今年4月，SAE 2017全球汽車年會(huì) 將在美國(guó)底特律拉開帷幕。期間，麥格納國(guó)際（Magna International）的首席技術(shù)官 Swamy Kotagiri將在“領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人峰會(huì)”圓桌討論環(huán)節(jié)，探討如何培養(yǎng)一種結(jié)構(gòu)性創(chuàng)新公司文化。在麥格納最近舉辦的年度創(chuàng)新大獎(jiǎng)活動(dòng)中，Kotagiri在其位于密歇根州特洛伊市的辦公室中接受了《汽車工程國(guó)際（AEI）》的采訪，分享了自己有關(guān)創(chuàng)新與顛覆的看法。
SAE：在創(chuàng)新文化中，我們似乎必須接受失敗的可能性，是這樣嗎？
Kotagiri：對(duì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的可接受程度取決于你所處的研發(fā)階段，如果已經(jīng)在原型制造上花了大把的時(shí)間和金錢，那我就一定會(huì)開始狠抓規(guī)范，控制失敗的可能性，這就是我界定風(fēng)險(xiǎn)高低的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。按照我的理解，研發(fā)中70-80%的精力均應(yīng)放在我們最擅長(zhǎng)的領(lǐng)域，著重于從不同方面實(shí)現(xiàn)優(yōu)化，剩余20-30%的精力才應(yīng)用來嘗試顛覆當(dāng)今的現(xiàn)有技術(shù)或追求突破性進(jìn)展。目前，我們公司有3到4個(gè)這樣的項(xiàng)目。
SAE：內(nèi)部創(chuàng)新研發(fā)、進(jìn)行外部合作，又或者是直接收購(gòu)一家創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，你們?nèi)绾芜x擇的？
Kotagiri：有很多種模式可供選擇。首先，我們可以尋求領(lǐng)域內(nèi)的知名研究機(jī)構(gòu)或大學(xué)，與他們展開合作，大多是完成一些“基礎(chǔ)科學(xué)”方面的研究。如果能夠順利通過這個(gè)階段，我們通常會(huì)把項(xiàng)目拿回公司（麥格納），然后進(jìn)行應(yīng)用程序方面的開發(fā)工作。
此外，我們還會(huì)進(jìn)行一些特定應(yīng)用技術(shù)的研發(fā)，比如半導(dǎo)體、光學(xué)成像系統(tǒng)、雷達(dá)、超聲波雷達(dá)，甚至一些材料等。這類技術(shù)的研發(fā)通常需要整個(gè)聯(lián)盟的參與，我們必須開發(fā)出一個(gè)適用于汽車領(lǐng)域的平臺(tái)，這個(gè)平臺(tái)對(duì)安全性和可靠性的要求通常會(huì)更加嚴(yán)格。這樣一來，我們的合作伙伴將有機(jī)會(huì)進(jìn)入市場(chǎng)，而我們則將有機(jī)會(huì)占領(lǐng)行業(yè)領(lǐng)先位置。
舉例而言，某些材料能夠感知溫度，那我們可以把這種材料用作汽車座椅織物嗎？3D打印技術(shù)的出現(xiàn)為加工領(lǐng)域創(chuàng)造了無窮的可能性，很多我們過去沒法高效制造的零部件現(xiàn)在都可以直接打印。但我們并不需要擁有3D打印技術(shù)，而只要有3D打印機(jī)及其功能就可以了。我認(rèn)為，這些合作并不是一種選擇，而是一種“必須”。
SAE：“放出去”的決定會(huì)讓您夜不能寐嗎？
Kotagiri：這讓我很感興趣。我們認(rèn)為創(chuàng)業(yè)公司反應(yīng)非常靈敏。實(shí)際上，創(chuàng)業(yè)公司是將一批非常才華橫溢的員工匯集在一個(gè)脫離大型組織架構(gòu)的環(huán)境之下，然后以一種非常高效的方式工作，這就是關(guān)鍵。如果我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一項(xiàng)有用的技術(shù)，那我們就可以與創(chuàng)業(yè)公司合作使用這種技術(shù)，但并不一定非要把這種技術(shù)拿過來為我所有。創(chuàng)業(yè)公司懂原理、懂技術(shù)，但卻缺少汽車背景去預(yù)測(cè)行業(yè)在未來5年后的需求。當(dāng)然，他們也沒必要摻和進(jìn)來，為設(shè)計(jì)一款滿足2019年生產(chǎn)目標(biāo)的原型而投入大量精力。很多創(chuàng)業(yè)企業(yè)并不這樣想，但他們真的沒必要浪費(fèi)2年時(shí)間去搞一個(gè)什么假設(shè)。
與創(chuàng)業(yè)公司合作真的非常有用，方式也多種多樣，比如進(jìn)行直接投資、建立合作伙伴關(guān)系、形成合作聯(lián)盟等，甚至有些公司也會(huì)隨著時(shí)間的推移而成為麥格納的一部分。有時(shí)候，我們也不想限制這些創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的發(fā)展，只讓麥格納獨(dú)享他們的技術(shù)。
SAE：麥格納是一家擁有顛覆性技術(shù)的公司嗎？
Kotagiri：我們有一些工藝和產(chǎn)品都是市場(chǎng)同類中的首創(chuàng)，比如液壓成型、座椅泡沫和Stow n’Go座椅概念等。對(duì)我們來說，最重要的是要保持開放的心態(tài)，迎接未來5到10年的各種可能性。此外，顛覆性并不僅僅體現(xiàn)在產(chǎn)品上，有時(shí)商業(yè)模型和交通運(yùn)輸?shù)亩x也可以很顛覆。我們必須充分理解這一點(diǎn)，并做好參與其中的準(zhǔn)備。在我看來，先于其他所有人滿足某種特定需求就是顛覆性的表現(xiàn)。
Swamy Kotagiri, Magna International’s Chief Technology Officer, will discuss how to foster an innovative organizational culture during a Leadership Summit roundtable, April 4 at the SAE WCX17 in Detroit. He spoke recently with Automotive Engineering on this topic at Magna’s Troy, MI, offices during the company's annual Innovation Awards activity.
Accepting the potential for failure seems inherent in an innovative culture, correct?
The acceptance for risk changes depending on what stages of R&D you are in. The rigor and discipline come after I have to spend a significant sum of money to make a prototype; that’s where I approach the threshold between low risk and higher risk. In my general terminology, 70-80% of it is more a step approach of what we know very well—optimizing the product in some way. The other 20-30% is disrupting something that exists today or making a quantum jump. I’d say we currently have three or four projects like that in corporate.
How do you choose between keeping innovation in house or partnering with an outsider—or maybe acquiring a start-up to do it?
There are various models we consider. One is, we can go to a research institute or university which is known in that field. We work with them on a defined package which usually is proving out the fundamental science. If we get past that phase, usually we bring it back in [to Magna] because then it’s application development.
Then there are certain technologies—semiconductors, optical imagers, radars, ultrasonics, even some materials—whose primary applications lie somewhere besides Automotive. In these it’s more of an alliance—we have to make such platforms applicable to Automotive regarding functional safety and reliability aspects that are usually far more stringent. This gives our partner a chance to enter a market and can offer us a chance to be first to market overall.
For example, certain materials can sense temperature—can I use them in a seat fabric? 3D printing has made a lot of things possible in tooling, making it extremely efficient to make a part which we couldn’t make before. We don’t have to own a piece of such enablers because we own the product and its functionality. I think these relationships are no longer a choice, but a ‘must’.
Do decisions to "go outside” keep you up at night?
It keeps me interested! But we believe the start-up ‘ecosystem’ is extremely agile and it gives an opportunity to get a group of really talented people to work in a system that is not driven by a large organization. That’s the key. So if we believe there is a technology that we need to drive, we’ll work with them [start-up] but we don’t necessarily need to own all of it. They bring the idea and fundamental science behind it, but they don’t have the automotive specification of what’s required five years from now. They don’t have to go through the ‘churn,’ come up with a prototype and hit a 2019 production target. A lot of start-ups can’t think that way. But they don’t have to waste two years of time working on an assumption, either.
It’s been really useful to work with start-ups—some are investments, some are partnerships, some are alliances and some are ‘scaled’ versions which over time become part of Magna. And we realize sometimes we don’t want to constrain them and make their technology exclusive to Magna.
Is Magna a disruptive-technology company?
We have processes and products—hydroforming, seat foams, the Stow n’ Go seating concept—that have been game-changers and first-to-market in automotive. The most important thing for us is to keep an open mind about what could happen in the next 5 to 10 years. There are disruptions that will come not only in product—some could also be business models about how mobility will be defined. We have to understand it and be ready to participate in it. Filling a need before anybody else does is, to me, being disruptive.
Author: Lindsay Brooke
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine
麥格納的Swamy Kotagiri認(rèn)為，與“創(chuàng)業(yè)公司”在創(chuàng)新技術(shù)方面展開合作有很多好處。
