Can innovation be captured? Can you know when and how it’s happening? Key housing suppliers are working on just that. They are developing programs, processes, and products that will benefit housing by the innovativeness that they represent.
But what is innovation, and what do leaders in housing think of it? Gary Robinette, CEO at PlyGem, kicked off the HIVE event in September by discussing a survey his organization spearheaded in cooperation with Hanley Wood to uncover the need for innovation in housing.
The data—compiled from a survey of more than 300 respondents, including architects, builders, remodelers, dealers, and general contractors—is the foundation for the panel discussion featured in the video below with Mark Kuntz, senior vice president, Mitsubishi Electric US Cooling and Heating Division; Ben Skoog, vice president, growth and innovation, LP; Lee Clark-Sellers, chief innovation officer, Ply Gem; and Chris Graham, region manager, Western U.S., Electrolux.
As Robinette points out, 60% of survey respondents said that they don’t focus on innovation, but 90% think that there’s a need. Why the huge gap? Is everyone just paying it lip service?
There were a few trends that appeared as these four suppliers tried to answer those questions, but the most apparent and sought-after area of innovation for all of them is energy performance. Suppliers work hard to satisfy a wide variety of audiences including builders, distributors, owner/developers, and architects, and energy performance speaks to all of their demands and to what they seek in innovation.
LP and Mitsubishi Electric both are hiring building scientists as a way to capture a better understanding of product features and innovations. Graham at Electrolux, however, sees finding good talent as the company’s largest challenge.
Clark-Sellers argues that we are in an age of disruption. “Disruption is already here,” she says. “Amazon.com is doing grocery delivery. When we start looking at some of the e-businesses that are out there, you can almost today buy a complete house and have it delivered and never have to walk through a house. So from a disruption perspective, I think you will see it in logistics, you will see it in manufacturing, you will see it in products themselves. So all we have to do is look outside our industry and look into other industries and you will see that disruption happening today.”
What can housing learn from other industries? Additional key insights from this panel also are captured here. The innovation conversation also continues at HIVEforhousing.com.
