The Importance of Co-Creation in Innovation : A point of view on the topic of co-creation has been released by Hitachi, mentioning the importance of partnerships when it comes to creating new value for business stakeholders, customers and society at large. In order to succeed in a complex business and technology environment, companies must start collaborating and bringing new partners into their ecosystems.

Together with Longitude Research, Hitachi surveyed more than 550 senior executives and directors across a range of sectors in Europe to understand the state of co-creation and it found that: 57% said that co-creation has transformed their organisation’s approach to innovation; 52% said that a co-creation approach to innovation has reduced the cost of developing products and services in their businesses; 61% said that co-creation has enabled them to produce more successful new products and services; 51% said that co-creation has improved financial performance; and 61% said that co-creation has created new commercial opportunities.

“One of the things that we see with clients is that by engaging their shop floor workers in co-creation, those workers can participate in the design of the factory of the future. That brings a lot of value because those current workers have a lot of tacit knowledge—they understand how things are done today and they have a wealth of ideas that you can tap into. We always encourage our clients to form these co-creation teams where a group from the client and a group from Hitachi are working together,” said a spokesperson from Hitachi.

“With that kind of team, we can share the knowledge, ideas and creativity that already exist in our client’s people. These employees also feel a deeper sense of ownership when they’ve contributed to shaping the solution. It wasn’t a solution that was given to them by an outside vendor; it was something they created internally. This approach gives them a chance to put into practice many ideas that factory workers may have had in their minds for quite some time. There may be workers who have had ideas about how to improve things for many years and they’ve never had a chance to be listened to,” the spokesperson continued.

“Co-creation can unlock that knowledge that’s been sitting for years in the heads of your employees. That’s a powerful asset,” spokesperson concluded.

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