Industrial Transformation Blog

Another year comes to an end! I hope you attained your personal and professional goals this year. At LNS, I had an exciting year, launching research on successful new product introduction (NPI) in the digital era, selection of Quality 4.0 technology to drive differentiation, and the convergence of safety, risk, quality, operations, and design for reliability. We examined the quality and Quality 4.0 trends in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automotive industries and developed frameworks and approaches for success. LNS also conducted multiple onsite quality advisory sessions and workshops for technology vendors and manufacturers. Additionally, we launched two new surveys, led two executive roundtables (thank you to the hosts Newell Brands and Whirlpool), and presented at several corporate events including ASQ’ Quality 4.0 Forum.

Ideally, compliance is part of your strategy, but not your entire strategy.  It's not enough to produce a safe product, that works as intended, and meets regulatory requirements.  Today’s quality leadership must contribute to the firm’s reputation, competitive standing, profitability, and growth.  Adding to the burden, your company’s industry, target market, role in the supply chain, size, and so many other factors intensify the pressure.  Yes, it’s a complex web of codes, guidelines, standards, and practices that companies face:

In mid-2017, LNS Research identified that an early but significant group of manufacturers had begun to recognize Quality 4.0 as one of their top Industrial Transformation initiatives. LNS coined the term Quality 4.0 and defined the space - why to adopt Quality 4.0, and how to build a successful strategy. Over time, the interest in Quality 4.0 has continued to accelerate, and many manufacturers are now either investigating Quality 4.0 or deploying early pilots .

On Thursday, November 15, LNS Research hosted the webcast, “Driving Performance in Life Sciences: Making Industrial Transformation Real with Quality 4.0 Technology.” The presentation explored how life sciences manufacturers can build a successful Quality 4.0 project to drive Industrial Transformation and gain competitive advantage.

In the 18 months since LNS coined Quality 4.0 and provided the definitive frameworks, manufacturers throughout the supply chain, across industries, and of varied company sizes have aggressively pursued Quality 4.0 technology and use cases. Today, 64% of manufacturers are pursuing Digital Transformation, and of these, 23% are pursuing quality improvement use cases. A low hanging fruit, Quality 4.0 is one of the top use cases of Digital Transformation initiatives.

On Tuesday, September 18, LNS Research hosted the webcast, “Unlocking Value from Shop Floor to the Enterprise: Digitally Transforming Risk, Quality and Safety.” The presentation explained how integrating the critical functions of quality and safety can mean strategic value for the enterprise beyond the sum of what they offer separately. The discussion included an examination of how industrial organizations use advanced digital technologies to transform risk, quality, and safety management to deliver unprecedented value from the shop floor and throughout the enterprise .

Many quality leaders have recognized that imbuing a culture of quality is critical to achieving quality objectives and desired outcomes. In fact, LNS Research identifies that 37% of quality leaders (n=1198) cite a lack of quality culture as the top roadblock to achieving quality objectives. Naturally, culture initiatives are common and emphasize that the corporation must transition to a more proactive quality approach. One critical element to culture initiatives is early and effective engagement in new product introduction (NPI). However, most of the market lacks early and effective engagement of quality processes, insights, and competencies within NPI, and quality teams often struggle to justify a change .

Agility, adaptation, and innovation are prized commodities in today’s business climate. Disruption is top of mind because it is a genuine opportunity and risk. Today’s manufacturers are exposed to unprecedented external forces, but also have the potential to access unprecedented insights. These insights can lead to innovative products, achieve new levels of quality and productivity, and create innovative new customer experiences. The end effect is that highly agile, and digitalized startups have managed to topple established industries and manufacturers that have been slow to adapt.

On Thursday, May 17, LNS Research hosted the webcast, “Keys to Successful New Product Introduction (NPI): Bridging the Digital Quality Divide.” The presentation explained why market dynamics force companies to rethink NPI and how leading companies drive innovation in today’s digital world. The discussion included an examination of why today’s NPI success rate is relatively low, and why market trends inhibit NPI success.

Just how critical are risk and quality to today’s supply chain? Recent LNS research reveals risk and quality improvements are among a supplier’s most important investments. For many, this will not be a surprise, because quality is often leveraged to determine preferred supplier status, and preferred supplier status impacts contract awards. Quality and risk are indeed strategic investments given that suppliers are even more focused on growing revenue than the rest of the market.

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