with experts in key technical areas, but recently this process was formalized by the creation of This satellite laboratories are key centers of expertise usually universities, with which GM R & D can draw on an existing technology environment, for example, GM has a satellite laboratory at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the fields engineering body and advanced engine technology a satellite laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University focuses on the technology of smart vehicles GM also has intellectual property agreements with over 60 universities in the world's R & D Center has active contracts with most of them, including universities as far away as China.
GM partners with suppliers, energy companies, government laboratories, and even competitors, in addition to universities Collaboration GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler with the federal government in American partnership for a new generation of vehicles is a perfect example of joint research support advanced technology vehicles GM recently announced a breakthrough technology reform essence obtained through a research collaboration with ExxonMobil This technology produces hydrogen on board the vehicle, is an important step towards the development of a practical vehicle fuel cell GM also began to cooperate on research with its alliance partners, for example, research programs have been implemented in Japan with Suzuki and Fuji Heavy Industries Of course, as noted above, GM and its subsidiaries worldwide have worked closely for many years.
All GM innovation initiatives creating a corporate innovation process, a new organizational structure and focus for the R & D Center, R & D portfolio management, and collaborative research partnerships ensure that GM is well positioned to provide technologies that are sorely lacking These developments support the thrust of the new society towards innovative products, processes and services to meet customer needs and delight throughout the world.
Roussel, P A; Saad, K N; Erickson, T J third generation R D Management link with the business strategy; Harvard Business School Press Boston, 1991.
Kelly K New Rules for the New Economy 10 Radical Strategies for a connected world; Penguin Press New York, 1998.
Larry J Howell is the executive director of science research development General Motors Center 30500 Mound Rd M 480-106 C-EX1, Warren, MI 48090; It oversees the work of the six scientific laboratories that comprise GM's central research facility has previously managed the body of GM and integration vehicle and mechanical engineering research programs Before joining GM, he was principal investigator of evaluate the performance of the structural dynamics of the space shuttle, while working for General dynamics Corp. He received his BS and MS degrees and PhD in aeronautical and Astronautical University of Illinois, Urbana.
Your engine pH is only 2 2 The car is definitely a lemon.
Innovation in the automotive industry a new era, innovation, automotive, industry, Fuji Heavy Industries.