At the end of 2019, a technology forum for digital transformation of the automotive industry was arranged for a three-hour closed-door meeting for effective discussion and communication. Participants were CTOs, CIOs and CMOs from various auto companies. I was also fortunate to be invited to participate in this event. discuss. The topics discussed at the conference are the problems and experiences of digital transformation and transformation in automotive marketing and manufacturing. Many of the contents are thought-provoking and inspiring, and everyone is thinking and practicing. During the period, a person in charge of a technology company made a speech. The business is mainly car owners gas stations and various car services. She highlighted how they serve car owners, how to quickly adapt to the needs of various car owners, and slightly complain and ridicule Describe the "too slow" problems in the process of cooperating with car companies, such as lack of understanding of customer experience, delay in time, and poor output quality. I usually hear a lot of criticisms and questions of this kind, but the post-90s' speech is indeed full of overly one-sided judgments, so from the perspective of the auto industry, I made some explanations.
Me: "After listening to your explanation, many opinions and phenomena are reality. The automotive industry has not yet done a good job of user experience, especially when compared with Internet technology companies. However, the bottom thinking of the automotive industry does not put user experience first. One!"
's triumphant expression was a little surprised: "?????!!! What else could it be!!!"
me: "The customer's life."
The other party did not speak, and the expression was complicated: "!!!"
I went on to say: "The automobile industry is an industrial system with a very complex industrial chain. The core of the product is also life-threatening. Therefore, these two extreme requirements have led to the production process of the entire industry to be highly rigorous and the result of repeated demonstrations and experiments. This requires time and a starting point for conservatism and innovation. For example, there are often new car phone holders on Taobao, why don’t auto manufacturers launch them themselves? The cars are all built, can’t a plastic holder be made! Me and the German headquarters An engineer friend talked about this topic. He said that as a standard of safety angle, the bracket is directly in front of the driver and the co-pilot. In the event of a traffic accident, the position, shape, material and chemical composition of the bracket will affect the collision. What is the degree of harm caused by the personal safety of China? If there is no rigorous test result, this product is life-threatening to passengers. Therefore, this so-called convenience product will not be allowed to be produced in this brand of car products."
Seeing that my friends in science and technology nod frequently, I suddenly realized that this is consistent with my years of experience in this type of communication. This is the typical scene of the so-called chicken and duck talk. People in two industries, one is to iterate products and services on a weekly basis and the lowest cost is personal mental work, the other is to experiment thousands of times over the years and the cost remains high Group labor with high technical, hardware, software and safety requirements.
Therefore, my many years of experience and actual combat is to help both parties understand each other quickly, and then find the core of the problem, and then from the perspective of the core demands and interests of the two or more parties, and finally find one or more participants that can be balanced and accepted Win-win point. After that, the working team of related parties reached an agreement on the win-win point of the senior management, and gradually dismantled and divided
. I saw that technology companies were calmly thinking, and they did think more comprehensively about why the automotive industry was slow, so I also Continue to delve into this topic, saying: "Of course, friends from technology companies also have your observations and practices. Of course, from the perspective of the comfort and convenience of customers and users, the iteration and adaptability of the automotive industry is indeed relatively slow, because the technology industry The characteristics and attributes of the industrial system are very different, and the customer groups in the industrial age and the information intelligence age are different, which leads to the need for everyone to rearrange and combine the resources and goals of everyone. That is why we have the theme of today's conference, transformation! At the same time, innovation in the automotive industry has never stopped. Internet of vehicles, new energy, etc., but our work needs to be more agile.”
Then I turned my attention to the leaders of the automotive industry and said: “Of course our automotive industry also To speed up, after all, today's customers are attributed to the age of information intelligence, and there is no problem with regard to the safety of their products from the perspective of the industrial age. However, the attributes of customers have changed. What tests us is how to ensure safety while also being comfortable and convenient. My personal ten-year experience still feels that there is huge room for improvement and transformation in the organizational culture, way of thinking, and workflow, so safety and comfort can be improved simultaneously in the short term. So in the long run, the automotive industry Overall safety and comfortThe transformation and upgrading of the company is definitely an urgent test of survival! "Z1z
Everyone fell into deep thought and expressed their views. Transformation and upgrading are the directions that everyone highly agrees. After the meeting, many people also added WeChat to each other and became today's friends and partners. Cars and Information Intelligence Another small step forward in the integration of the world. My team and I will continue to work hard for this.
will also look at the “too slow” of the automotive industry from a historical perspective. The world’s first internal-combustion-powered car in 1886 Karl Benz (Karl Benz) was born, the wheel of history has been rolling forward for 134 years, the automobile industry has long been different. Although it has been labeled as "traditional industry", the reform of the automobile industry has never stopped , From the early use of car radios, automatic transmissions, and car air conditioners, to the later popularization of three-point seat belts, turbocharged engines, anti-lock braking systems, and airbags, to the use of navigators and ESP electronic stability control systems in automobiles Throughout the 20th century, the automobile industry has been at the forefront of technological innovation and manufacturing processes. After entering the 21st century, the automobile industry is no longer just facing competition in the same industry, but provocation and subversion from "barbaric laymen". Just two or three years ago, when talking about the various foreign disruptors in the auto industry, traditional car companies were still talking about tigers. But today, electrification, intelligence, sharing, and automation are the "four modernizations" of the auto industry. , Has been more or less integrated into the strategic planning of car companies, and has become an important bargaining chip for car companies to win the future. From the initial panic of being subverted, to gradually adapting and actively opening arms to embrace subversion and change, traditional car companies have A big step forward.
If the environmental and energy crisis forces the auto industry to transform and upgrade, then Internet technology and communication technology have given the auto industry wings to gallop, and the new generation of information technology and manufacturing are deeply integrated. Brings a brand-new survival mode, industrial form, business model and growth points to the automotive industry. Whether it is a traditional car company with a history of hundreds of years, or a new car-making force that "new born bulls are not afraid of tigers", they are all standing The same starting line.
as shown above, you can clearly see the complexity of the entire industrial chain of the automotive industry, it is not difficult to understand the important position of high safety requirements, a problem in one link cannot protect the life of customers , So that the terminal innovation speed of the automotive industry will not be as fast as that of technology companies. However, the automotive industry should not refuse to progress, because there is still a lot of room to improve efficiency. I will continue to update the public number later to talk with you. What can be done to make the car "fast"!
