Global Engineering

Transformation by Adoption

Wed, 18 May 2011 06:08:52 +0000

Recently, while conducting a PLM workshop for a client, I came across some of the interesting facts of the PLM implementation. For their ongoing PLM implementation, Product design team had defined KPI's much early in the life cycle to measure, track and manage the whole process. Little did anyone know that those KPIs were just defined and not revisited when phase 1 got over, thus leaving a big gap in conceptualization and realization. Phase 2 implementation started, finished and went live, as well, with over 1000 users. And one fine day when one of the functionalities failed, came the headlines. Users have been complaining, from sometime, that the PLM system did not deliver the required functions and features. It was a shock than surprise, as these were the same users who had gin the business requirements in the first place, and had completed system trainings. I did my level of investigation and learnt that users were not always employing functions and features, as designed and which made me realize that it was a system adoption issue.

Organizations often forget that training constitutes 40-50% of the adoption process.

However, training is only one component of the Terminal Behavior Capability Development process, which also includes pre-course knowledge transfer, post-implementation skill development, remediation, and maintenance. Users need on-going support and guidance after the initial go-live training period.

To ensure successful system adoption, organizations need to:

· Develop an Adoption Strategy

· Provide necessary skills and tools for adoption

· Assign a trusted Subject Matter Expert group for end-users to consult with

· Define the support structure for end-users. Establish two-way communication between the project team and end-users

· Clearly define Rewards and Consequences

· Set Clear Expectations. Focus on the end-user and business context to drive widespread adoption. Understand what functions and features end-users currently use to complete their day-to-day tasks

The Bottom Line: A well-defined adoption plan, with clear expectations and a thorough provision of critical tools and skills, generates a high probability of system adoption.

As for my client, described above, I did set up focus groups to give system tips, process guidance and help users understand how the functions and features behave. Once these focus group discussions got going, users felt that the PLM system delivered the required functions and features.

PLM Package Implementation

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:52:29 +0000

I recently had a discussion with a client for implementing an off-the shelf PLM package solution. Implementing any off-the-shelf PLM package solutions needs be tied to a long-term business strategy. The role of PLM in enterprise strategy can be decreased product development time, decreased product cost, and increased product revenue.

There are two typical approaches for implementing a PLM package:

· Big Bang Approach

· Phased Approach

The Big Bang Approach requires a large budget and clear project timelines. Organizations today prefer a phased approach as they build on small successes by getting continuous commitment from stakeholders and key business users.

Guiding Principles for Successful Implementation:

· Define Program Scope - Get a sign-off so that changes in scope can be avoided. Make sure the project deliverables and deliverable owners have been clearly documented.

· Establish Program Governance Structure - Identify a governance structure upfront with clearly defined Responsibilities and Expectations. Executive support is extremely valuable.

· Secure Required Resources - Before the implementation begins, make sure that your organization has the financial and human resources necessary to support it during the acclimation period. It is also important that your team contains the appropriate "balance" of technical and functional experts and is experienced in the implementation of the product. If required, hire external help for the implementation.

· Define the To-Be Business Process - Involve key stakeholders and functional users during the process design session. Because the PLM product implementation may significantly impact the business functions of an organization, it is imperative to involve the user community in the process design from the outset. In addition to the technical issues, understanding the business issues will lower the risks associated with the implementation. A stable operating environment coupled with functional users willing to accept a new way of doing business will also minimize implementation obstacles.

· Examine the Product & Process "gap"-- If the PLM package has not been specifically designed to meet your organization's unique requirements, there will be a gap between the business process and product functions featured to support your existing processes and systems. It is imperative that you understand this gap well before the implementation begins and ensure your organization can accept this gap without degrading performance. Make sure the options for gaps are evaluated before deciding on customization. Avoid excess customization as it forfeits the advantage of using a PLM solution.

· Understand the PLM Package - Visit another organization that has implemented the PLM package during the PLM vendor selection process. Early in the process, obtain a comprehensive understanding of the functionality of the PLM package. If possible, obtain hands-on experience with the system. Consider prototyping or piloting the package in your environment.

· Validate Performance and Scalability - Ensure that the product's capabilities support the needs of your organization. Confirm that the PLM package has previously supported the number of users and geographic locations your organization will require.

· PLM Package Adoptions: Adoption is the final step in the package evaluation. Other than keeping financial aspects in scope, the most important factor is "Organization Change Management". If this is not properly defined and taken care of, the whole adoption could prove harmful. Adoption strategy is often defined in phases; however, it is also important to note the change management along with each phase. Historical records have shown PLM projects fail most frequently due to a complete lack of or poor Change Management adoption strategy

Fast Company's 50 most innovative companies

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:37:38 +0000

Innovation seems to have replaced "leverage" as the most overused word in the business lexicon. No article can be published without a liberal sprinking of the word as a modifier in every other paragraph. All is not lost, though, and innovation just might make it through the frenzy of hype, for in the definition of the word itself is the promise of something better. While innovation might be seen simply as something new, economists tend to focus on the process, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation. In other words, innovation is as innovation does -- no value, no innovation.

The recent list of Fast Company's 50 most innovative companies bears out this idea of practical innovation. Apple is once more deified as #1, but not just for all the usual reasons. The Cupertino company was showcased for the long list of innovative companies and artists it has enabled through the iPad ecosystem. Over 100 of the major ones were listed by name (my personal favorite was #89, getting the Beatles back together again, on iTunes).

Lest anyone thinks that innovation today is only for new, social media companies need look no further than Kosaka Smelting and Mining, the Japanese firm that harvests gold and other valuable metals from old electronics. This has literally been a gold mine for Japan, as China (largest exporter of rare-earth minerals) has recently slashed exports by over 80%.

The other thing I found cool in the list was ESPN (company #16). Our consulting practice cares a lot about innovation delivering value for both customers and the company -- otherwise, the whole thing eventually gets out of balance and some stakeholder group suffers. ESPN has taken this dual value concept a step further -- they have integrated new technology like a startup and provided something for fans, players, teams/leagues, television manufacturers, and of course advertisers (ESPN 8 - The Ocho cannot be far behind).

It is good to review the list of innovative companies, but it provides a rear-view (or at best a current state view) of what firms are establishing and exploiting new business models and enabling capabilities. Looking to the rest of 2011 and beyond, can't help but wonder which companies will be on the list next, and (more importantly) why? Will data visualization move from a neat offering from companies like Stamen Design (#48) to become a mainstream business intelligence competency? Will product compliance and sustainability simply become part of operational excellence? And finally, will another killer app emerge that creates a wave of productivity and demand that lifts the spirits and the coffers of an industry on a global basis?

Whatever happens, the pace of technology and social change continues at a rate that requires a few well-placed bets and loads of execution. Going back to a statement above, a good strategy is simultaneous focus on value for customer and value for company.

For more details, check out the complete article:

http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2011/

Product Compliance: Necessary Evil or Organization Growth Enabler?

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:13:12 +0000

A few weeks back, I had a discussion with a client about Product Compliance. It was very interesting as he saw compliance as a necessary evil, which was the complete opposite of my perspective.

Organizations today are facing a constant challenge to keep up with ever changing product regulation. Every year brings new global Product Compliance laws, which require increased spending by companies to mitigate the high risk of being non-compliant by keeping up with constantly changing laws.

Companies can see this as a necessary evil or as an opportunity-to-growth enabler. Those that see Product Compliance as necessary evil take a project-based approach, while forward thinking companies take a holistic, process-oriented approach. Organizations need to view product compliance as a growth enabler.

The risk of being non-compliant increases as the product progresses through different product stages.

Forward looking organization follows a few simple guidelines:

· Enable compliance in the early product stage, putting less pressure in the downstream stage

· Design for "Social Compliance" which includes stakeholders like NGOs, people, and government as stakeholders will play an important role in product acceptance

· Take a proactive, process-based approach so the products are prepared upfront for any product regulation changes

· Educate and collaborate with suppliers early in the process, putting less pressure on suppliers so companies receive the compliance data in time

· Electronically manage compliance data in a well-designed system

Product compliance does address risk. However, with vision, it also provides growth opportunity for organizations by preventing expensive product recall and delays thereby increasing revenue and profit. Compliance is a living process, not a point in time, but an ever-evolving process.

Jump-Starting the Innovation Engine

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:58:59 +0000

As US companies emerge from what is now acknowledged as the longest economic downturn of the post-World War II era, they are beginning to prioritize innovation as a primary engine for long-term growth.

Managing the innovation process from concept to implementation is a challenge for any large company. Understanding the core challenges and implementing appropriate measures are central to ensuring a streamlined innovation process that delivers a consistent competitive advantage in a global economy.

Below are some of the key ingredients to successful innovation in a large corporate environment:

· Clear direction and vision by senior management - Management must clearly articulate strategic priorities and areas of innovation focus - at the corporate level, at the business unit level, and at the department level. This clarity can help channel innovation in the right direction.

· An environment conducive to innovation - Freedom and flexibility for experimentation along with incentives for carrying products from ideation to commercialization provide a strong foundation for an innovative culture.

· Clear definition of solution and value proposition - Innovation can take place on several fronts - product, process, or business model. Inventors must clearly articulate the problem statement, the target solution, and the potential value of the proposed solution. A systematic framework leveraging value realization methodology (e.g. Infosys's VRM) in conjunction with business case analysis and lean principles can help articulate the value of the solution and the resulting benefits to the company.

· Prioritization of target initiatives - The proposed ideas and initiatives should generally address the direction and strategic priorities set forth by senior management. Organizations are usually resource constrained. A 'funnel' process can help prioritize initiatives so they are well-funded and well-supported for success. However, we must not resort to excessive formal structures as micromanagement will only stifle innovation.

· Buy-in / sponsorship from senior management - Disruptive ideas can be weighed down by resistance from individuals and middle managers who are impatient for tangible benefits and who would prefer the trodden path. Sponsorship from senior management is essential to preserve the freedom and flexibility of the innovating team to explore the full potential of the innovation.

· A matrixed, multi-disciplinary team - Disruptive innovation usually begins at the fringes of disciplines. A multi-disciplinary team can bring together ideas from disparate disciplines to 'break the mold' and work around a new paradigm. An ability to put together small, highly-qualified cross-functional teams quickly in a matrixed environment that transcends organizational boundaries is vital to bringing innovative and disruptive ideas to rapid prototyping and field test. Further, team dynamics and involvement are critical to harmonious creativity.

· Early customer integration - Involving a lead customer in early prototyping can help refine product features and quality and accelerate its evolution to mass production.

· Ecosystem leverage - Collaborating closely with key strategic ecosystem partners to leverage their assets during new product development can greatly reduce overall development costs, accelerate time-to-market, mitigate risks, provide access to new markets, and simplify the out-of-the-box customer experience. Continuous re-investment by ecosystem partners can help ensure new product longevity via a common platform strategy and a shared investment-risk-success model.

· Clear assessment metrics - Performance metrics and milestones must be put in place that clearly define success criteria at a project level and hold the team accountable. Periodic check-point reviews ensure continuous progress and improvement by various milestones.

· Rewards - Timely and visible recognition of inventors is integral in fueling the innovation engine. Rewards must be commensurate with impact/value to the organization. Managers are generally mired in execution challenges and pressured to deliver results over the short-term, and thus do not feel incentivized to sponsor innovation that has a long-term roadmap to fruition. It is therefore equally important to recognize the managers who 'stick their neck out' to sponsor innovative initiatives.

Innovation is an ongoing process that needs continuous refinement based on shifting market dynamics, technology progression, and ecosystem/value-chain evolution. Lean processes and a sound infrastructure that nurture the innovation process are fundamental to maintaining the growth engine in a competitive global economy.

The India innovation debate...

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:21:21 +0000

I was at the India innovation debate held at Delhi on 19^th November. The event which was organized by Dassault Systemes and CNBC 18 brought out various facets of "innovation" in context of society, business, products and processes. The debate had panel of renowned thought leaders, policy makers, and business representatives including Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, Additional Secretary to Prime Minister and Member Secretary of National Innovation Council, Dr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Mr. Bernard Charles, President & CEO, Dassault Systemes and turned out to be quite engaging (http://indiainnovationdebate.com/). Viewpoints were shared on relative importance of idea, organization, leadership, personality and technology to bring about an innovation.

It is increasingly evident that world is becoming more conscious of the environmental concerns and quality of life while looking for the economic value add. The policy makers from India made observation that the developing countries should not imitate the developed world when seeking growth and improvement of living standards. As a case in point the availability of public transport could serve as a better measure of available mobility than for looking at the measure of cars owned per 1000 population. While chasing the profitability and volumes, innovation should be about designing products which address societal needs including the bottom of pyramid came the observation from business leaders.

Similarly "What factors contribute to creating new innovations?" found various theories. Are Indian better dispositioned to being innovators had equally interesting observations. Various views were aired ranging from individuality being an important trait to another that diversity creates more opportunities for innovation. However it was clear that the environment where failure were acceptable, teams were collaborative and good leadership was provided led to better success of innovative ideas.

I believe that while the "idea" would always remain the core of innovation; Today it is the impact of technology on the environment that makes it an important element to deliver innovation. Like the right leadership can draw a compelling picture of future to create buy-in for innovation, it is technology which can deliver the scale and reach.

In last few decades the impact of technology on society has been profound. The emergence and adoption of social networks is redefining the paradigm of communication. The convergence of ICT is breaking the distance barrier. The cloud computing promises to reallocate technology cost and affect usage patterns. The product lifecycle management platforms are enabling visualization and collaboration in product creation across and beyond enterprise. This all opens new possibilities to create and enable innovation that deliver more to society with lesser resources (economic, natural and human)

For the new growth economies the need to address bottom of pyramid, improve quality of life is always accompanied with challenge of scale, transparency and reach. Technology and talent are crucial to address these challenges to unleash a new wave of sustainable innovations.

The Importance of Customer Experience in Product Strategy

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:25:23 +0000

Customer Experience is a vital element of product development strategy that is often over-looked or under-appreciated. Traditionally, product strategy begins with capturing customer requirements usually in terms of product features or attributes. This is then translated into functional requirements or capabilities that the product must deliver. Customer experience is only captured as an after-thought, and when a product is put through the customer journey, it reveals many deficiencies that call for a product re-design and, consequently, a delay in time-to-market.

A product development strategy must be designed to deliver a compelling set of customer/user experiences rather than a collection of product features and attributes. Customer experience must therefore be factored in at the very outset of product design.

Customer experiences do not occur in product or functional silos. An end-to-end approach comprehending machine and human interactions is key to understanding customer experience. Delivering a "superior experience" begins with

· Designing the right offers and experiences for the right customers

· Developing, measuring, and delivering a total customer experience that enhances customer satisfaction

· Understanding the needs that drive customers to create interactions

It's the journey, not the destination! A customer journey maps the experience through the lens of the customer. It helps us identify:

· Customer lifecycle stages

· Customer needs within each lifecycle stage

· Key touch points where a company brand/product 'touches' and serves its customers

· Usecases which determine how the customer will use the product

· Challenges and hurdles for creating a satisfying customer experience

· Opportunities to 'engage' with the customer, and innovate & improve the customer experience

A customer journey must be addressed as a process map that examines concatenated processes. In the early stages, a product strategy must be designed to deliver a set of target customer experiences. The product design must be iterated and validated by examining how the processes that constitute the customer journey actually work at each step. We must walk through the journey and understand what's working and not working from a customer perspective.

Continuous improvement in customer experience can be enabled via

· a disciplined & pragmatic approach that correlates user experience to customer needs, usecases, product functionality, and brand strategy

· a systematic framework leveraging value realization methodology (e.g. Infosys's VRM) in conjunction with lean six-sigma principles to improve and optimize speed & efficiency, remove root causes of customer experience 'defects', and minimize variability in processes

· designing for target customer experiences and monitoring via quantifiable metrics to manage the customer journey and continuously improve the total customer experience across multiple channels and touch-points throughout the customer lifecycle.

It is thus important to weave a clear customer experience strategy into the fabric of the organization's product development strategy, especially in the B2C domain. This can be a significant enabler to improving a product's competitive positioning and lifecycle, the company brand, and customer loyalty.

Product Strategy: Back to Basics for a Strong Start

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:53:38 +0000

Product strategy plays a critical role linking corporate strategy to product development, guiding the innovation engine for product effectiveness. Despite this importance, there is often a disconnect between corporate strategy and product development. We believe that product strategy needs to be based on a thorough understanding of the market and company capabilities - both current and desired.

Where to compete. To gain proper context, start with a business value scan to determine competitive conditions. Observe potential shifts in market dynamics, including market and competitor analysis, and how to act accordingly. If inorganic growth is a possibility, then initial acquisition targets should be identified.

Industry and competitor analysis. Industry analysis involves an in-depth analysis of current state of the industry and the upcoming trends. Industry analysis should include geographical regions, product segments and customer industries to determine opportunity areas for the firm. Historical performances of competing firms can provide insights into the strategy of each competitor. Many customer interviews should be conducted to capture Voice of Customer (VOC), spanning all regions and representing each customer industry or consumer, depending on the customer type. VOC analysis is conducted to validate and refine the industry and competitor analysis, plus to hear more specific customer concerns.

Product portfolio analysis. The current portfolio should be reviewed and benchmarked against peer group companies and those with similar strategies to identify differences in R&D investments and find potential gaps. The current portfolio should also be analyzed to determine degree of fit with corporate strategy. This will show how the product and solutions portfolio matches with competitive offerings. Often portfolios are shown to be product-centric (i.e. hardware, software, services), without regard to product maturity. A product life cycle view emphasizes products that cater to particular customer needs based on current stage of the life cycle. With the appropriate portfolio perspective in place, field surveys can be done to ascertain relative competitive position in the market for each offering category, based on product life cycle stage. This combined internal-external analysis can provide a more well-rounded perspective on the optimal portfolio.

Internal capability analysis. The best plans won't matter if internal capabilities cannot match the aspirations. Current operational capabilities need to be mapped for supply chain and cost competitiveness, as well as sales and marketing, to determine the operational obstacles to move the current sales model into a product life cycle view.

Organic and inorganic strategy. Even for companies committed to organic growth, it is useful to consider a two-pronged approach of acquisition strategy and operations improvement. This ensures that a fresh, market-oriented view is part of the strategy, and it also allows a secondary plan if the internal growth and portfolio strategy fall short. If the internal cost structure is noncompetitive, then operational improvements need to put in place also. Identify priority areas for R&D investments by using the analysis results. Then determine alternatives for new offerings, products and services supporting the strategy, including potential obsolescence risks.

Product strategy is not a one-time event, only for times of crisis or major decisions. It is helpful to embed the above steps into the annual planning process, with each step in just as much detail as needed. That will keep the product portfolio better aligned with corporate strategy and avoid needing a major makeover at an inopportune time.

For related observations, see http://jeffkavanaugh.net.

Global Product Engineering & the “Core to Business” debate…

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:27:52 +0000

In a recent discussion with a panel of clients and industry experts on Global engineering trends & growth, the conversation about Product development being at the core, and hence challenges in globalization, once again found some interesting views. This topic has popped up in many conversations and debates that that I have had in various forums on adoption of global engineering strategies.

The answer to this debate is not so obvious, given that the Products have been at heart of revenue generation for most of the last century. But as the last two decades have shown us, global engineering has found more and more acceptance across industries in product development strategies.

The reasons for this change are multi dimensional -

Accelerating product value realization with Product Effectiveness

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:26:28 +0000

Rapid introduction of reliable, compelling products is the lifeblood of product companies. Also, successful new product launches are highly rewarding in terms of higher margins they promise. However, the reality of product innovation is that the failure rate of new products is high. This is not affordable or sustainable, given the pressure on scarce resources. Imagine the impact if the new product success rate were to increase only a few percentage points – benefits would flow straight to the bottom line.

PLM solutions have been offered by technology vendors as a panacea for all product development ills. However, these solutions have seen limited adoption compared to enterprise applications for a variety of reasons:

While there are many systems available today, organizations still lack a direction on what solution to choose and how to implement across global extended enterprise to address their specific needs, accelerate value realization and provide sustainable governance
Implementation is done at a departmental level, typically at engineering design centers, rather than managing the product information at an enterprise level
Solutions until recently have not contained portfolio management and product intelligence capabilities, with linkage to financials and dynamic resourcing functionality
Product development process maturity is not as mainstream as areas like supply chain, and correspondingly has not received appropriate management attention
While individually the process may be well defined for each product function, there are significant areas of ambiguity across groups that are not effectively addressed under the conventional stage-gate process

Part of the problem with traditional approaches has been an emphasis on process, without considering other dimensions of change. There needs to also be robustness, collaboration, repeatability, and synchronization of effort by all product functions. Companies need a broader, perhaps transformation view to the product development process. The term Product Effectiveness has been coined to describe this multi-dimensional framework and approach. Business leaders seek to go beyond conventional product development to create better product value through multiple dimensions – new product introduction capabilities, dynamic management of products to generate profitable portfolio, ironing out post-sales product performance issues, and most importantly, Voice of the Customer. Some refer to this as Extended PLM, since it can be implemented in organizations with or without a PLM implementation in place.

The Product Effectiveness framework is made up of 12 components Product Effectiveness incorporating industry operations references models from the Supply Chain Council, PDMA, and leading academic institutions. The framework address a matrix of process (product management, product development and product sustenance) and domain (customer needs management, NPDI program management, product portfolio, and product performance). The following 12 components comprise the framework:

Product strategy
Product value management
Portfolio decisions
Product intelligence
Product requirements
Lifecycle management architecture
Product innovation management
R&D testing and laboratory management
NPD knowledge management
Process harmonization
Diagnosis and root cause analysis
Compliance

These 12 components are not meant to be all inclusive – rather, they are the areas to ‘get right’ when describing the product lifecycle and offer a starting point when defining and planning improvement initiatives.

Beyond the components, it is also useful to consider tools and aids for performance improvement. Tools can provide the rigor and consistency to drive change throughout the enterprise, and tools are needed to make the change permanent by enabling maintenance as things change over time. Following are standard tools that leaders should consider for performance improvement:

Capability maturity profiles
Data models
Product roadmaps
Process reference models
Metrics libraries
Workflows
Business intelligence and reporting

To bring these ideas together, companies should take a holistic approach. Many failed improvement initiatives have been caused by a piecemeal approach and lack of the bigger picture. Here are some leading practices for improvement initiatives in the area of product development and management:

-    Assessment to determine NPDI maturity level to develop an initiatives roadmap
-    Adhere to industry standard process models, product data models and KPI
-    Reduce decision making time by enabling quick go-kill-hold decisions
-    Improve enhance productivity through accelerators embedded as part of the new process model
-    Determine product value and track portfolio profitability over periods of time
-    Provide executive window into broader dynamics of cross-functional product development cycle

The ideas above may not be the total story. However, they should provide leaders in product companies a starting point to refine their existing approach or perhaps shape planned improvement initiatives. One thing is for sure: with the intense pressure to simultaneously increase innovation and reduce cost, anything that can improve product effectiveness will help companies compete more effectively and reward their stakeholders.

Accelerating New Product Launch

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:00:05 +0000

Companies look for New Product Introduction (NPI) to expand their current market and to gain share within existing markets they operate. Generally large companies are divided into multiple Business Groups, which are further divided into multiple Business Units. A Business Unit (BU) spends most of its' time and resources in designing, and testing a product -- ensuring a robust and unique in demand product is launched, but doesn't stay connected closely with product launch.

Idea management could make the difference between surviving the recession or not

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:54:13 +0000

Recessions are a key part of the business cycle as they can eliminate the waste in an industry by forcing less efficient companies out of business, or by trimming a company’s waste to focus on core competencies. How a company reacts during a recession can impact if they will be around for the next one. Survival is one thing, but the best companies in the world win in these economic turns by being more innovative than their competitors. The less optimal method to innovate is to to increase R&D spend and place more bets, however the more effective method is to make a company’s R&D machine more efficient. The largest opportunity to do this is in idea management.

2009 - The year of "prudence" in journey of Global engineering

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:01:57 +0000

The year gone by was greeted by "financial crisis" and the CXOs across industries were strategizing to deal with this unprecedented challenge at the beginning of the year - focus was on financial prudence and achieving operational efficiency.

...But as we end the year, the mood has changed, there is greater hope and some early signs of turnaround...the conversations again are shifting to view this downturn as an opportunity and capitalize on impending growth, prepare to launch new products, adopt more agile and lean business models...

The impact of recession was more in the developed economies. India and China as markets continued to register good growth. In fact this year auto sales in India were defying the economic crisis and bloodbath faced by Detroit, sales have been rising through February this year and recorded 61% growth in November. This all only went to prove that companies will always find new opportunities in this globalized economy.

"Global engineering" concept gained further ground in the recessionary times. I choose to call this year,a year of "prudence" in journey of global engineering, as it put to test the claims and helped to reign unrealistic expectations.

The cost of being Green

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:37:25 +0000

While travelling down from LA to Dallas after presentation the Infosys GreenPLM offering at the GlobalTex conference, I had a chance to browse the greenbiz.com". website . The good thing about this website is the news section dedicated on Green information & updates across the globe.

Read the article "Recovery Act Adds 6,500 Greener Vehicles to USPS Fleet". And was quite excited to see the big step taken by USPS. This shows the commitment of US Government towards Green. The agency USPS ordered 14,105 fuel-efficient vehicles last month at a cost of $210 million. Quite an amount to be spent and this kept me thinking how much does it cost to be Green?

In addition to automobiles, the common gadgets that we use in our daily life like mobiles, mp3 players, DVD players, camcorders and so on are all also built using materials which are currently under green compliance radar. Now, it makes me wonder that how much of compliance can we actually bring in to develop green components and will it be cost effective? Having experience of various manufacturing process my personal opinion is that we can actually make greener products however we may not be able to produce something completely environmental friendly. And that would be too hypothetical statement.

I thought about it and came to the conclusion that there are various ways where one can actually reduce cost and still develop a green product or rather I should say a cost effective green product. For example, while take back and dismantling the product it is easy to identify the components which can directly be reused, some other could be re-manufactured ( well trade-off has to be decided on cost i.e. whether it is cost effective to produce new one or re-manufacture the old one) and some can be disposed off responsibly.

This was at the end of life and the best part is if one can consider greener aspects while designing the end becomes more friendly and easy. That again re-instate the fact that trade-off at the beginning can actually give leverage at the end.

Bottom line: More responsible the producer is, the more greener and cost effective products can be expected from them.

Role of "Domain knowledge" in Global Engineering

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:28:24 +0000

I was at the Nasscom Global Engineering Leadership Summit held at Mumbai last week. The amount of interest the topic - "Importance of Domain Knowledge in global engineering" generated was noteworthy. The Summit was attended and addressed by leaders from engineering fraternity. The gathering debated the opportunities and challenges that are faced in globalization of engineering. Also discussed were trends and views on India emerging as Global Engineering hub

What was apparent is that the the potential role for India in Global engineering is very significant. The analysis by Booz consulting puts the number of 50 Billion USD by 2020 for Engineering services from India. Given this context, it is important to understand the dominant factors that will drive this new wave.

Provided the emphasis on "Domain knowledge" as one of the crucial parameters for accelerating the growth of Engineering in India, it is imperative to delve into the topic to understand it better.