Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2021. Read them in this 13th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
What's Ahead for Product Development and Innovation?
By John J. McEleney, co-founder of Onshape
Like all industries, the design
and manufacturing world experienced a shockwave of changes in 2020 due to the
pandemic. As a result, many product development companies had to suddenly
become more agile to pivot in new and innovative ways. Amidst the continued
challenges of COVID-19 in 2021, this need to be agile will be essential for
businesses of all sizes to survive.
Collaboration among remote
workers will be just as important next year, and companies will continue to
rely on cloud-based solutions to be innovative and effective. As product
developers create innovative solutions to rapidly changing problems, lead times
from concept to manufacturing will need to keep shrinking in order to get
products to market in time -- before market conditions change yet again.
With all
that in mind, here are my top four industry predictions for 2021:
The
evolution of modern product development will continue to accelerate. The shock of the global pandemic caused
companies to suddenly rethink how their products could be used to meet quickly
changing demands. Heeding the lessons learned, companies will seek to develop
new process innovations and faster, less expensive methods of designing
products and getting them to market. Across industries, especially medical
devices and health care, I foresee the use of new materials and components in
the manufacturing of established products to enhance quality, overall
performance, and sustainability.
Digital
customers will keep wanting things faster. Customers will want accelerated timelines, with digital
real-time updates on the status of products in development, together with rapid
delivery. They can no longer afford to wait until the end of the design process
because market conditions and end-user needs may evolve before the product
reaches the market. Companies will be pushed to enable their engineering teams
to share "in-process" designs. They will also gather customer feedback and
alignment earlier to allow for more iterations and ultimately a smoother approval
process, increasing their chances of getting their product correctly
aligned for the market.
With Work
From Home (WFH) moving to a long-term response, cloud transformation will keep
boosting productivity.
Cloud computing has been a bright spot in the market during 2020 because cloud
solutions are designed for remote access. In 2021, long-term WFH employees and
their managers will demand more and improved cloud and SaaS technologies to
stay connected and collaborate virtually.
Even in
their personal lives, people will turn more to cloud computing to enrich and
expedite activities and events. For example, telehealth will become a long-term
trend because patients recognized during the pandemic that virtual visits are
an easier and more efficient way to interact with healthcare providers.
Artificial
intelligence (AI) will drive process innovation. AI will be used more frequently during
2021. As Daniel Newman has suggested in Forbes, the timing is simply right. AI
is being increasingly integrated now with chips from Intel, NVIDIA, and
Qualcomm, as well as with cloud platforms from the likes of AWS, Azure, IBM,
and Oracle.
The year
2021 will also herald the convergence of artificial intelligence with robotics
process automation (RPA), as well as automated resolution of IT issues through
AIOps. Factory planning will move from spreadsheets and Gannt charts to AI
driven factory operations - and the list will continue to grow.
Conclusion
Certainly,
2021 will have its own unique and unexpected challenges. But despite the
unknowns, forward-thinking companies can better prepare themselves for a myriad
of potential changes in the product design process and frontline manufacturing.
And optimistically thinking ahead to the post-pandemic economy,
businesses can continue to develop new and creative approaches to product
design, manufacturing, and delivery - undoubtedly yielding some pleasant
surprises.
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About the Author
John McEleney is the Corporate Vice
President of Strategy at PTC. He is also the co-founder of Onshape, with more
than 30 years of experience in the mechanical design and software industry.
Prior to Onshape, he was the CEO of CloudSwitch, a cloud enterprise software
company acquired by Verizon, and the CEO of SolidWorks. John also serves as a
director of Stratasys Inc., a publicly held 3D printing company. In his free
time, he enjoys skiing, golf, and adventure travel.