Discover the difference
History records that on 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer, “discovered” America when his fleet of ships funded by Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II set sailing to discover a new sea route to the East Indies. Likewise, Thomas Edison “invented” the incandescent light bulb and phonograph in the 19th century.
What’s the difference between invention and discovery? A discovery is recognizing something that already exists for the first time, which none found before. On the other hand, an invention creates something new with one’s ideas and development. Then comes product innovation versus process innovation.
The Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) or Smartphone is an apt illustration for product innovation. Generally, process innovation happens more than product innovation. When one finds a new way of doing something already processed or done, that falls under the process innovation category.
Forty years ago, music directors brought songsters and players of various instruments together under one roof and recorded the entire song in one piece after rigorous rehearsals. That was the process in vogue those days. Recording singers and instrument players separately and the art of mixing them later did not exist then. Today, it does. The Oscar Award-winning Indian music director A R Rahman, like many, records singers separately and mixes background score (BGM) later. Rahman altered the process though the outcome remained the same.
Again, there is ample scope for process innovation in logistics, and third-party players (3PLs) use this route to sign up potential clients. During the client pitching, they offer to study the existing workflow or working process and then provide a solution to improve operational efficiency. But, again, they do nothing original but tweak the existing process and weed out inefficient routines. The Japanese “kaizen” is nothing but the elimination of wasteful or inefficient activities.
In the Hero motorcycle plant at Rudrapur, Uttrakhand, the third-party player noticed that changing the order in which components were “kitted” could reduce or eliminate damage to one particular component. So, they changed the order and improved efficiency.
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Similarly, Mahendra Agarwal of ex-Gati in the mid-1980s introduced a category in parcel movement: express delivery. Gati, in Hindi, means “speed.” By introducing a double-driver formula and ensuring the vehicle runs non-stop. At the same time, drivers take turns to keep moving the truck. He created history through “process innovation,” and one may also call it “product innovation.”
One more “concrete” (no pun intended) example is the popularity of “Concrete Ready Mix.” It was a common sight at construction sites in the past to notice a stationary but rotating vessel would oscillate, mixing cement and sand with water for ceilings and floorings. Today, several business enterprises have sprung up, making these mixes on an industrial scale and send to the construction site on a vehicle. On reaching the sight, the vessel portion containing the “ready-mix” rotated mechanically and discharged swiftly for the same end goal: ceilings and floorings. It is again an apt example of process innovation.
Both types of innovations warrant a keen sense of observation and ingenuity.
