Apple is
reportedly working on a smart watch, called as iWatch by the media. Will this be a successful product? Probably
yes, if one were to consider Apple’s string of successful products such as
iPod, iPhone and iPad; need not necessarily be, if one were to take into
account its occasional failures such as its early generation gaming devices and
portable computers. Apple’s recent
successes have, in large measure, been due to its ability to design,
manufacture and deliver an innovatively perfect product for the market. From
the looks and objectives, iWatch seems to have the innovative specifications and
the perfect form factor that are in keeping with Apple’s core competence of innovation
coupled with perfection. Apple’s track record does suggest that the combination
of innovation and perfection is a pathway to success.
A study of
several successful firms suggests that introduction of new products or services
on a systematic basis is a key factor of success, but only if such products and
services are delivered with perfection, that is, without any faults or
weaknesses, and in a completely correct and exact manner. The relative
importance of innovation and perfection in the combination has, however, been a
matter of subjectivity. Companies that sparkle with innovation but fail to
deliver it with panache have been far less successful than companies which have
been merely followers but delivered products and services of impeccable
quality. It would, therefore, appear that companies need to not only ensure
both innovation and perfection but also get the right balance of innovation and
perfection that makes economic sense.
Innovation
Innovation
has no end. What appears to be an innovative product at the time of innovation
or commercialization is soon rendered obsolete by a more innovative product or
by a clone that is designed and manufactured more perfectly. Smart phones, for
example, led a wave of innovation in mobile phones and convergence devices. The
current experimental trend of iWatch and Google Glasses indicates that certain
products, be they computers, smart phones or cameras, can be rendered obsolete
by the trend of wearable or communicable computers that these smart watches and
smart goggles signify. Companies which recognized the cycle of innovation and
obsolescence, and have in addition made their own products obsolete by more
innovative products have enjoyed consistent success.
Innovation
has no limits. What appears to be beyond the reach of a first innovation
becomes a facile task for the subsequent innovations. Having 256 MB RAM was once a design feat for
computers. Today, a smart phone is designed with 2 GB RAM and quad-core
processors. HD screen was unthinkable in a cellular phone not too long ago. HD
screen capability of 1080p is now passé in contemporary mobile phones. iWatch
with Bluetooth and wireless connectivity could lead to remote connectivity
between the wearer and his or her devices easy. With development of needleless
diagnostics, Apple may develop its iWatch into an iDoctor next. The more
innovatively hardware and software are designed, and more importantly they are
integrated, the more innovative a product would be.
Innovation
has no boundaries. What appears to be a partial innovation in a component of a
product can be a dominant driver of total product innovation. Samsung may be a
follower in smart phones but its innovative edge in touch screens, ranging up
to the latest large format Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens as well
as bendable and extendable OLED screens has driven innovation in its smart
phones. Ordinary components can be assembled into an extraordinary product
through software innovation as Apple has demonstrated. As firms systematically
specialize in innovation, they also acquire core competence in certain
categories of innovation, as exemplified by Toyota in hybrid vehicles, Intel in
computer chips, Qualcomm in mobile chips, Nintendo in gaming devices, BD in
needles and so on. Continuous and systematic innovation leads to product
specialization on one hand and erects entry barriers on the other.
Perfection
Like
innovation, perfection has no end. As nano measurement technologies emerge, tolerances
can be defined more tightly, for example. Perfection, however, tends to be
comparative and contextual. Perfection is measured against the specifications
set by the designer. Companies committed to high quality go in for high
specifications to set the design tone for perfection. Each successive
generation of products sets higher standards for perfection. In an automobile
engine, spark plugs, for example, have become 30 percent thinner while moving
parts like pistons, connecting rods and crankshafts have seen reductions in
weights ranging from 30 to 50 percent. Perfection in measurement technologies
has enabled such improvements.
Unlike
innovation, perfection has a limit, a limit that is Zero in defects of
manufacture and another limit that is infinity in “meantime between failures
(MTBF)” of a product in service. These
limits are not easy to achieve, though. They are dependent on the
sophistication, consistency and reliability of the manufacturing equipment and
the manufacturing process as well as the quality of materials of manufacture on
the other. Continuous improvements have
led automobile component makers to specifying defects from defective parts per thousand that was in vogue years ago to defective
parts per million that is the standard more recently. Six Sigma is another
approach that tightens the limits for process variability. The term Six Sigma originated from statistical
modeling of manufacturing processes and denotes 99.99966% of the products
manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per
million).
Like
innovation, perfection has no boundaries. It is not confined to products and
services or product and process technologies. It is equally related to people
and processes. Quality and avoidance of defects needs to be a credo, right from
construction of language to manufacture of products, and from understanding
consumer needs to fulfilling them. This assumes great importance given that
consumers are more demanding, regulators are more watchful and competition is
unrelenting. Over the last few years, millions of cars have been recalled by
marquee companies such as Toyota, BMW and a few others, indicating that not being perfect
has a significant cost attached to it. Perfection does not necessarily mean
getting things right first time. There are enough practices in the design and
manufacturing processes such as simulation and piloting to ensure that all
defect-prone systems, causes and interventions are identified and addressed.
Synergy
If
innovation drives the boundary of user experience, perfection establishes the
quality of user experience. Innovation has onetime design costs while
perfection has recurring manufacturing costs. The combination of innovation and
perfection thus determines the lifecycle costs for the company and the
lifecycle value for the company. Depending upon their strategies, individual
companies choose that combination which best suits their business position and
market standing. The synergy of innovation and perfection comes from a combination
of technology and people, a competitive and proactive mindset being the
underlying behavioral foundation. Without innovation, perfection has little
space while without perfection, innovation can go awry. This is best
illustrated by the story of the modern day spark plug (first engineered in 1860
with the engineering of the internal
combustion engine) which demonstrates how innovation and perfection are
synergistic.
Spark plug
is the heart of the internal combustion engine which in turn is the core of the
petrol-powered automobile. Spark plugs
have seen a leapfrog in sparking efficiency and maintainability over the last
several decades due to a combination of the use of more advanced materials
(innovation in materials sciences) and the deployment of tighter tolerances in
each of the components, not limited to the electrodes (perfection in design and
manufacture). Use of exotic iridium and platinum materials for central electrode
and ground electrode respectively, and tight ultra-fine tapering and gap
setting promote not only high efficiency sparking but also long life and more effective
self-cleaning characteristics. The synergy of materials innovation and
manufacturing perfection that the modern day spark plug represents is also
illustrative of how innovation and perfection can be synergistic to achieve ultimate
competitive advantage for firms.
Posted by Dr
CB Rao on February 17, 2013
1 comment:
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