Teka Group

Juan Rico holds a degree in Telecommunication Degree and a Master degree in Communication in Mobile Networks and ICT both from the University of Cantabria. During the last 15 years he has been involved in the development of M2M and IoT technologies covering multiple layers of the communication stack and industry verticals, but with a strong involvement in Smart Cities, Smart Home and Energy. He has complemented his technical background with business and leadership competencies from Georgia Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School. In his career he has worked at the University of Cantabria, the IoT Spin off TST, Atos, and Teka group keeping fully involved in cutting-edge innovation to develop IoT products and services. He is co-author of several book chapters and has written more than 20 papers published in international.

I oT has transformed product conception. Connectivity has brought new challenges and opportunities for connected consumer goods, moreover, the maturation of digital technologies offers a whole new set of tools to build these solutions (connected products and their services) in a more efficient, secure, and reliable way.

Today, IoT is just part of this picture, cloud, digital twins and AI are shaping the future of connected products. Under this new paradigm, there are multiple layers that must be revisited to harmonize design, production, operation and service delivery.

Two main assets are driving the product re-design phase; data and electronics. The first informs not only about the products’ performance, but also about how consumers interact with them. An in-depth analysis of this information delivers key insights that can be translated into product optimization, cost savings, and significant reduction of consumers’ friction. For home appliances with multiple functions, it is possible to measure which of the features are relevant and which are accessory, identifying how much, and when consumers use them. Therefore, connected products nurture digital transformation towards data driven decision making. The second asset is electronics, the capabilities of hardware platforms grows at a incredibly high rate and this opportunity has to be crystallized either in terms of cost saving, less electronics to do the same job, or as an improvement in product features and services derived.

The product re-design takes hardware to a whole new level both for the manufacturing and the operation. However, the biggest opportunity comes with the connectivity and the digital part of the products. Most of the solutions offers only remote control (to consumers) and data collection (for manufacturers). The paradigm evolves in this second evolution and the success will be determined by the ability to create simple and personalized experiences. Balancing product customization and product manufacturing forces digital solution to step forward to provide each consumer a unique experience. Furthermore, strength the digital solutions helps to properly size development and support teams to keep products up to date in terms of technology, but also dynamically introduce new features exploiting agility. Finally, as one of the key lessons learned, the product development compass guide the growth following ease of use, and progressive introduction to the product complexity, as main principles.

  ​Therefore, connected products nurture digital transformation towards data driven decision making   

The global home consumer goods market is being more and more segmented, and niche product creation is a successful strategy for many brands. The ability to adapt the offering to the new paradigm without penalizing production or catalogue complexity, creates a huge impact on market acceptance and success. Additionally, new generations are willing to participate in new business models for which product adaptation is key (owning models, sharing or as a service). Thus, the line between the hardware and the services disappears and requires a new relationship supporting, consumers and all the stakeholders in this new ecosystem. Moreover, these scenarios different from the traditional owning one, requires an extra effort to keep trust and transparency as a core component acting as a booster for the new economy. But this is not only important for new business models, but also for improving accessibility to connected products.

In summary, the evolution of home connected consumer goods will bring more competitive personalized products with customized experiences serving effectively to multiple demographic groups both in terms of needs and preferred business models.