September 11, Wuxi, China--On September 11, the 2017 World Internet of Things Exposition was held in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The state-level expo is known for having both the highest profile and the largest scale in the field of Internet of Things. The first enterprise shown during the “Industrial Internet Platform Development and Software Summit” was Haier. The company shared its experiences with the exploration of manufacturing models in the Internet of Things era, and publicly released the world's first Industrial Mass Customization White Paper (or "white paper"). Mainly led and compiled by Haier Industry Intelligence Research Institute, the white paper focuses on the industrial mass customization model developed by Haier China, solving the contradiction of combining mass production and individualized customization. Integration has been perfectly realized, fulfilling the closed value loop from product experience to user experience, converting people into lifetime users by giving them the best possible user experience. Additionally, it has carried out resources organization, promoted the transformation and improvement of supply chain enterprises, and has practically achieved originality, leadership and universality.
Li Peigen, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Liu Wenqiang, Vice President of the China Center for Information Industry Development; Salvo, Chairman of the Industrial Internet Consortium; Mr. Jan, Senior Project Manager of Germany-based Fraunhofer IPK; and Ma Li, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Talent Exchange Center (MIITEC)witnessed the publication of the white paper.
Originality: The world's first and only manufacturing model that puts users at its core.
At present, Internet of Things is regarded as another revolutionary wave of information technology, predated by the Internet. It has the potential to bring an industry value of 30 times larger than that of the Internet, and it would become the next information industry business with a value of over a trillion. During the current trend of “Internet of Everything” the market is undergoing an invisible change. The technologies and products led by enterprises are gradually losing the market. Users will be the ultimate and the most discerning referee, driving further product iterations and upgrades. The manufacturing industry, with its fundamental role as leader in the national economy, would become the most popular sector for Internet of Things applications. It would be the most common direction, for manufacturing industries both in China and across the world, to realize full integration of mass production and personal customization.
Under the conditions, Haier has released the “Industrial Mass Customization White Paper,” and developed the solution to industrial mass customization, in order to put users at the core of the entire manufacturing process. The white paper proposes that, in the industrial mass customization model, one must “create active users” to achieve a closed value loop from product experience to user experience. This turns production chains to the user base and helps to collect feedback from user groups and provide it to the production chains. In order to provide a “user closed-loop,” production needs to change and put users at the core of the business, and collect feedback from users to guide the behavior of enterprises. The concept of user-driven business is the inherent cause of disruptive changes in industrial mass customization.
Leadership: Industrial mass customization is the future paradigm of global manufacturing.
In 1970, American futurist Alvin Toffler, in his book “Future Shock,” presented an idea for a new production method: Provide products and services to meet customers’ specific requirements, with similar cost in terms of money and time as those of standard, large production. In 1987, Stan Davis called it “mass customization” for the first time in “Future Perfect”. However, the type of mass customization they presented was an enterprise-centric model aiming at strengthening the strategic advantages and economic value of enterprises. Haier’s release of their recent white paper means that the company has redefined the industrial mass customization model that strives to create user value and achieve co-creation, as well as a win-win situation for all parties involved in the value chain.
The white paper attests that industrial mass customization has made disruptive changes to the traditional production method. The essence of the new model is to re-construct the current model of user requirements and product creation. It is not a matter of simply connecting devices, provide factory operations, or helping to reach deals in a cut-off manner, nor is it a matter of simple software upgrades. The goal is to achieve the best user experience throughout the entire process, from start all the way through to the experience of customization, converting people into lifetime users by giving them the best possible user experience.
Universality: Providing implementation standards and guidelines for global enterprises, on exploring the transformation of smart manufacturing.
The ultimate goal for “Made in China 2025” is to achieve reformation of the supply side. This must be done in order to realize China’s transformation from a “big manufacturing nation" to a “powerful manufacturing nation,” which will require the achievement of balance between supply and demand. From a global perspective, Industry 4.0 which originates from Germany has also gradually become more user-centric. At this year's HANNOVER MESSE, Dr. Kuhn from the German National Academy of Science and Engineering said that Germany has begun to explore putting users at the core of the manufacturing system. Dr. Kuhn, who is the director of Fraunhofer Institute, also believes that the future development of Industry 4.0 centers around user interaction and participation. Monet of Siemens Group said that without the participation of users, industrial production is meaningless. The model of industrial mass customization, presented by Haier, centers around users from the demand side. The goal is to gather the world's most advanced technologies and applications, achieve cross-industry applications, help the manufacturing industry and even the entire national industry to complete the upgrade of smart manufacturing.
The industrial mass customization model puts users at the core with users participating in the entire process, and strives to realize full integration of production and consumption. It is an innovative manufacturing model in the Internet of Things era. Driven by users, it is a disruptive change to the traditional production model. The emergence of industrial mass customization will create a globally leading IoT manufacturing model to promote the transformation and upgrade of smart production for Chinese enterprises. It provides guidelines for most Chinese enterprises that are in the progressing of transformation.
