Technology and innovation leaders square up to the challenges of the future and draw lessons from manufacturing on how to face them.

On 29 October the second meeting of the Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Innovation Council took place at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, near Coventry. The council was created earlier this year as a joint venture by Utility Week and Wipro, a global technology and consultancy firm, to help utility companies develop stronger innovation cultures and strategies as their landscape continues to transform.

A strong appetite had been expressed by council members, who are drawn from across the UK water and energy industries, to learn how other sectors are squaring up to their technology and innovation challenges, hence the decision to host this meeting at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), a well-known innovation hub for high value manufacturing.

The location proved a hit with attendees, who were thrilled by a tour of the facilities which showcased cutting edge “additive manufacturing technologies” (also known as 3D printing), automation and one-of-a-kind friction welding equipment. Of particular interest to the group was a three-fold process for part reconditioning, which can rebuild parts such as turbine blades to “good as new” at a third of the replacement cost.

Meanwhile, a virtual reality “cave” providing an “immersive” experience set minds racing about the possibilities this technology might hold for modelling infrastructure investments, reducing risk, communicating complex ideas to stakeholders, training, improving health and safety and much more.

It wasn’t only the manufacturing technologies that were of interest, however, but also the processes involved in bringing them to market and developing accompanying business models and services.

The MTC is part of a group of innovation centres collectively known as the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which was established in 2010 specifically to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies in areas where the UK has an opportunity to derive significant economic value.

The catapult centres are funded by the government, industry and the EU. They play a crucial role in supporting the commercialisation of ideas and technologies that can be transformative but are too expensive or labour-intensive for a single organisation to support. The catapult centres also exist beyond the world of manufacturing and, as of this year, include the Energy Systems Catapult.

Several attendees were much struck by this concept of collective responsibility for bridging the difficult transition of technologies from low technology readiness levels, through to market. However, they were also eager to gain new perspectives on the challenges organisations face in embedding innovation in day-to-day operations.

A presentation by Dr Hamid Mughal, director of manufacturing at Rolls-Royce, on this very topic was therefore warmly received.

Mughal’s presentation detailed the methodical approach Rolls-Royce has taken to creating a structure and culture for innovation. He explained how standardisation of processes can become the bedrock of innovation, providing a clear understanding of the status quo from which companies can move forward. He also emphasised how in innovative companies, managers and directors must embrace roles as innovation coaches, rather than being interventionist or dictatorial.

Insights, comment and interests from this meeting will be taken forward to the next meeting of the Technology and Innovation Council in January 2016.

Utilities blueprint

In an interactive workshop during the second half of the meeting, council members set out their expectations for what their business and industry will look like in ten years’ time.

These expectations will be used to establish the first Utility Week-Wipro Utilities Blueprint, a document that will be produced annually and will keep track of utilities’ evolving visions of the future. As time goes on, the intention is that the blueprint document will help to track progress towards achieving these visions, and to identify where and why expectations expressed in early iterations, have not been met.

Key points identified by council members In workshop groups

• The key characteristics their organisations will exhibit in 2025.

• What the management structure will look like in these organisations.

• What services they will offer.

• What technologies will enable them to offer these services.

• Which partners will help them to deliver these services.

• The first blueprint document will be published alongside an in-depth research report into the state of innovation in UK utilities in January 2016.

The Internet of Things

As well as exploring lessons from manufacturing, the council meeting also incorporated a focus on the Internet of Things and the relevance of this technology phenomenon to the rise of new utility business models.

A presentation from Guy Courtin of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research showed how this technology, which many associate with “blue-sky” thinking about the future, is being used today to enhance the performance of asset-heavy organisations around the world, and how some are also already using it to fundamentally change their business models.

Rolls-Royce is well known for having moved to a “power by the hour” service model rather than continuing to sell its engines as one-off units, enabled by embedded, connected technology in its assets. Courtin identified, however, that this model is being replicated widely as more and more firms seek to develop high value service models rather than delivering lower value one-off sales. One example he gave was of a US logistics crane company that is using sensors and data from intelligent assets to develop and service a model predicated on the number and duration of “lifts” it supplies.

Could such service models be achieved in the utilities sector? In many ways attendees agreed that this transformation could be close at hand given existing experience in the use of telemetry and sensors. However, questions remain around customer buy-in to service models as well as regulation and investor appetite for the associated impacts on risk.