Page 56 - MetalForming July 2017

2017 Beyond
A futurist and expert in trends and innovation examines what he refers to as the “modern-day leadership dilemma”—heading toward the Jetsons when you have a bunch of Flintstones around!
and
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Futurist Jim Carroll noted in a blog post earlier this year that “while the majority of my audience appreci- ates a whirlwind ride into the future, there are others who just wish the future would go away... Leaders today must steer their organizations into a fast-paced future— through the shoals of disruption, the emergence of new competitors, technology, automation and other challenges— while understanding that there
is a core group that will do little to embrace that change. It’s the Flintstones and the Jetsons, in one workplace!”
Carroll has been providing his
insights and speaking to organi-
zations about the future for more
than 25 years. MetalForming
asked him to help us commem-
orate PMA’s 75 anniversary by sharing his manufacturing outlook over the next 5 to 10 years, and explaining why it’s critical that we embrace and address the change that’s coming.
At the crux is the increasing need, he says, to react more quickly than ever to changing/evolving customer preferences, and the shortening of product lifecycles. Manufacturers must be driven to react quickly to new demands and require- ments. In the shop this plays out as more tooling adjustments and changeovers, more flexible scheduling and the ability to react to a slew of design changes.
Upside-Down Innovation
When it comes to suppliers having input into product design, Carroll, as he often does, finds opportunity to learn from other industries and companies—in this case, Disney. “Disney practices what I call customer-oriented or ‘upside- down innovation,’” Carroll says. “The days of developing products and then taking them to customers and saying, ‘this
is what we’ve come up with and now will sell to you’ are gone. Increasingly, we see manufacturers asking
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customers, ‘tell
us what you need and we’ll figure out how to design and fabricate it.’” This represents a complete turn- around from how manufacturers currently think about doing things, Carroll says. And, the impact ripples through the supply chain. Suppliers must, for example, become rapid prototypers, and master the itera-
tive design process.
“We used to be able to design a
product, build a model, test it and
then launch production,” Carroll says. “Now it’s design, test, redesign, test, redesign, etc...an iterative process that, thanks to disruptive technologies such as additive manufacturing, allow suppliers to efficiently optimize product designs and, ultimately, provide better-
performing products.”
For suppliers living in this world of upside-down innovation,