The Fuel for Innovation – Living the DT Mindset and Methods
Through different sessions and workshops in Singapore, Heidelberg, and Friedrichshafen, Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ innovation team learned about the three pillars of design-led innovation: people, process, and place. Next to assigning a dedicated team to the topic, it is important to involve the right people in projects, making use of diverse skills and backgrounds. Furthermore, the project team members and coaches to-be were introduced to the Design Thinking process and agile methodologies, changing fundamental work habits. The iterative and validating working style meant that Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ own customers were closely integrated into the lighthouse projects. The team also worked on defining the kind of corporate culture they needed to best support this new approach as well as a physical place to foster creativity and making it visible. Rolls-Royce Power Systems then decided to set up a first creative space in Singapore.
“Very eye-opening was that this new Design Thinking and Design Led Development approach was perceived differently. Especially for people with a traditional IT background, it was challenging to understand that new processes are not fully linear. They had to select and apply methods on a case by case decision to get the best result out of a planned workshop.”- Tobias Gollwitzer, SAP, Customer Design Engagement Lead
The first lighthouse project led by SAP coaches and the new Rolls-Royce Power Systems coaches shadowing them has been the development of a webshop for the company’s aftermarket sales that should run on SAP Hybris solutions. It was kicked off with a scoping workshop in Rolls-Royce Power Systems first creative space in Singapore, followed by research phases in Germany, the US, Turkey, and Hong Kong to understand the needs of the different customers, regional and cultural differences, requirements influencing the ordering process, as well as an understanding of the basic technical environment.
However, the journey has just started: As the pipeline massively increased, the team is looking to develop an integrated design system, further they also invest in the company growth according to the current demand. Rolls-Royce’s business unit Power Systems and SAP just recently launched two SAP Leonardo Innovation System projects to set a technical basis for their digital transformation and proof the implemented innovation methodology which shall lead to faster and better products. A sure thing is: The team will continue working on the innovation topic together, both growing from the collaboration and continuous learning.
“The results of the Design Led Development approach of our lighthouse project shows that we are on the right track as Digital Solutions department implementing the right methodological skills to ensure that the solutions we drive forward, hit the need of the real users.” – Felix Köhler, Head of Digital Products, RRPS
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About SAP Design AppHaus
The SAP Design AppHaus team collaborates with customers by focusing first on users and their experiences. We guide customers and SAP to apply design methodologies in daily business and establish a collaborative spirit while optimizing the usage of SAP solutions for the end user.
Our approach is grounded in fostering creativity in three key pillars: people, process, and place. We help organizations drive innovative cultures by designing and establishing processes that remove obstacles to creativity. We also support our customers through the creation of innovative spaces, which enable people to do their best work.
This focus has led to the successful design and implementation of 700 customer projects across a variety of industries.