When hardware innovation meets traditional supply chain

from 10 dimensions

I do product development background, the past many years have been doing some of the supply chain innovation, has now joined the tide of innovation, is doing a high-performance smart camera. From the perspective of intelligent hardware, or innovative hardware, I will share with you the smart hardware and the traditional supply chain from 10 dimensions.

1, the biggest feature of the supply chain is not innovation

When we make smart watches or smart gas alarms, there will be a lot more innovation. But the biggest feature of the supply chain is not innovation.

The supply chain has been changing very slowly over the years, its processes and products are improving, but the supply model has not changed and the service has been upgraded slowly. The reason is simple: the front end does not drive upstream innovation. Hardware supply chain, whether it is to do factories or distribution, including chips, it is difficult to persuade them to innovate, innovation requires motivation and support, if there is no hot things, this industry no one will innovate. Supply chain is now not, dare, not innovation.

2, change their own, not change the supply chain

In view of the above, when we do innovative products, we should adapt to the rhythm of the supply chain, do not want to change the supply chain. Can supply chain be flexible? It takes a lot of time, and it may not have anything to do with innovation.

Adapt to the rhythm of the supply chain means that it is slow and we are slow. It is important that we simplify the design of the product and consider some of the factors, difficulties and uncertainties of the supply chain at an early stage in order to adapt to the rhythm of the supply chain.

3, products do not excessive innovation

Now many intelligent hardware products appear "excessive design" problem. Some are the needs of users, others are intelligent and intelligent, innovative innovation.

This is the era of hardware innovation, but it must not be easy to do too much innovation. A product innovation too much will have problems, need to follow the supply chain innovation, it has its own upstream, this process will be very difficult. There are only a few giants in the world that can do supply chain innovation, and it can make other links follow their own, but the cost of paying is very expensive.

My experience is that a hardware product will face a huge challenge in the supply chain if there are more than 4 innovation points in the first issue. So I suggest that smart hardware entrepreneurs should start with a single point of innovation.

4, supply chain two kinds of genes: the service of large customers and the service of small customers

Supply chain is very fine, there are chips, foundry, program companies, channels and so on, a variety of roles for our creative people to focus on only one, that is the company is to serve the big customers or small customers?

Foxconn, for example, is sure to serve big clients, and smart hardware entrepreneurs are very cautious about not cooperating with him. Because on the one hand the large company process standardization, it is difficult to adapt to the hardware innovation to supply chain flexible demand; On the other hand, entrepreneurs may have a smaller voice in front of big companies, and they will pay higher costs. (Note: The former guest speaker Euribo CEO Wang Xiunghui mentioned that when he started his business to find Foxconn people did not care, but the Cayman CEO Wang Wang successful cooperation with Foxconn, if there is no Fuji Kontuman challenges may be greater, for this reason, Mr. Wang thanked Foxconn for his support. ）

Although big companies are willing to serve small customers because of the smart hardware trend, don't be credulous. If the property of a company is to serve a small company, which is our best partner, it will be easier for the entrepreneur to grow up with the entrepreneur.

5, to find out who is the first party

It is important to figure out who is party a. Even if you open your own factory you have orders, does not mean that you are party A, it is possible that your upstream is your party A, do mobile phones, and then the great if no one to supply you, you can not do it.

Supply key components, whether factory or supplier, must be your party A, it is stronger than you. If you offend it, the relationship is not good, you have no chance.

So stand in the supplier's perspective to see the problem. What's the problem with the supplier? He is thinking about whether the sale can be completed this month, how much money he earns, he won't think the same thing about you, so we have to see what other people think.

6, do not outsource the need for innovative content

Now many intelligent hardware entrepreneurs will outsource some things, but it is best not to look for innovative content, regardless of games, software, program development, outsourcing often have problems. Plan to make, I suggest not to outsource anything that requires innovation, the traditional company will only do familiar things, if the package to the partners, he will do? If some requirements are higher than the industry average, be careful, he probably won't.

So for the partner, whether he has done the same, similar things, has not been validated, which is a very important factor in outsourcing selection. If our innovation requires our partners to innovate and we need them to complete with us, chances of success will be much lower.

7. It is more important to cooperate with whom than with which company

For startups, the people who work with us are more important than the company, and many links do not depend on machines or programs, but on who to do something with. The company that cooperates is again ox, if the person that cooperates with you is not able to have no way.

For example, many factories in China must be able to do the same color as Apple, but this person is not known. It is important to find such a key person. Startups need to find some sensible people, employees, or partners by heart.

8, upstream of the start-up company is the best partner

Startups are best able to find upstream start-up companies, we have common attributes, such as our choice of a supply chain start-up company, he is a small company, to some innovative companies to provide some scrap. He did for more than 10 years, models, numbers, prices are clear, we find this with our common attributes of the company.

Able to start the company's innovative ability is stronger, at the same time, they must be very clear, very professional, otherwise it will not come out of the business.

9, do not push the responsibility to the supply chain

Many do product habits say supply chain problems. In fact, we should not push the problem to the supply chain, ultimately, it is our own problem. The problem with the supply chain is the result, not the cause. It is not the supply chain that leads to the product, but the design of the product that leads to problems with the supply chain.

Also do not put the responsibility to the engineer, do structural, process design and lack of innovation consciousness, this may take several years, just like the early internet very little innovation, now many people have a very strong sense of innovation. Supply chain-related engineer thinking is also more traditional, be patient and wait for these people to mature.

10, the management of inventory is the responsibility of the CEO

Managing inventory is a critical and painful process in making hardware products.

To do a certain scale of products, management inventory is very important things, there is no shortcut, only through the lesson. 0-1 of the stage is product grinding research and development, but 1-10-100 is the test of inventory management, tube good for the development of the business has a very large nature of help.

Summary: Supply chain difficulties will be met, for startups, there is no absolute method, only the comparative advantage

Supply chain difficulties will be met, China's supply chain manufacturing is very strong, but services, especially innovative support is poor. There is no other way, and it takes time to become mature.

There is no absolute good way for us to start a company, only relative advantage, we can run faster than others. The environment in Shenzhen and Beijing should be better than that of Silicon Valley because there are more resources here.

If you can better overcome these difficulties, after six months, a year of painful suffering, your opponents will encounter such problems. If you fail, others may fail, because the external resources you need are the same. As long as in the process of being hit constantly understand, practice, find suitable for their supply chain and management of supply chain methods, the relative advantages can be obvious.