Designing Prosperity Through New Technologies
It is my pleasure to be here with you today to discuss. Designing. Fashions, future. But. Before I begin I want to answer a very basic question. Why. Does, fashion, matter, the. Theme of this conference is, to, explore, the ways in which knowledge, and, technology, will. Help create. Prosperity. For, Humanity, I am, sure when most of you are thinking about this topic the. Idea. Of fashion is not the, first thing that comes to your mind however. I, want to put it to you that fashion, is in fact a very important, industry, first. Of all it. Is the second. Largest consumer, good, industry, in the world. Following. Only packaged, food and in. 2019. It will reach, 1.8. Trillion. US dollars in, sales this. Represents. 50%, growth, since a year 2005. So, we're talking about an important, industry. Fashion. Is also about. Commercializing. The conceptual. The. Creative. The customized. Fashion. Has a very, rapid. Product, lifecycle. These. Are elements, that we see businesses. Across, many, different industries, trying. To adopt and put, into their own offer, so. I suggest. To you that fashion, is in fact, an industry, that, many people can learn from. But. In the context. Of our theme, at this forum. Fashion. Is most important. Because, the, story, of fashion, and, technology. And people. Has, been deeply. Intertwined, with. The idea, of, industrialization. From. The first, industrialization. Industrial. Revolution certainly. Through to, the one that we are at the beginning of now. Some, of you might recognize this, image this, was a machine. That, made. Thread. From cotton and. It's an image that we often, see when. We are talking about the, origins. Of mechanized. Manufacturing. This. Just goes to show how important. The textile, and apparel manufacturing. Industry, has been for. Countries, that are entering. Industrialization. Countries. That have large, access, to. Unskilled. Labor that. Are trying, to lift a population. Out of, poverty, and establish. Working in middle class this. Is, unfortunately. Also. An, all-too-familiar image. Some of you might recognize this, it's, a photo from, an apparel. Factory. Called Rana Plaza that. Collapsed, in, 2013. Killing. Over, 1200. People, and, injuring, another. 2500. Unfortunately. This, is not the only incidents. Like this in fact, if you go back through, history, in. All of the countries, that were engaged, in apparel. And textile, manufacturing. You, see the, proliferation, of, human. Exploitation, poor. Working, conditions, this. Is because. Countries. Entering. Industrialization. Don't. Yet have firm. Labor laws or. Regulations. That, protect the. Rights of workers so. Therefore. We have had also. All of these hundreds, of years a history. Of exploitation. So. Why do it why, do countries get, involved, well. In the, end economists. And policy, makers have decided, that. The. The. Movement, of people and the creation, of wealth did.
In Fact lead, to some, prosperity. We. All know the role the very important, rule that apparel. And textile manufacturing. Has for example played. In the development of China which, remains, today the world's largest apparel. Export, manufacturer. Export. Sporter. Okay. So if the math so far is making, some sense okay, there's, some hardship, but it leads to prosperity. Another. Thing happened at the turn of this century which. Really created. Some more havoc, which is the rise of what we call fast fashion. Fast. Fashion is, now the largest. Category. From a unit perspective. Of what is produced in the apparel industry it. Is low-cost. Garments. That, are designed to be used, only for a short time, and then, disposed, this. As you can imagine has. Done nothing to, help the, exploitative. Working, conditions, a were, close across the world in the industry, and, another. Thing has happened because, of this need, for, speed, there. Has been a return, to. Proximity. Sourcing. Or. Developing. Manufacturing. Facilities. Closer. To, where, customers. Actually, are. What. Has, happened, since is, the. Return, of sweatshop. Conditions, in. Developed. Nations these. Are headlines, from 2016. 2018 2019. The, return. Of sweatshops, in the u.s. in, Italy, in the UK. So. Then we ask ourselves what. Happened, to this prosperity, was it worth it where. Is this cycle taking us. Can. We, figure, out a way in this, new industrial. Revolution. To. Continue, the importance, and the value that, is derived from our industry but. Somehow. Alleviates. The exploitation. Towards. Greater prosperity. So. Let's, look at what the new industrial revolution means. For fashion, like. Many other industries. Our, smart. Factories of, the future will. Be driven by, AI. Big. Data. Robotics. 3d. Printing. Digital. Textile. Printing, 3d, manufacturing. During additive manufacturing, these. Are all all. Of, course in the context, of the IOT, so. These, are, definitely. Steps that are going to move us towards, automation, to. Understand. Best. Or. Easiest in, the time that we have what. This, new kind of, manufacturing.
Is Going to look like it's. Easy to look at Amazon. Who. Got Amazon, the giant US retailer. In, 2017. Was awarded, a patent, for. What they called on-demand. Apparel. Manufacturing. Facility, so. What, happens, in this facility. Customers. Place orders. And, from that, point the. Pattern. Or the, two-dimensional. Representation. Of the garment, is created. Placed. Printed. Onto a fabric, which. Then goes through a, completely. Automated. Cutting process. The. GAR the patterns are placed and cut and, then, a robotic, arm, picks. Up the, pieces of. Cut, fabric and, places. It onto a. Conveyor, belt you. Can see that throughout this entire process, there, are cameras, that are watching. Looking. For any mistakes, or, fabric, bunching. Making. Sure that anything, that is printed, incorrectly, is removed, if, required. Calling, for assistance, human, intervention, but, once it makes it onto the conveyor belt. The. Cut, pieces are, distributed. For, assembly. Either. By. Robotic. Sewing, machines or by, humans, who will do the assembly I want. To take a minute and just, emphasize. This last point. Automation. In manufacturing is. Not a shock to any of you for many different fields, but in, fashion. It was, particularly. Difficult because. The. Sewing, of fabric, required, a, human, dexterity. That until. The moment, was, not yet possible, through, robots, but, several, companies, including. Subo or, soft automation. In the US or u ho and Japan have, now really. Pushed, forward. This, robotic. Sewing. Machine and it, is actually, now capable. Through. Vacuum technology. And. Robotic. Arms, to, accurately. So many. Many different, kinds of basic fabric and no. Surprise, it's, doing, it faster, than humans. So. What does this mean we. Finally, can. Conceive. Of, an. Industry, that, will. Be. Not. Only automated. And networked throughout, but. Will help reduce. Wastage. Giving. Constant. Real-time, upgraded, data throughout, the system and do, a lot to. Alleviate. Our carbon. Footprint, but, most importantly. Finally. After almost. 200, years of, the industry. That has, been built on the back of worker, exploitation. We. Can see that, we are moving forward. Towards. The direction of prosperity. Which. Is is, an incredible. Achievement. It's. Important, to say that this, automation, is going to of, course. Although, alleviating. The kind of poor working, conditions for, so many people it, will lead to its own problems. Economists. And, policy, makers in countries. That are yet, to enter. Industrialization. Will. Have to find other ways, when. Cheap. Labor for. The manufacturing. Of textiles, and apparel are, no, longer needed, right, when that workforce, is no longer what's. Going to create the value this. Is still, and and what economists, and policymakers will, come up with this is still a big open question right. But there, is no argument that. Finally. After, this long history of. Both. Industrialization. And value. Generation, in. This new industrial age, we, hope to finally, eliminate a, lot of the, exploitation, that has been happening around the world and, move. Us all towards, greater, prosperity. Thank. You very much. So. Let's, talk about how, do we create prosperity. For. All of us right when. You look at the, prosperity. Any. Business, environment. That. Is looking for prosperity, we, cannot. Ignore. Design. And, technology. I want to take you back a little bit to the Industrial, Revolution days. Where. We. Have seen the large companies, you, name it right, IBM. Siemens, and words they. All did. What was known as the core. R&D. So. What do you mean by R&D, they were doing the research and development, in.
The Process, they, were also inventing. New products. And services and, the. New products, and services were. Then offered, to all of us as consumers. Whether. We like the, product or not we. Have to take that product if. You don't like the product find. Another company so the companies used to differentiate, in terms, of doing, special, things that the other competition. Was not doing so we have to choose between a or Z or whichever. Product that we need to choose now. Nobody. Bother about the user in those days because they spend a lot of their money to find out what, product. They can produce with their engineers, with their scientists with their chemistry, and all of those but, subsequently. Again. Fast-forward, to the current days maybe 15, years or so now. It's a reversal, process people. Engage. Research, companies, they go to design, research people they, ask them what. Do you want what. Do you like to have in the product we are thinking of something we don't know it's kind of a. Very loosey-goosey, but, you. Tell me what you want we can quickly change it now, the. Whole paradigm. Has shifted into. Focusing. On all of us who are users and the company started, producing the product, after, they almost nailed. What. Is the feature set that is needed by the potential, users they also asked how much would you think you will pay, would, you buy how many units should you buy all of these the market research and the design research companies, started, working together so, this reversal. Of the process, has. Brought the significance. Of design, in our lives and those. Companies that fail, to pay, attention to the aspect, of knowing, what the consumer, want they, were on the decline I'm, going to give you a couple of examples in, the, u.s. we have a departmental. Store called, target and target. Is there in almost any and every city in the US and, they were declining, in their business so in 1999. About, 20 years ago they, hired, Michael, Graves was one of the famous, designers, at that time and, Michael. Came up with the strategy. Designed. For all and. Also high-low so. They came up with the for the fashion as well as for the simple household goods if, I just bind some coffee mugs or a pan. Or a pot but. They brought in some colors, and some cool shapes. And the, business started going, the prosperity, started, coming in for Target and. Today. In nineteen, to 2019. Target. Is celebrating, 20 years of this great, partnership. That they have with Michael, Graves even though Michael Graves is no longer there but his legacy, of what. He brought he's still alive another, example, another, Aang. Frank. Yang not, the. Yahoo founder. Not the Jerry Yang but, he also from Taiwan in, the, year 2000, he, had. A singular, mission he started a company called simple. Human, how. Many of your designers, here. So. He can't started a company called simple, human with. A singular, mission of. Designing, a very. Functional, and. Good-looking. Trashcan. What. Was that a trash can so. In the last 18, years they, grew to become one of the most sought-after. Trash. Camps. It's. Very hard to believe, the. Trash can that we've always wanted to keep under the counter, now, we are very happy to keep on the top there's. Been the technology, he's. Been involved you go near it it opens out you. Don't have to press the in or lever with, your foot it, understands. That you need to throw something so this is where the trash cans have, moved from a very dirty you, want to hide behind your counters. To, keep it right in the kitchen. Where, people can see the beauty of this product today, trash. Cans by. Simple human there are other companies similar, they, are selling. At. $300. Plus, so. Nobody. Would spend, $300. When I first moved in 1989. We wouldn't spend more than two or three dollars for a trash can because it's, a trash can so, today we are moved from that time to, spending about $300, and proudly, showing, into your social media saying look what I got you know it's a simple human that's. What we have actually become, and the product is become, a very fantastic, product so. Rest, is history, in the last year they made 230, million dollars, worth, of sales in, trash can and other household, products. Another. Example, not, in the kitchen where PepsiCo. All of us know PepsiCo, the beverage Pepsi, in. 2010-11. Company. Was not doing very well against his archrival coke, so. Indra. Nui who was then see what at that time among. Many things that she was doing one.
Of The things she did was she. Gave a camera, and, an. Empty. Album. To. Her direct reports and told. Them please. Go and find out. If. We can get me good. Pictures, of what, you think has good design it's, a simple task the, VP's we say like wow no problem I can go and please, my boss six. Weeks later. They, could not produce anything. Worthwhile, that. Was called. A good design so. Therefore, she realized, that you know it's very important, for the company if, they needed to fast forward they, needed to hire a designer. Subsequently. After a lot of search the high-end model porcini who was actually back then at 3m, and then. Came the products which are aspire and a few products. Which are very specifically. Targeted, to, women's, habits. Of snacking, I mean it's a long long story it's, covered in the Harvard Business Review in. The interest, of time I'll just keep it short so, that was one of the examples where she understood. Design. Is not changing, the color from red to pink. You know if it is women we all have a very narrow. Feeling, of design if you design anything in. A pink color that could be addressed to women, she. Said no that's not what we want don't suggest me that let's put this pink in this package and so therefore it will be for women she. Understood, that design. Actually, means. Understanding. The, end user so, they're therefore, she went and talked and got the products very, good so what, this. Proves us is today. Design, has come to live with us. Design. Is in our day-to-day lives we. Love the aspect of color shape. Texture. Dexterity. Whatever we talked about all, of that is coming into our lives which, we cannot, avoid. There are many more examples for how the design, has helped the businesses, therefore. It has become, inseparable. Design. Plus technology. So. That's what you know we we talk about in bringing, the prosperity to see other. Aspect, in the Silicon Valley in the last 10 years or so almost. 25. Companies have been formed, those. Guys are actually. Designers. They, sold their companies successfully to, big companies like Google, or Facebook it's it's. Also very history I want. To actually make a very risky, prediction. We. Are going to see the. Apps, which, all of us have on our cell phones is going, to disappear. Okay. It's. Going to disappear at some point in time in future, people. Can ask me but. It didn't disappear but not in the current form of usage, it's, going to disappear because, we. Are being surrounded, by the, Wyss enable, and AI enabled, chat, BOTS, so. We are going to be surrounded by these artificial. Intelligence, leading. Us to the question are. We going, to design for. The artificial, intelligence or they, are going to design for us it's an interesting topic which we will find out one. Last thing. All. Of these things whale does the designers, go, where. Are we going to go because designers, today, or, in. A, excellent. Situation. At the, same time they are also in a bad situation because. Designers. Now. Have to learn. On. An everyday, basis. Technologies. No, longer they are going to do only design they are going to learn how to merge, the, technology, together, therefore. They. Can produce winning. Recipes, products. That can being prosperity, to to the companies and, prosperity. To the users we are buying those products, and benefiting, from an, overall aspect, of user, experience, so designers, are in a very tough job the. Significance. Of design has also created problem. For design studios, like mine you know blue Miam and similar, studios because. Companies. Are now hiring, the good news is companies, are hiring designers and, the bad news is the, studios are not getting the same amount of business therefore, they, are looking for alternatives. This also explains, why in, the last few years some of you may be from, Accenture or. You. Know other similar consulting. Companies they, are acquiring the design companies, because, the Design Thinking has, been the, main value, of the, design studios, but financially. They are not able to sustain because. They are not getting, enough business from, the outsourced, business, which the companies used to do so, I think this this. Is the with, this I want to actually conclude, saying. That the. In the, knowledge. Revolution Fido, which is the conference that we are all doing today is. Actually bringing the right amount of Technology, and design. And, the, last but, the most important, piece the, user experience, what, we want is what we are going to make the technology, and design come together so. That it's a prosperity, for all of us thank. You. The. World knowledge forum.
2020-04-02 13:36
