The birth of innovation can be simple!!

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-23817127

This article above introduces how four graduate students from Stanford’s institution of Design came up with an idea that saved more than 22,000 lives of low birth rate and premature infants.

As from my previous posts on this blog, I may have given an impression that innovation in technology is complicated and needs large facilities to create new technology.

In fact, it doesn’t.  Even the simplest change can bring great effect.

For example, the simple idea of notes being sticky will be convenient created “post-it” which sold which helped contribute to the company 3M’s $29.9billion in net sales(2012).(figures from Kiplinger; http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/business/T049-S001-surprisingly-simple-ideas-that-made-millions/index.html)

(image from official site; post-it.com)

In my opinion, coming up with new ideas aren’t that hard. Anyone can think of ideas, if it’s during a 5 minute coffee break, during a walk to school, or even in a shower.

The most hardest part is to realize the idea in production.

As like how the Stanford’s institution of Design’s graduate students did, to realize an idea in production needs team work. Nowadays, the manufaturing process is often not a one-man job, but it involves multiple people.If you look around, the world is full of professional and high talented people, and friends with good will.

If you are struggling with ideas, you don’t have to think hard and too complicated. And if  you don’t have any good ideas yet, you can still work on connetecting with other people, to be prepared when the time has come.

 

 

 

Does your new product have internet?

https://hbr.org/2014/11/how-smart-connected-products-are-transforming-competition

https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-smart-connected-products-are-transforming-companies

(images from Harvard Business Review)

“Okay, your new product looks nice, it is cost worthy, but how does it connect with the internet?”

This could become the next most popular question you may be asked at a product development conference. Harvard buisness school professors say that it is necessary to have that in mine for the next competition of new products.

The internet expansion went world-wide through the last 2 decades, creating generations of people who can not live without the internet.

I remember when I was studying as an undergrad student in university that they only allowed sitations from books, but now, internet homepages and articles have become the most common. The change is relevant.

A Chinese smart phone company just launched a smart phone connected rice cooker in March 2016.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/03/29/against-the-grain-xiaomi-unveils-new-smartphone-controlled-rice-cooker/

So shall all products connect with the internet? And how?

I think it is more convenient if more and more products are connected with the internet. It will save time, let us remote-control items from far distances.

But I would like to say, if the method is to add on a technology that the smart phones already have, it will not succeed.  The smart phone has been sucking up all kinds of technologies, such as cameras, alarm clocks, computers, etc… and the companies that used to make them as individual products are suffering in sales and profit.

In my opinion, I think it is our human nature that we want a handy “all-in-one tool” and for now, it is all concentrated on the smart phone. Just like how we prefer to have one remote controller in our living room  which will control everthing (air conditioning, lights, TV..) , rather than having 3 or more controllers lying around and taking space of your table.

Coming up with a product that connects with the internet with support functions through a smart phone like the Xiaomi rice cooker, can be a way to realize internet connected products.

Is wearable technology surveillance to Atheletes?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/09/wearable-technology-sports-athletes-personal-lives

More and more technology is used in modern sports.

The whole aim is to prevent injuries and improve performance.

As the trend goes on, some atheletes are aware that there should be a line and not everything should be monitored.

I agree in the possition and there should be certain privacy towards the atheletes.I also think that atheletes have the right to say no to wearing some technologies that they don’t trust.

So for atheletes, it is the same as wearing normal equipment and it is upon their will to choose the best product that brings out their best performance.

Top atheletes will not wear a shoe that is broken and has holes, or a baseball glove that is slippery. Not only physical abilites count, but the decission to chose what you wear is also a necessary ability for atheletes.

 

 

Made in South East Asia or China?

China has been the world`s factory for the past 15years. As many plantations and factories were made in the country side of China to hire labor in a cheap cost, eventually the workers started earning enough money to move to the larger cities or to change there jobs for a more comfortable working environment and higher incomes. Factories have been trying to make their working environment satisfying for the workers (now gaining more and more information for better jobs through the internet) by adding air conditioners to their work space and paying higher wages to the workers.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/china/wages-in-manufacturing

Despite the fact that the wages and the facility cost are growing in China, the market price for products are expected to maintain or even decrease by the demand of consumers.

Many companies such as Flex, a contract manufacturer for Apple, Microsoft and Ford Motors are having high hopes for manufacturing in South East Asia to answer the demand.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/30/contract-manufacturer-flex-plans-southeast-asia-push/

South East Asia is trending, especially because of the political changes and opening of Myanmar.

Although, it is not that simple for apparel manufactureres to just move to South East Asia from China.One thing is the climate. Temperatures and humidity are higher than China, thus it is harder to maintain qualities of fabrics and garments. South East countires speak various languages and there is a language barrier. And Three, most of all, many apparel industries spent tremendous amount of money for creating the existing relationship with the factories in China and now have a firm inspection system there. There are many experienced workers that they raised by their effort in education.

Considering the amount invested so far already towards China, some companies feel awkward towards reconstructing the same process all over again in another country.

Companies will have to balance out there needs and compare where the manufacturing should be done, judging by each companies different priorities.

To look even further, we can see the results of the labor cost increase in China and predict the same thing will also happen in South East Asia if many companies start manufacturing there. What happens if they become wealthy like China? Is it clever to start investing “post” South East Asia from now?

Cheap product development will always be done in the cheapest labor cost countries in the world in order to maintain the cheap prices in the stores. But the paradox is that everyone in the world wants to be wealthy and not work at a sweat shop.

Maybe one answer will be robitcs.  I hope that robtics will come in, not too early, but after the man made manufacturing and the seek for cheap labor in poor countries are demolished and all countries would have developed to a certain stage and have already become wealthy that there would be no demand for workers looking for those kinds of labor at that point.