20170425 公司研发部的数字化转型
20170425 公司研发部的数字化转型
根据埃森哲的最新预测，到2020年，1/4的全球经济会被数字化，但这一预测并没有告诉我们整个故事。因为所有的商业流程都不仅仅在经历数码化-从模拟到数字信号-更进一步是在经历数字化-这一转变将把实体和虚拟混合在一起。
许多组织对此无能为力。事实上，根据Forester数据，只有5%的的公司宣称他们已经熟练利用数字化转型取得了竞争性差异，对制造型企业来说这一挑战更为严峻。从研发到制造到物流，都能看到运营业务在被数字化科技改变。
从研发部门开始，研发数字化转型的四条道路如下：
Fully one-quarter of the world’s economy will be digital by 2020, forecasts a new report from Accenture. But that prediction doesn’t tell the whole story. Because increasingly, all business processes will be not only digitized – converted from analog to digital – but also digitalized – transformed in a way that blurs the physical and virtual.
Many organizations are struggling to respond. In fact, only five percent of companies say they’ve mastered digital transformation to the point of competitive differentiation, according to Forrester.
The challenge is especially acute for manufacturers. From innovation to production to logistics, manufacturers are seeing their operations revolutionized by digital technologies.
That starts with research and development. Here are four key ways digitalization is transforming R&D:
1. 终端消费者更自主
科技给予用户更多自由。如今用户已经拥有及时和稳定的信息，包括产品、质量和价格 – 无论是你还是你的竞争对手。过去，如果你已经是某个领域的领导者，竞争者处于劣势。今天，用户们知道你是如何在世界范围和对手们较量的，你过去的市场领导者地位变得无关紧要。
这不光是销售和市场的问题，这也变成研发的问题，因为他们必须用最快的速度对客户改变的需求进行反应，好消息是科技已经有了解决方案。例如，重新设计智能产品，利用了物联网（IoT）传感器，研发人员可以获取使用数据去了解客户的需要，以及产品表现数据，可用来学习以及快速改进产品。
1. End consumers are more empowered
Technology has put consumers in the driver’s seat. Customers now have instant, constant access to information about products, quality, and pricing – for both you and your competitors. In the past, if you had established yourself as a leader in a region, the competition was at a disadvantage. Today, customers know how you stack up against rivals around the world, and your past market leadership is irrelevant. This isn’t just a problem for sales and marketing. It’s also a problem for R&D, which must respond – in as near to real time as possible – to changing customer demands. The good news is that technology is also the solution. For example, by designing smart products that leverage Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, R&D can capture usage data to understand customer desires and capture performance data to learn how to improve products rapidly.
2. 透明化重建生产者合作的方式
信息化正在改变制造业内部以及供应商打交道的方式。这对每个部门都适用，尤其是研发部。
当研发新的智能产品时，需要的研发技巧在改变。汽车行业就是个很好的例子。十五年前，汽车开始使用电子化，例如发动机控制系统。今天，几乎所有的汽车研发都可以看到。十年内，电子化会让汽车朝无人驾驶的方向发展。
这会极大地改变汽车的设计。过去，机械工程师领导着汽车设计，电子只不过是点缀。时至今日，软件开发-和之前很不一样的需求和设计周期-开始进入整个流程。在汽车行业以及几乎每个行业，产品设计都在带入新的利益相关者，就必须考虑采用新方法来合作。
2. Transparency is rewriting how manufacturers collaborate
Information access is changing the way manufacturers interact both internally and with suppliers. This is true for every function, but especially for R&D.
As R&D creates more smart products, the skills it requires are changing. The automotive industry is a case in point. Fifteen years ago, cars began to incorporate electronics such as engine-control systems. Today, electronics are where most automotive R&D is happening, and within 10 years, electronics will allow cars to pretty much drive themselves.
That dramatically changes how cars are designed. In the past, mechanical engineers led design efforts, and electronics were merely an add-on. Today, software development – with its very different requirements and design cycles – is integral to the process. In the automotive industry and in virtually every other industry, product design will involve new stakeholders who must work together in new ways.
3. 商业模型越来越灵活
过去，产品设计师们为销售产品的公司服务。但越来越多的情况下，公司不在卖产品，而是卖服务。这给研发带来根本性的影响。
一个很好的例子是SAP的中型企业客户生产工业用气体压缩机。前几年，它们意识到顾客要的不是气体压缩机，而是压缩气。然后他们就开始提供给顾客压缩气体，作为一项服务。在这之前，他们设计和生产空气压缩机，并卖给顾客。现在，他们设计和生产空气压缩机，装到顾客的公司，然后赚顾客压缩气的钱。
这一崭新的商业模式会改变研发部是如何安排设计的。第一，需要设计物联网传感器来实时监控压缩机，同时保证预测性维护。第二，需要优化维护的长期性和易用性。公司实现的一个方法是让工程师定期和现场服务人员沟通，第一时间了解机器是怎么运行的。
3. Business models are growing more flexible
In the past, product designers worked for companies that sold products. But increasingly, manufacturers will sell not products but services. That affects R&D in fundamental ways.
A good example is a midsize SAP client that makes industrial air compressors. Some years ago it realized customers wanted not air compressors but compressed air. So it began offering compressed air as a service. Before this time, it designed and manufactured air compressors and then sold them to customers. Now, it designs and manufactures air compressors, installs them at customer sites, and then charges for the compressed air customers consume.
That new business model changes how R&D develops products. First, it needs to design in IoT sensors to monitor the compressors in real time and enable predictive maintenance. Second, it needs to optimize longevity and ease of maintenance. One way the company achieves that is by having engineers regularly spend time with field service to see firsthand how equipment is performing.
4. 商业流程变得越来越面向顾客
事实上，83%采访对象相信数字化正在从供给侧的规模经济效应向建立在顾客和合作伙伴相互关系上的需求侧的经济。公司必须和顾客连接更紧密，这是新的商业模型的需要。再来看空气压缩机的例子，公司并没有投资在资本密集型的空气压缩机上，而仅仅是签订压缩气的合同。合同的最后，如果切换到更便宜的合同会要求点补偿。同样的模式将会运用在好多其他行业的产品上。
4. Business processes are becoming more customer centric
In fact, 83% of executives believe digitalization is driving a shift from supply-side economies of scale to demand-side economies based on interconnection with customers and partners, according to the Accenture report.
Manufacturers will have to be more connected to customers, because new business models will demand it. Take the air compressor customer. It hasn’t invested in a capital-intensive air compressor; it’s simply contracted for compressed air. At the end of the contract, there’s little disincentive to switching to a more attractive contract. The same will be true for many products across many industries.
这将如何改变研发呢？为了保持核心差异，设计周期必将要加速。例如，很多汽车制造商只是当顾客来店里维修时更新电子类。Tesla与众不同，他们直接把新指标和功能做定期软件更新。如果竞争者也开始学的话，不要被吓着了。
总而言之，数字化经济起于顾客，终于顾客。顾客更有权力，所以公司必须变得更面向客户，没有哪个部门比研发部更合适的了。
How does that change R&D? Design cycles will have to accelerate to maintain competitive differentiation. For example, most carmakers update a car’s electronics only if the customer happens to come in for service. Tesla has upped the ante by sending new features and functions directly to the consumer through regular software updates. Don’t be surprised if its competitors start to follow.
Ultimately, the digital economy begins and ends with the customer. Customers are more empowered, so companies need to become more customer-centric. And nowhere is that more true than in R&D.
For more insight on the new customer-centric digital economy, see Customer Relationship Status: It’s Complicated.
20170425 公司研发部的数字化转型
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