A Humble Model for Compressing Time?

[MeiLin_Low]

Two-thirds of R&D spending in the U.S. goes to manufacturing. In other countries, the percentage is even higher: 87% for Japan and China; 89% for Germany and South Korea. As spending on manufacturing has increased, product design and manufacturing processes have grown increasingly complex.

A Wainhouse Research ROI survey found that by using video collaboration, “average” enterprises:

Save 30% on travel costs

Reduce time-to-market by 24%

Reduce downtime by 27%

Save 25% on training

With Polycom video collaboration solutions, companies can collaborate face-to-face with partners, suppliers, and distributors from wherever they choose: the factory floor, a R&D lab, on-the-go, or a conference room or immersive theater. In this collaboration culture, expertise is available on-demand, teamwork is de facto, and groups make better decisions faster.

When applied specifically to engineering, video collaboration solutions enhance prototyping, remote monitoring and quality assurance across the globe. The results? Increased innovation, faster time-to-market, improved quality. Companies either catch up to the competition more rapidly than before, or industry leaders widen the gap between them and the nearest competitor. Compressing time delivers advantages where engineering teams are concerned and adopting video collaboration solutions delivers the right model, for organizations.

Here are two of my favourite stories of how engineering teams have gotten to market more quickly, to benefit the lives of millions. These aren’t huge companies, which goes to show that it’s not just companies of scale that can benefit from video collaboration.

Intelligent Energy

The need for efficient and clean energy is a problem faced on a global scale. Intelligent Energy, renowned for its modular, low-carbon fuel cell systems, tackles this problem head-on by accelerating the global commercialization and market demand for cleaner, more environmentally-friendly products.

The use of video collaboration solutions has been integral in fast-tracking product development, allowing the engineers to effectively discuss complex CAD designs, instrumentation diagrams, schematics and even packaging information. Engineers located in US, UK, Japan and India effectively collaborate together and even with customers, from early on in the design process using real-time video collaboration. This negates the need for travel and its inefficiencies, saves time and money for all parties and resolves issues far quicker than sending pictures and drawings over e-mail.

By using video collaboration to connect its dispersed network of engineers, Intelligent Energy eliminated collaboration silos, reduced mistakes and stayed agile.

Watch the video and read the full customer story here - http://www.polycom.com/global/en/customer-stories/intelligent-energy.html

Align Technology

More than 1.5 million people in 45 countries have improved their smiles – and their confidence – with the Invisalign system of invisible orthodontics from Align Technology. Align's sophisticated iTero Intra-oral Scanners are used to create accurate 3D digital models of their patients' teeth and gums and are used by more than 25,000 orthodontists and dentists worldwide.
 

Align relies on video collaboration to save time, speed decision making and improve productivity, keeping the company competitive.

Using conference rooms equipped with multiple displays and high-definition cameras, engineers in the United States, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, share interactive 3D models, examine and annotate renderings, and discuss manufacturing processes in a completely interactive, lifelike setting. The fast-moving company sees video collaboration as a lynchpin in its growth and market leadership. "Polycom definitely gives Align a competitive advantage," says Blanco. "It allows us to make decisions quicker, faster, more efficiently. It's made a huge difference for us."

Watch the video and read the full customer story here - http://www.polycom.com/global/en/customer-stories/align-technology.html

This blog is part of a series of 25 blogs that take a look at how Polycom has transformed industries and business functions. These blogs are a variety of retrospective, current and visionary perspectives with the common thread of unleashing the power of human collaboration. Follow the hashtag #Polycom25 on Twitter for tweets about this significant anniversary in our history.”