Are you interested in adding intelligence, connected services and data-driven applications to your products, but haven’t taken your ideas to a next level? Our next webinar within the WalHub initiative will put you on the right track with insights and a company testimonial.
Initially, focusing on product quality was the way to go for manufacturing companies, but for years now companies are in a globalised competition and all have access to the same technology. Without innovation, product commoditisation and price competition soon set in and companies are dragged into a race to the bottom. At the same time, the life cycle of products is getting shorter, pushing companies to bring new products at a higher pace to the market. How to stay relevant and stand out as a product company?
Take up the product innovation challenge
A growing number of product companies is transforming their offering with digital technology. They are adding smart capabilities to their products, generating new revenue streams from services around their products and valorising data collected from products in the field. In B2C markets the first wave of smart products had a focus on new digital user experiences. Nowadays, manufacturers of consumer products are looking into building services around their connected products. In industry, the applications with a high return on investment are often focused on cost reduction: remote monitoring and control of products cut costs by avoiding on-site human intervention. The potential in B2B markets has always been assumed much higher compared to B2C, and although the uptake is lagging the high expectations, it has kept growing steadily.
Companies next door innovate with digital technology
An example of a product company that took up the challenge, is Yamabiko Europe, formerly Belrobotics and based in Wavre (BE). In 2017, it decided to develop a new generation of connected robot mowers and ball picker robots, that are smarter, more robust, easier to use and with more evolutionary capabilities. Digital technology is a key enabler for its autonomous mowing robots, both for improving their mowing performance, as well as for efficiently operating and servicing them. The smartification is not only creating a competitive advantage, but it is also generating new revenue streams thanks to the connected services that users can subscribe to for remotely monitoring and controlling their robots.
Expanding your products with IoT
A growing number of product companies is bringing innovations to the market enabled by IoT technology. Digitising their product offering did not happen overnight. That is why manufacturing companies should start early and explore the opportunities for their business rather soon than later. In the webinar “Expanding your products with IoT” on 28 June 2023 we take a closer look at why companies expand their products with IoT and how they can get started. The Belgium-based company Yamabiko Europe will give a testimonial on the smartification of its robot mower products and how it went about it.
Want to know more? Be sure to participate to the free webinar Expanding your products with IoT!
The European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) WalHub, in which Sirris is involved, aims to accelerate the digital transformation of manufacturing companies in Wallonia through the adoption of four key technologies: AI, IoT, HPC and cyber security.
