Community Forum – What do you think will be the biggest game-changers in innovation and R&D over the next three years?

A: Community Forum – What do you think will be the biggest game-changers in innovation and R&D over the next three years?

This Community Forum survey seeks to explore the most pressing innovation and R&D management challenges, identify critical skills for future success, and uncover emerging trends that will shape the environment in which we work in the coming years. This data will help IRI as we work to identify next year’s key focus areas, our Innovation Growth Drivers.

Thank you to those who took the time to share their thoughts in this week’s Community Forum survey!

Beginning in August, look for the Community Forum in IRI’s weekly Innovation Edge newsletter

Their responses are below.

Community Responses

If you had to identify an existential threat to R&D and innovation in manufacturing, what would it be?

• I do not believe that there is a threat to innovation in manufacturing. However, how innovation happens may involve fewer humans and more collaboration between humans and AI towards practically full digitalization and automation.
• AI
• Automations
• Re-training of staff
• Capabilities of China, Japan, and other market challengers to adopt and commercialize new ideas and trends rapidly and use modular and digital-based approaches.
• Talent and knowledge loss due to retirement of longstanding employees
• Regulations — particularly material restrictions implemented without understanding the lack of or impact of alternatives.

Other

• all points of the above
• All of the above
• All of the above plus the reality that R&D quickly becomes process engineering as well
• Both getting pulled into every quality or plant issue as well as restricting collaboration across teams
• All of the above.

Other:

• Visionary and tech savvy leadership