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HOW TO USE INDUSTRY ROADMAPS TO IMPROVE INTERNAL INNOVATION

Industry roadmaps are critical to leaders in the electronics industry who are trying to plan the next moves for their organization. They give readers an overall summary of the present status of the technology landscape, as well as broad information about market trends and/or the direction that key technology innovations are headed. Upon review, leaders can use key information points about the landscape to keep pace with the industry and align their own strategies with the bigger picture. Let's explore some of the common features that you'll find in an industry roadmap, then tie that back to how to use that information when setting future goals.

 

What You'll Find in a Roadmap

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At a high level, roadmap reports will summarize the market trends of related industries and provide commentary on the implications of those trends. A global economy demands analysis of a holistic view of the market. With a breakdown of related industries, strategists can connect the dots back to their own organizations and make intelligent predictions regarding impact on their company. They also can accomplish this through the use of product emulators that simulate the effects of introducing new technological innovations into the market, thereby providing data that assists with forecasting.

Common Takeaways: Revenue projections, Consequences of change

New Technology Innovations

In some cases, the emergence of disruptive technology can revolutionize an entire industry, or even the world. Especially in the modern, fast-paced innovation climate, these changes occur rapidly and are a fundamental component of the industry roadmap. Identifying emerging and disruptive technologies helps us anticipate obstacles that may arise in the future and prioritize investments in R&D and technology development to address those obstacles. For example, the continual introduction of connected devices that make up the Internet of Things begs the question of how this abundance of connected technology will be powered, how data will travel, etc.

Common Takeaways:Estimated rates of consumer adoption, Impacts on business processes

Goals for Progress

After reviewing the current state of industry and catching up on major changes, the next natural step is to look ahead and plan to react to that data. Individual organizations will develop their own strategic action plans based on the information found in the roadmap, but the roadmap itself will often contain some pronouncement of the next challenges that the industry will need to overcome. These could be challenges that are outstanding from the year prior, or newly developed ones that accompany the introduction of technology or other landscape changes. Recent roadmaps, across industries, have cited environmental and climate changes as issues to consider moving forward due to the presentation of scientific evidence and political influence on the topic. This is indicative that challenges can be far-reaching and are not exclusively tied to economic or innovation goals.

Common Takeaways: Incumbent challenges, Declaration of objectives
 

Translating to Your Organization

With your roadmap in hand, your business is able to do three things:

  1. Gauge the health of your business as it pertains to competitiveness, use of modern technologies and business practices, etc.
  2. Validate or realign an existing internal strategy as it pertains to innovation. Alternatively, it may inspire a new strategy that will be flexible and able to adapt appropriately to market changes based on projected shifts cited in the report
  3. Identify and participate in collaborative opportunities that will serve as a means to propel innovation within your organization, as well as bolster your reputation as a thought leader in the industry

Are you interested in advancing your organization and contributing to the progress of your industry? You can download a free, high-level overview of some of the major trends and key drivers for the electronics manufacturing industry, as identified in the 2015 iNEMI Roadmap. You can also purchase the fully-detailed report, which covers 20 technology areas across five product sectors.

 

(Note: Full reports are always available FREE for iNEMI members. To inquire about a membership, click here.)

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