![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/SKYF02.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
\u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
\u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
\u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
The rise of the sharing economy has prompted Volkswagen to create a ride-sharing offering of its own. The product is to be called MOIA, and is scheduled to launch this year in Germany. This smartphone app will connect human drivers and electric vehicles to bring together passengers traveling similar routes. MOIA bills itself as \u201cthe new mobility concept of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
After visiting Google and Tesla, the team of executives attended a presentation at Waze. Waze is a transportation app that uses a community of 100-million users to crowd source information and create driving maps that identify traffic. Waze also provides a carpool functionality to connect drivers and passengers heading in the same direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rise of the sharing economy has prompted Volkswagen to create a ride-sharing offering of its own. The product is to be called MOIA, and is scheduled to launch this year in Germany. This smartphone app will connect human drivers and electric vehicles to bring together passengers traveling similar routes. MOIA bills itself as \u201cthe new mobility concept of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
Not only did the Volkswagen team get a chance to visit Tesla, they also got to visit Google, where they learned about Waymo. Waymo is Google\u2019s self-driving car project which has been in development for the past couple of years. This experience gave Volkswagen Ireland a glimpse into the internet giant\u2019s plans for the automotive industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After visiting Google and Tesla, the team of executives attended a presentation at Waze. Waze is a transportation app that uses a community of 100-million users to crowd source information and create driving maps that identify traffic. Waze also provides a carpool functionality to connect drivers and passengers heading in the same direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rise of the sharing economy has prompted Volkswagen to create a ride-sharing offering of its own. The product is to be called MOIA, and is scheduled to launch this year in Germany. This smartphone app will connect human drivers and electric vehicles to bring together passengers traveling similar routes. MOIA bills itself as \u201cthe new mobility concept of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called SKYF<\/strong><\/em> presented a cargo drone that can carry 550 lbs and fly for 8 hours. Most interesting the FAA had a representation where they were happy to talk to drone makers and enthusiasts about the regulatory environment surrounding the use of large and small sized drones.<\/p>\n","post_title":"3 Industry Trends from CES","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"3-industry-trends-from-ces","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/3-industry-trends-from-ces\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_5"};
No trip to Silicon Valley for car industry heavyweights would be complete without a visit at Tesla. Tesla is a key player in the race toward autonomy on four wheels. Tesla describes its Full Self-Driving Capability as \u201cable to conduct short and long distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver\u2019s seat\u2026 which we believe will be a probability of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver.\u201d The Volkswagen team were given the opportunity to test drive the new Model 3 and Model X. This provided Volkswagen with a clear insight into the field of electric vehicles, something they are interested in manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only did the Volkswagen team get a chance to visit Tesla, they also got to visit Google, where they learned about Waymo. Waymo is Google\u2019s self-driving car project which has been in development for the past couple of years. This experience gave Volkswagen Ireland a glimpse into the internet giant\u2019s plans for the automotive industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After visiting Google and Tesla, the team of executives attended a presentation at Waze. Waze is a transportation app that uses a community of 100-million users to crowd source information and create driving maps that identify traffic. Waze also provides a carpool functionality to connect drivers and passengers heading in the same direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rise of the sharing economy has prompted Volkswagen to create a ride-sharing offering of its own. The product is to be called MOIA, and is scheduled to launch this year in Germany. This smartphone app will connect human drivers and electric vehicles to bring together passengers traveling similar routes. MOIA bills itself as \u201cthe new mobility concept of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key concepts the Volkswagen team learned about was Digital Transformation. Achieving digital transformation is not just down to utilizing new technologies. It requires innovative thinking. When it comes to big corporations, this is much easier said than done. These companies often face well-established people and processes that prefer orthodox functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To overcome these internal obstacles, many companies look beyond themselves. By establishing partnerships with startups they can jumpstart the innovation process. This technique has become a prominent trend here in Silicon Valley. When it comes to the creation of disruptive startups Silicon Valley is still the world leader. For incumbents everywhere this is a double-edged sword; both a potential source of collaboration and a threat to business. Startup engagement doesn\u2019t necessarily mean bringing in outside partners, it can also involve fostering innovation from within. This concept is called intrapreneurship, which is key to the Silicon Valley ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group of executives finished their adventurous day by visiting Menlo Park Ventures where they were put into the hot seat. The team heard pitches from early stage companies at the cutting-edge of the latest technologies. The presenting startups vied to win attention and investment with their impressive computer vision products as well as customer service automation. The process benefited everyone, Volkswagen was given a chance to ask founders about their thoughts on the future of the automotive industry. With current experts predicting that all corporations need to be more entrepreneurial to survive digital disruption, the session proved to be an excellent chance to put that advice use. Internalizing this idea was perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for the carmaker. Taking it back home to Ireland was crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information that Volkswagen Ireland learned this week is sure to help them with their future development as a large company. We know that this knowledge is pivotal in the face of global trends such as decreasing car ownership and the rise of the shared economy. For today\u2019s carmakers, there is no single solution to avoid such disruptions. It is up to their commitment to having an open mindset and coming up with creative ideas. We are excited to see how Volkswagen\u2019s partnership with SVIC will affect their success in the future.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Volkswagen sees opportunities, competitors in Silicon Valley","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/volkswagen-sees-opportunities-competitors-in-silicon-valley\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":746,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-05-04 19:54:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-05-05 02:54:00","post_content":"\n Transforming a large manufacturing business is impossible without deploying an array of automation and logistics innovations, such as robotics and artificial intelligence. It is also unimaginable without startup scouting, a practice of partnering with young and fast-moving companies to make innovation happen faster. All these things were on a checklist for a group of Sonepar executives who visited Silicon Valley Innovation Center in September 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonepar is a French manufacturer of electrical parts and products with a history that spans 45 years across 44 countries. If you have an old refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner at home, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s using parts produced by Sonepar. Despite its glorious history, the company is currently struggling with fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers. Sonepar executives from Europe, America and Asia came to Silicon Valley to find solutions to this and their other ongoing challenges, namely growing production costs combined with digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies we visited during a 3-day innovation program included Squadrone System, IngDan, Chariot, HP, SAP, UL Ventures, Jabil and others. At SVIC, our goal was to introduce the Sonepar delegates to the best ideas that could help them modernize their supply-chain and logistics business and equip them with the right tools to compete with e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Here are some of the key takeaways from the trip as told by SVIC\u2019s director of business development Russel Climaco-Estardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to stay afloat in the manufacturing business in our fast-paced digital era, companies need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart AI-powered drones help companies like Amazon automate warehousing. Sonepar executives admitted that their warehouses rely heavily on manual labor and use of paper. To show how drones can improve inventory control, we took our clients to Squadrone System. Eva Pagneux, the company\u2019s then VP of Strategy & Marketing demonstrated how Sonepar can cut inventory time to minutes and increase data capture quality with a completely autonomous drone that navigates in alleys, guided by its companion app. She explained how a drone can fly in the evening and scan all the pallets and bars in its warehouse and log the data to a central inventory system. A fully digital, completely automated warehouse is the only way to build a scalable manufacturing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using 3D-Printing to offset production and delivery costs instead of making products in bulk was another idea that came up during the trip. We paired the team with Hewlett-Packard Labs, an exploratory and advanced research group for HP Inc. HP Labs presented 3D-Printing technology capable of saving millions of dollars each year for a business like Sonepar. Instead of using traditional injection molding technology, Sonepar could use old blueprints to 3D print parts for outdated cars, machines and appliances that are not produced anymore. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D-printing, or additive manufacturing, is a truly revolutionary technology, which is fast and relatively cheap. It gives engineers more time to be creative and inventive, in comparison with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing is a must-have for every manufacturing business on the path of digital transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcquihiring\u201d is becoming a thing of the past, says Climaco-Estardo. Instead of buying out interesting startups, manufacturing businesses need to find reliable partners to work with and embed themselves deeper into the innovation ecosystem. This was a cross-cutting theme of Sonepar\u2019s meetings with VC boutique Naiss, UL Ventures as well as a startup scouting workshop at SVIC. When a corporation acquires a young company, there\u2019s a good chance it will kill off the innovation. Using startups as service providers is a smarter strategy, as it makes it easier to get to the innovative technology without spending too much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a matter of three days, the Sonepar executives were able to get a grasp of what is shaping their industry and find inspiration to transform their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found some great startups to work with, that inspired us, challenged us and our thinking\u201d, said Jo Verbeek, President and Chairman at Sonepar, Asia-Pacific Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a typical example of what we do at Silicon Valley Innovation Center. For most of our clients we are a first \u201cinnovation outpost\u201d. Businesses from around the globe use our services to broaden their innovation horizons and find valuable partners to work with. Here in Silicon Valley we have access to thousands of innovative startups. Let us be your guide in the word of modern companies operating in manufacturing and supply chain management across such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics and IoT.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Three Ideas On How To Modernize A Legacy Manufacturing Business","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/three-ideas-on-how-to-modernize-a-legacy-manufacturing-business\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-04-17 13:58:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-04-17 20:58:00","post_content":"\n Three days, 16 famous Silicon Valley companies and a dozen innovation experts \u2013 that\u2019s how Toyota Material Handling (TMH) spent its corporate retreat in 2017. A European subdivision of Toyota Industries and a producer of equipment for logistics, TMH has for many years sent its executives from all over the world to an annual gathering to discuss strategy and the future of the brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-day executive immersion program we designed for the company was months in the planning so if the executives felt a little overwhelmed at times that meant they were learning, which was exactly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that there was anything atypical about such lengthy preparations. As with all our programs we engaged Toyota in a thorough consultation process in order to zoom in on the major \u201cpain points\u201d of its business. Then we built a schedule to provide introductions to the kind of high-technology solutions Silicon Valley is famous for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular trip was for Toyota Material Handling (TMH), a division of the company entirely separate from - though not unrelated to - the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s more well-known carmaking business. Where the latter builds the Priuses, Corollas and Camrys which have become staples of world motoring, the former is concerned with the manufacture and supply of the forklifts and pallet trucks which help get the parts for those vehicles to the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For us at Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) that meant putting together a program with an emphasis on finding novel solutions to the typical problems faced by enterprises in the manufacturing sector, namely, cost and time inefficiencies in areas like warehousing and supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answers, we knew, would come from technologies like internet of things and blockchain. But apart from visiting companies breaking new ground in these areas we also made sure to mix in sessions on corporate innovation at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. After all, getting access to new technology is the relatively easy part. Actually knowing how to get an organization to embrace that technology and get the most out of it is where the real work begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, with the schedule finalized and the hotel rooms booked, the Toyota Material Handling team touched down in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development which today presents the most threats and opportunities to a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling is Internet of Things, or IoT. We dedicated a large part of the Japanese enterprise\u2019s time in Silicon Valley to meetings with companies currently using the technology in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest and most advanced users of IoT anywhere in the world today is contract manufacturer Jabil. Touring its production facilities, the Toyota team saw something they could emulate: sensors and data collectors on everything from pallets to machines and a huge control room to go with them where all the collected information is processed. The practical application of all this technology use was made clear through the huge gains in efficiency it has generated for Jabil throughout the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Verizon, meanwhile, the emphasis was placed on a parallel aspect of the IoT revolution with a focus on connectivity and 5G mobile broadband. The communications company opened Toyota\u2019s eyes to the huge realm of possibilities 5G will open for IoT and the changes this could bring in everything from supply chain to smart cities. What\u2019s more, the Toyota execs learned how Verizon stays abreast of the latest technology developments by actively buying up and partnering with a range of startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That knowledge on the startup scene in the IoT space was expanded further with a visit to Wearable World, an IoT accelerator. The CEO laid out the current state of the industry, with an angel investor also giving a presentation detailing for Toyota Material Handling how the company might make the most of IoT\u2019s potential through investment in startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those learnings came to the fore on day three of the program during a startup showcase, when Toyota met several early stage companies. Roambee, which offers real-time location and condition monitoring for shipments, further deepened the forklift manufacturer\u2019s understanding of IoT\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After IoT, corporate innovation was the next biggest area of exploration for Toyota Material Handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presentations at Google, Microsoft and Amazon taught Toyota that with the right strategy, even a big organization such as itself can innovate. The three tech giants all touched upon a similar theme: when it comes to not just staying current but even getting ahead of the curve, it is imperative to make a large number of small bets. In fact, as Toyota found out, Amazon, directly or indirectly, has a stake in some 80,000 early-stage companies. For the Toyota executives is was a real revelation; never had they expected \u201ccorporate innovation\u201d to require such an active and far-reaching approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to fearlessly testing new ideas in short sprints is the enormous amount of data Google accumulates. They measure everything and are able to make predictions based on vast amounts of user behavior data. \u201cEvery company in Silicon Valley has this one thing in common: they all have data scientists or software engineers that are making decisions. Silicon Valley is a city run by PhDs and scientists\u201d, elaborates SVIC Innovation Evangelist Christian Lorentzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further lessons were learned on day three with a trip to non-profit research group Institute for the Future. The presentation here made a strong impact, as the director of business development challenged the Toyota team to think about how their positions as executives in the twenty-first century need to evolve in order to stay relevant in a changing business environment. He emphasized the need to be less hierarchical and more in touch with the consumer experience. This reinforced a message which Toyota had heard earlier at Amazon, where they found out that founder Jeff Bezos spends at least one day a month working in the company\u2019s call center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota\u2019s takeaways from Google, Amazon and Institute for the Future:<\/strong> Use data and customer insights to test new ideas. The ability to learn with a customer and use data analytics teams in an agile business cycle is what distinguishes companies that will continue to compete in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With IoT and corporate innovation occupying the majority of the space on Toyota\u2019s agenda, we just had time to squeeze in a few more sectors. Naturally enough, car usage in the sharing economy was an area of interest for the Japanese manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end we visited Turo, operator of a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace. The company's founder opened up to Toyota on what his reasons were for launching the company, in the process providing much-needed insight into the motivation of entrepreneurs and the difficulties they can face when regulatory frameworks don\u2019t keep pace with technology. As the founder recalled, the color of innovation is often \u201cgrey\u201d because new markets are being created about which little is known and even less is clear from existing legal structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toyota were also introduced to the world of blockchain and specifically its use cases in combination with IoT to improve supply chain efficiency. This helped the executive team crystallize their thinking on what blockchain truly is and could be, apart from just a buzzword they were hearing more and more often. Max Fang, a lecturer from the research group Blockchain at Berkley, shared insights from the blockchain world, including that there are currently around 100 startups operating in the blockchain-IoT space focused on coming up with innovative solutions to the kinds of problems faced by a manufacturer like Toyota Material Handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of their three days, the feedback we heard from the Toyota team told us they felt their trip to Silicon Valley had been worthwhile. As the company had stressed to us in the months leading up to their arrival, one of the reasons they wanted to visit the tech hub was to get ideas on how they could rewire their own internal strategies. On that score their immersion program provided plenty of inspiration, not least from the big companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which proved that innovation is possible even when operating as a global corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the other end of the scale Toyota saw how tiny companies, sometimes as small as just a team of developers, can make a big impact and really disrupt the status quo. Connecting these dots together, the executives undersood how their own approach to innovation as a big company would require a more active approach to partnering and investing with startups.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Toyota in Silicon Valley: Lessons in Supply Chain and Corporate Innovation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-12-27 20:45:15","post_modified_gmt":"2019-12-28 04:45:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/blog\/toyota-in-silicon-valley-lessons-in-supply-chain-and-corporate-innovation\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":825,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2018-01-17 05:17:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-01-17 13:17:00","post_content":"\n There was a buzz in the air at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Both large companies and startups filled the convention centers to show off and demo their new products. After spending a few days walking among the endless booths and talking to some guests and exhibitors three key trends became clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This trend is best shown by Ford, who highlighted their transformation from being a car manufacturer to a software company developing a system to coordinate autonomous vehicles in city streets. During his keynote address, Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the Ford Transportation Mobility Cloud<\/strong><\/em>. Through an investment in Silicon Valley startup Autonomic, Ford\u2019s vision is to build and maintain a cloud system that would manage all the mobile transportation needs in cities. Ford has already partnered with food delivery service Postmates<\/strong><\/em>. And it is important to note that Uber<\/strong><\/em> is already using self driving cars to pick up passengers in Arizona. Perhaps Ford\u2019s clouds will be the backend solution to all self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it. Driving to the mall, parking your car, and walking from store to store to try on clothes is much more time consuming than pulling out your phone or putting on your VR headset<\/em> and trying out new clothes on your virtual avatar. Tech entrepreneurs feel this too. Several startups offered 3D scanning<\/em> devices that will capture your dimensions and make a virtual model. Once this model is loaded inside an app you can try on different outfits or even \u201cbe yourself\u201d in virtual reality<\/em> or other mobile or desktop software environments. The reach of such possibility extends to shopping as well as video conferencing and beyond. The replication of yourself in virtual world takes you one step closer to singularity - a moment projected to be around 2050 where it will be difficult to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drone pavilion at CES was massive. Underwater drones showcased by stunning mermaids. There were countless small drones that can be used for personal photography or gaming. However the most impressive drones were the big guys. Volocopter<\/strong><\/em> from Germany gave a demonstration of its ability to transport people like a flying taxi. A Russian company called 3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Naked-scanner-3D.-3D-body-scanner-applications-for-fitness-3D-scanner.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Ford-Mobility-CES.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Sharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_20171114_105917-768x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Corporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_20171116_110505-768x403.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Internet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/TMH.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Digitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
Digitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Latest
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sonepar-program-1.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
The road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/MVIMG_20180601_141114.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
Innovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconvalley.center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/MVIMG_20180601_112617.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInnovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInnovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInnovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInnovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Innovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Latest
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInnovation or stagnation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe road ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigitize the supply-chain with smart drones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/lWuLVTgWDTU\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLower production costs with 3D-Printing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Partner with innovative startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/uZvNmf7WOWk\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nInnovation outpost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInternet of Things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCorporate Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSharing Economy and Blockchain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many Innovations to Come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Vehicles will become connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n2. More real world shopping will happen in VR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Expect to see more drones everywhere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
