Need Your Help Understand Industry Trends
 

Guys - I need your help. I am interested in what you feel the following manufacturing industry trends which provide the biggest "pain point" in the R&D workflow?

You can choose more than one but I would also ask that you tell me a little about why you chose what you did and feel free to tell me about your type of business or job in the company. Thanks dudes!

I voted globalization, IP and nanotechnology.
From where I am (University research lab on nanotech applied to energy storage and conversion), I see that the most common business model adopted by researchers and satrtups is the following:

1- Do something nano, whatever it is, because that is where govt. and venture capital funding is. Probably the next bubble after IT and housing bubbles. I`ll try to cash in on that one.

2- Generate patents, proofs of conceot.

3- Do not worry about production of anything, sell the patents to a bigger company that will figure out how to make money by producing the goods in a low manufacturing cost country.

The greenisation also contributes to globalization in that it makes manufacturing in the US more costly to respect the environment. China does not (yet) bother with those consideration. Heck, they do not even worry about losing a few hundred miners a year...

As long as the US retains the brains and that IP is protected and enforced, this model may work...but the the trend seems to be that IP can be generated or copied in Asia as well, looking at the numbers of scientists and engineers they are forming compared to here.

Maybe Bush already figured all that out, and understands that the only manufacturing sector that can survive in the US is the weapons industry, since he is creating a vast consumer market by pushing for world War III starting in the middle east...

Aurel

Fyunny thing, when I ask ouir R&D guys these questions they all said #3 was the biggest pain point. I guess they all like hanging out in the lab bellied up to the bench.

world wide competition creates a need for productivity gains wheresoever it may be.

I'm retired.

+1

The biggest pain point for a R&D guys who likes hanging in the lab is to tell him that he is also responsible for funding his research work, fully, from salary to fringe benefits and equipment. It goes with the idea that everyone needs to be a manager, and you cannot get a good pay without managing others. I disagree with that, and it is a major pain point too. Actually, I do not like to be managed, and I do not like to manage others either. The only way to make this work is to be a self-funded resesearch professor judged by his peers and reporting to his accountants. Then, you realise what you really have to do to get the funding, that is going to conferences, publishing your work, writing lenghty proposals...and then you figure out that you have no more time to spend in the lab, so you have to hire a student, a tech, or whoever will do the hands-on work, although you love doing the hands-on work yourself. I guess I am in a transition phase. The other solution is to do the hands-on work during the day and the paper work at night. And I say F that...work is not all my life.

Aurel

In industry, the R&D guys find it a pain when they are called out to the plant to fix a problem or when they have to talk to a customer - understand a problem the customer is having or to explain why a particular batch went wrong. The problem goes away the better the sales farse is trained and the tighter manufacturing gets. There are technical service departments that are supposed to take care of the customers and also process development departments that are also supposed to get involved in manufacturing issuesd when they arise. Most companies are running so lean now that the reasearch and development guys have tio wear many hats - some of which are uncomfortable for them.

The thing is that is possible to turn a scientifically trained person to many other jobs, from accounting to customer service. But you cannot so easily turn an accountant into a researcher, or a lawyer into a Lab director. Companies are taking advantage of this, and it is not fair for both. But we all know that fairness is not the name of the game. If I am going to wear all thoses caps, I am doing it for myself, not to make a company save money for making their shareholders richer.

Aurel

my want to glance at Businessweek's cover story

July, 31, 2006

? The latest one?

yes.

Not sure what you mean. Are you refering to: Emerging Giants
Multinationals from China, India, Brazil, Russia, and even Egypt are coming on strong?

yes.. it's industry trends right down to the small guy's examples of attack during world wide competition.

Check out the July 17th issue - pg 26. "Business on a Warmer Planet" all about a diamond mine North of Yellowknife CA that has had to fly in fuel et al because the ice roads have melted. Sound familar? Been there, done that...