sky high
Scientists from the Institute for Integrated Quality Design at the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz, in cooperation with Quality Austria, as part of the "Quality 2030" study, determined how the concept of quality will change in the next ten years. Sustainability is an important trend. Ten well-known companies from industry also participated in this project, including Lenzing, BWT, Infineon Austria and KEBA.
“Quality Austria has always been a pioneer in the area of quality. That is why it was so exciting for us to use a scientifically sound study to explore the quality requirements of 2030 today, ”explains Anni Koubek, Innovation manager and authorized officer at Quality Austria. For more than a year and a half, scientists from the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz had commissioned Quality Austria to analyze trend reports for the "Quality 2030" study, organized workshops with well-known companies and interviewed futurologists. In an open foresight approach, both B2B and B2C companies of different sizes and industries were deliberately integrated. Because when you talk about trends, they are so big that they affect everyone. The following eight trends have emerged:
Simplicity: Intuitive operation must be enforced
Buying decisions are made faster and faster. The attention span of customers on the Internet is correspondingly short. “The future is therefore simple, convenient and straightforward. If a company does not meet these customer expectations, it will soon be out of the market, ”outlines the project manager of the study, Melanie Wiener from the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU). Because in online business, competition is often just a click away. Large retail groups in particular have raised the bar for everyone else with intuitive operation or one-click orders.
Sustainability: Europe has more raw materials than expected
While in the last few years even the batteries of many cell phones have been installed so quickly that they could not be changed by the user, the trend in the future will be towards the circular economy. To do this, all possible products must be designed during development so that they can be easily upgraded or repaired. Furthermore, at the end of the product life cycle, materials should be recoverable and recyclable in the highest possible quality. "Europe is actually a resource-poor continent, but if you look at the building materials that are 'stored' in our buildings for reuse, we are actually a resource-rich continent," explains the board of the Institute for Integrated Quality Design and academic director of the study, Prof. Erik Hansen.
Meaningfulness: Companies also have to live their values
Greenwashing will be more difficult for companies in the future. Corporations where the product quality fits, but who only set their own values and do not live, can expect a boycott of consumers. "Trust and transparency are values that will be incorporated into the concept of quality even more in the future," the experts explain.
Digitization: algorithms could make decisions
Similar to autonomous driving, digitization could go so far in the future that corporate decisions are based on “big data”. "Who says that a clever algorithm is no better than a strategist," was one of the study 's sparring partners as a provocative thesis.
Certifications: Consumers want independent exams
Consumers are becoming more critical of influencers, even if they should have thousands of followers. Young people are increasingly realizing that social media stars are often paid for when they advertise products on YouTube or other platforms. “You don't like to trust someone who's bought. Most people prefer it to be checked by an independent institution and the quality to be confirmed by means of certification, ”says Wiener. There is a desire on the part of companies to search through the certification jungle, as the number of standards is increasing.
Customization: Data collections will continue to grow
The high consumer demand for standardized mass products of the past decades is increasingly giving way to a desire for tailor-made goods and services. However, individualization should lead to a further increase in data collections and the associated data protection issues.
Quality contradiction: Products have to be launched quickly
Consumers are demanding the latest products at ever shorter intervals. In some areas, therefore, speed and innovative power already count for more than XNUMX percent freedom from errors, because the companies hope that this pioneering strategy will give them a competitive advantage. "The higher the software share of a product, the faster it is brought to the market because any defects can also be remedied by means of an update," Wiener says, explaining this contradiction in quality.
Agility: dispose of hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures
The organizational structures in Austrian companies are often very hierarchical and bureaucratic. A typical organization chart consists of around five levels. In order to survive in the fast-moving times, companies have to become more agile. A project participant in his company has completely abolished the management hierarchy. Instead, employees are assigned roles within their project teams. This means more freedom for those affected, but also more responsibility for their own actions.
Conclusion
"As the study results show, there is a clear trend development from 'Small-Q', which is only about whether all product requirements are met, towards a 'Big-Q'. This means that the concept of quality is becoming ever broader, ”Wiener explains. "This development also means that companies that want to continue to be successful in the future do not have to focus quality on the customer alone, but on the relevant stakeholders or stakeholders," is Hansen's conclusion.
About the Study
Experts and visionaries from various domestic organizations started the "Quality 2018" project in June 2030 with the aim of identifying developments that will influence future quality requirements. In addition to Quality Austria, which commissioned the study at the Institute for Integrated Quality Design at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, the following companies were also involved in the study: AVL LIST, BWT, Erdal, Infineon, the Geriatric Health Centers of the City of Graz, Green Earth, KEBA, neoom group, Lenzing, TGW.
Image: Melanie Wiener, Director of Studies “Quality 2030”, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) © Christoph Landershammer
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