Comment pouvez-vous utiliser le design thinking pour co-créer des solutions avec les fournisseurs ?

Co-creation is a collaborative process where multiple stakeholders, such as a company and its suppliers, work together to develop innovative solutions that meet the needs of all parties involved. It involves sharing ideas, knowledge, and resources to jointly create value.

In my experience, design thinking fosters co-creation with suppliers: 1) Joint Empathy Building: Work together to understand your customers' needs and challenges. 2)Ideation Workshops: Brainstorm collaboratively to generate innovative solutions. 3) Rapid Prototyping: Develop and test low-fidelity prototypes to refine solutions together. This collaborative approach leverages the expertise of both parties, leading to solutions that better meet customer needs and drive mutual success.

A cocriação pode ser vista como uma abordagem estratégica que transcende as fronteiras tradicionais entre empresas e fornecedores. Em vez de uma relação puramente transacional, onde os fornecedores apenas entregam produtos ou serviços, a cocriação promove uma colaboração mais profunda e significativa. Isso significa que as empresas não apenas se beneficiam dos produtos ou serviços dos fornecedores, mas também aproveitam seu conhecimento, expertise e perspectivas para cocriar soluções inovadoras. Essa abordagem não só fortalece os laços entre empresas e fornecedores, mas também pode levar a um desenvolvimento mais ágil, eficiente e adaptável de produtos e serviços que atendam melhor às necessidades dos clientes.

In my experience, design thinking unlocks powerful co-creation with suppliers: 1) Empathy Building: Conduct joint site visits or workshops to understand their challenges and capabilities 2) Ideation Together: Facilitate collaborative brainstorming to generate innovative solutions that address shared goals 3) Rapid Prototyping: Develop low-fidelity prototypes (mockups, simulations) to test and refine ideas quickly before full-scale implementation. 4) Iterative Improvement: Gather supplier feedback on prototypes and iterate based on their insights to ensure the final solution meets everyone's needs. This collaborative approach fosters stronger partnerships, leading to solutions that are more effective and sustainable.

Design thinking requires cooperative brainstorming, empathy, and iteration in order to co-create solutions with suppliers. To understand the demands and challenges of suppliers, start by promoting open channels of communication. Next, participate in group brainstorming sessions to produce creative ideas. Iterate via prototypes and feedback loops, involving suppliers all the way through the design process to guarantee a well-thought-out, mutually beneficial solution that takes into account the objectives and aspirations of both sides.

In my experience, design thinking excels in co-creation with suppliers for several reasons: 1) Empathy & Shared Vision: It fosters empathy for your customers and builds a shared vision with suppliers, ensuring solutions address real needs. 2) Creative Problem-Solving: The collaborative approach encourages innovative solutions by combining your expertise with the supplier's deep product knowledge. 3) Rapid Prototyping & Feedback: Design thinking allows for quick prototyping and iterative feedback, leading to solutions that meet both your needs and the supplier's capabilities. This collaborative approach fosters stronger supplier relationships and leads to the development of solutions that are both innovative and practical.

Design thinking is employed for co-creation because it is a human-centered approach that emphasizes deep understanding of user needs and desires. By applying design thinking to co-creation with suppliers, companies can ensure that the solutions developed not only meet their own needs but also those of the suppliers and, by extension, the end customers. This leads to more innovative and user-centered solutions.

Using design thinking for co-creation is essential due to its human-centered approach to solving complex problems. By emphasizing a deep understanding of end-user needs and desires, creative idea generation, and rapid prototyping of solutions, design thinking ensures that co-created solutions are truly user-centered, technically and financially feasible, and aligned with the strategic objectives of all parties involved.

Design thinking aligns closely with strategic sourcing by fostering a collaborative environment where suppliers are not just vendors but partners in innovation. The methodology's empathize phase is particularly crucial in sourcing, as understanding suppliers' capabilities and constraints can lead to more sustainable and efficient supply chains. By co-creating with suppliers, sourcing professionals can leverage their expertise to define problems more accurately and ideate more effectively, leading to prototypes and solutions that are practical and value-adding from both an operational and a supply chain perspective.

Sim, o Design Thinking pode ser uma ferramenta poderosa para aplicar cocriação em colaboração com fornecedores. Ao seguir suas cinco fases, você pode não só desenvolver soluções mais eficazes, mas também fortalecer a relação com seus parceiros ao envolvê-los no processo. A fase de empatia permite uma compreensão profunda dos desafios enfrentados pelos fornecedores, enquanto a prototipagem e testes facilitam a experimentação e o refinamento das soluções propostas, garantindo que elas atendam às necessidades de ambos os lados. Isso pode resultar em uma cadeia de suprimentos mais inovadora e eficiente.

Preparation for co-creation involves establishing a culture of collaboration and trust between the company and its suppliers. This may include setting clear objectives, identifying areas of common interest, and openly communicating expectations and limitations.

In my experience, preparing for co-creation with suppliers requires meticulous planning. Establish clear objectives and define the scope of collaboration, ensuring alignment on goals. Foster open communication channels and create a collaborative environment where ideas are shared and valued. Conduct thorough supplier assessments to identify partners with complementary capabilities and a willingness to innovate. Align incentives and define roles and responsibilities to ensure accountability and shared ownership. By laying this solid foundation, you set the stage for successful co-creation that drives mutual benefits and innovation.

Prepare for co-creation with suppliers by clearly defining objectives, selecting collaborators based on expertise, and fostering open communication channels. Establish a collaborative culture that values supplier contributions, implement technology solutions for efficient collaboration, and ensure clear agreements and resource support to facilitate a successful co-creation process. Regularly monitor progress, celebrate successes, and adapt strategies as needed to maintain a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with suppliers.

Preparação meticulosa é essencial antes de iniciar a cocriação com fornecedores. Isso inclui definir metas estratégicas, escopo e critérios do projeto, selecionar fornecedores adequados, estabelecer papéis e responsabilidades, criar um plano de comunicação e elaborar um acordo de cocriação detalhando aspectos como propriedade intelectual e confidencialidade. Também é crucial implementar um mecanismo de feedback e avaliação para garantir o sucesso e a eficácia da colaboração.

Prior to embarking on a co-creation initiative with suppliers, it's crucial to establish a solid foundation to ensure a fruitful collaboration. This preparation involves clearly defining the objectives and scope of the co-creation effort, identifying the right partners with the necessary capabilities, compatibility, and commitment, and selecting suitable collaboration platforms. By taking these proactive steps, organizations can foster a collaborative environment, leverage the expertise of suppliers effectively, and maximize the potential of co-creation to drive innovation and business success.

Incorporating empathy in strategic sourcing is pivotal for fostering supplier collaboration and innovation. By understanding suppliers' perspectives, sourcing professionals can identify inefficiencies in the supply chain and co-create more effective solutions. This approach not only addresses immediate operational challenges but also builds a foundation for long-term partnerships that can adapt to market changes and drive continuous improvement in raw material sourcing.

In my experience, supplier empathy builds stronger bonds: 1) Understand their challenges: See things from their perspective. What are their pain points? 2) Open communication: Listen actively and address their concerns. 3) Flexibility & Collaboration: Work together to find solutions that benefit both parties. 4) Timely Payments & Recognition: Value their time and effort. By fostering empathy, you build trust, improve communication, and create a win-win environment with your suppliers.

Empathizing with suppliers is a crucial aspect of strategic sourcing and co-creation as one cannot have a long term partnership with supplier if we do not know the challenges the supplier is facing. Human is a social animal and must develop a mutually beneficial environment to survive. Visiting the suppliers, keeping in touch with them as frequently as the environment demands, keeping supplier development workshops, and interviews to seek their ideas as to how they can grow and add value to us are a few ways one can empathize.

Na primeira fase do design thinking, é crucial cultivar empatia, buscando compreender as necessidades, motivações e desafios dos seus fornecedores, assim como sua perspectiva sobre o problema ou oportunidade que você está abordando. Para isso, você pode realizar entrevistas, pesquisas ou workshops com seus fornecedores para descobrir seus pontos problemáticos e aspirações. Além disso, observar seus processos de trabalho, ambientes e interações com clientes e partes interessadas pode fornecer insights valiosos. Por fim, criar personas, mapas de empatia ou mapas de jornada pode ajudar a sintetizar e visualizar os perfis, emoções e experiências dos seus fornecedores.

The key benefit by empathizing with the supplier is the possibility that the supplier comes forward with some new input coming from the sub-tier suppliers or other customers. It is very common that you are doing business with a supplier that also produces for other customers in a similar field. Creating an environment of trust and partnership can reveal new options that can be cross-leveraged. The caveat is that any proposed option might benefit the supplier more than you ;-)

Analyzing current procedures, performance indicators, and feedback in-depth is the first step towards defining an issue or opportunity with suppliers. Maintain open lines of communication with suppliers to learn about problems, discuss possible fixes, and set expectations. To effectively solve problems and promote continuous development, clearly define the opportunity or problem through data-driven approaches, cooperative discussions, and performance reviews.

In my experience, defining issues with suppliers requires a collaborative approach: 1) Joint Performance Reviews: Analyze data together to identify areas exceeding or falling below expectations. 2) Open Communication: Encourage open dialogue to understand their challenges and limitations. 3) Focus on Root Causes: Look beyond surface issues to identify underlying problems impacting performance. By working together, you can clearly define problems or opportunities for improvement, paving the way for solutions that benefit both parties.

In my experience, clearly defining the problem or opportunity is a critical step in the co-creation process. This involves a collaborative effort to ensure that both parties fully understand the issue at hand. By using design thinking techniques like brainstorming sessions and root cause analysis, you can jointly identify the key challenges and opportunities. This shared understanding forms the foundation for developing targeted and effective solutions that address the real needs of both parties.

Outro aspecto importante na fase de definição do design thinking é envolver todas as partes interessadas relevantes. Isso inclui não apenas membros da equipe de projeto, mas também usuários finais, clientes, stakeholders e outros envolvidos que possam oferecer perspectivas valiosas sobre o problema ou oportunidade em questão. Ao reunir uma variedade de pontos de vista e experiências, você pode garantir uma compreensão mais completa do problema e identificar soluções mais eficazes e centradas no usuário. Além disso, esse envolvimento promove um senso de propriedade compartilhada e aumenta a probabilidade de aceitação e sucesso das soluções propostas.

The second phase of design thinking, define, involves clearly articulating the problem or opportunity that needs to be addressed through collaborative innovation with suppliers. This shared understanding is crucial for aligning efforts and ensuring that the solutions generated are relevant and effective. To effectively define the problem or opportunity, engage in joint stakeholder workshops, conduct surveys and interviews, and analyze data to identify common themes and pain points. By collaboratively defining the challenge, both parties can focus their efforts on developing solutions that truly address the underlying issues.

In the ideation phase, it's crucial to foster an environment where suppliers feel comfortable sharing innovative ideas. Leveraging techniques like SCAMPER can help challenge existing assumptions and encourage creative thinking. It's also important to remember that while divergent thinking expands possibilities, convergent thinking is necessary to narrow down ideas to the most actionable ones. Tools like the impact-effort matrix can help prioritize ideas by balancing potential impact against the effort required, ensuring strategic alignment with sourcing objectives.

In my experience, successful supplier ideation hinges on collaboration: 1) Joint Workshops: Facilitate brainstorming sessions with your suppliers to leverage their expertise and generate innovative solutions. 2) Challenge Framing: Clearly define the problem or opportunity, allowing suppliers to focus their creative energy. 3) Data Sharing: Provide relevant data and insights to empower suppliers and foster a knowledge-sharing environment. 4) Incentivize Innovation: Consider offering rewards or recognition for the best supplier-generated ideas. By fostering open communication and collaboration, you can tap into the collective knowledge of your suppliers and unlock creative solutions that benefit everyone.

Ideation is where the creative process truly begins. I believe that bringing together diverse perspectives from both your team and your suppliers can lead to breakthrough ideas. Facilitating brainstorming sessions, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking, and fostering an open environment where all ideas are welcome are key to successful ideation. The goal is to generate a wide range of potential solutions, which can then be refined and evaluated collaboratively to identify the most promising options.

Start cooperative brainstorming sessions where both parties are free to share ideas and viewpoints in order to generate solutions with suppliers. Foster ingenuity and inventiveness by investigating varied methods to tackle common issues and leverage prospects. Encourage a climate of open communication and respect for one another, appreciating the opinions of all parties involved in order to jointly develop solutions that advance shared objectives and benefit all sides.

We can ideate solutions by brainstorming together, encouraging diverse ideas, and exploring creative approaches. Use techniques like mind mapping and sketching to visualize concepts. Prioritize open dialogue and iterative feedback to refine ideas and ensure solutions address both your needs and the supplier's capabilities.

👆 In my opinion, using tools like co-creation workshops, including brainstorming sessions and empathy maps, helps generate ideas and understand supplier needs 🤝. Rapid prototyping allows for quick testing of solutions, while the Business Model Canvas helps visualize and adjust strategic collaborations 🌱. Additionally, methodologies like Lean Startup and Scrum promote fast iterations and continuous feedback 💡, ensuring co-created solutions align with both operational and sustainability goals. ⚙️ This fosters stronger relationships and innovative supply chain strategies that benefit all parties 📦 ▶ One last piece of advice is that you do not underestimate any idea to enrich these co-creation processes.

In my experience, prototyping solutions with suppliers is crucial for ensuring efficient and successful product development. It allows for early testing of concepts, identification of potential issues, and optimization of designs. By involving suppliers in the prototyping process, we can leverage their expertise and resources to create high-quality prototypes that accurately represent the final product. This collaborative approach fosters open communication, facilitates feedback loops, and ultimately accelerates the path to market.

Develop low-fidelity prototypes of potential solutions based on the ideas generated. These could be physical models, process maps, or digital representations that illustrate how the solution might work.

Collaborate with suppliers to define precise goals and specifications, then construct and test small-scale prototypes or proofs of concept together. During the prototyping process, create a feedback loop to collect feedback from both sides and enable iterative modifications and improvements. To guarantee efficiency and alignment in the process of turning prototypes into workable solutions that satisfy everyone's needs and expectations, make use of agile approaches and open lines of communication.

Rapid Prototyping: Develop quick and simple prototypes to test and validate ideas, allowing for fast iteration and improvement. Gather Feedback: Collect feedback from both internal and external stakeholders to refine and enhance the prototypes, ensuring they meet the needs of all parties involved.

We can test solutions by conducting real-world trials or pilot programs with suppliers. Collect data and feedback on performance, usability, and effectiveness. Analyze results together to identify improvements, ensuring the solution meets both parties' needs and expectations before full-scale implementation.

Establish regular feedback loops to continuously refine and enhance the co-created solutions. Encourage open communication and a willingness to adapt based on the evolving needs of both parties.

Establish precise testing objectives and criteria before working with suppliers to test solutions. Then, carry out controlled trials or pilots to assess the viability and efficacy of suggested solutions in actual situations. Throughout the testing phase, work directly with suppliers to get feedback and quickly resolve any problems or difficulties. Conduct a thorough analysis of test results, taking into account both quantitative information and qualitative input, in order to assess the solutions' viability and potential for growth before implementing them fully.

In the co-creation process, it's crucial to choose the ideal partner. Remember, this process often forms a long-term partnership, so your supplier's values and critical success factors should align with yours. This analysis needs to be thorough.

I learn more from real life examples and a good Symbiotic relationship of co-creation is Tesla and Panasonic to form a product - 4680 battery. Both companies heavily invested into the joint development of the Gigafactory thus sharing the investments and risks, and the partnership has now led to continuous improvement of battery technology which is critical to EV R&D and an automotive EV giant like Tesla. This ongoing innovation process is a key characteristic of co-creation and this collaborative investment indicates a deep, strategic partnership rather than a transactional relationship. This isn't just a simple buyer-supplier relationship; both contribute their expertise to innovate a product that neither could have achieved alone.

Suppliers are experts in their fields, and involving them in any innovative solutions can do wonders. At the same time, one needs to realize that sharing with suppliers can also go to competitors. It is important to analyze whether the matter is confidential or not before cooperating with the supplier. if it is in suppliers expert zone, nothing wrong in do ing the same

I believe, Making them part of your problem statement and allowing them to do the R&D on your problem with access will certainly leads to a win - win situation for both i.e. solution to us and a business opportunity to the suppliers, that's called design thinking and solution finding approach.