LW-16-13 Time To Unleash Our Innovation Potential

Description:

A lot has been said about the state of our industry with respect to the processes for development of new engine test tools and lubricant specifications. Many industry stakeholders agree on the main points, namely the development time, cost, and complexity of the current system have escalated to a point where they are disproportional to the obtained end-user benefits. Important key players in our industry have stated that it is “Time for a Time-Out” and it is “Time to Change the Model”. Change, however, won’t happen in an industry with a very mature collection of stakeholder groups and well established processes, without clear benefits for all stakeholders. Why trade a system that we know works, for an unknown replacement system? The key is to understand first what we have gotten ourselves into as the drivers for the development of new specifications have evolved over time. The existing system has largely evolved from the continued addition of new requirements, tests, industry groups, etc. without any consideration as to the effect on complexity, cost, and timeliness. Next we need to take a closer look at how the current system falls short of the expectations of the various groups of stakeholders. And last, we need to jointly review and, where necessary, redesign the processes for developing new tests and new specifications. As we are working through this monumental task, we should take advantage of the opportunity and look for ways to maximize the proportion of our efforts and innovation potential that is focused on achieving performance improvements that are meaningful to engine builders and to the end-users, as well as delivering new tests and specifications in a timely manner. We can do this by removing as much of the complexity as we can, simplifying the processes, and incentivizing the generation of products that provide superior performance. With the right incentives in place we can drive the industry towards a place where we unleash the innovation potential, invent new chemistries and develop new additive solutions with performance attributes that will resonate with the user of our lubricants.