Failure is success for Holden R&amp D group

NINETY per cent of the ideas generated by Holden Innovation will never go beyond the point of simply being ideas.

But rather than marking the com-pany's new research and development operation as a failure, Brent Dankesreither says that is the best validation it can get.

Mr Dankesreither is the manager, product concept synthesis, at Holden Innovation. Essentially that means his group, which includes statisticians, economists and psychologists, is meant to model society's shape beyond 2015 and what our transportation needs will be. Models will also be developed to apply to export markets.

From that information Dr Laurie Sparke's engineers will generate initial proposals for new Holden vehicles which will go forward to the board of directors for approval or rejection.

And most will be rejected.

"Holden has made a significant investment in Holden Innovation and with that comes the understanding that 90 per cent of our ideas may never come to fruition. We understand that and the board understands that," said Mr Dankesreither.

"In regards to the role of Innovation, it takes a lot of ideas which go through a lot of strenuous processes. We need to make sure our ideas filter successfully against our brand, our positioning and the board's direction of where we want to go.

"Our role is to bring a lot of ideas to the board for their consideration and it is their role to decide which ones they want to go ahead.

"We'll be seen as failures if we don't bring a lot of ideas to the board and it won't be seen as not contributing if not all those ideas get through." Mr Dankesreither is an expert in strategy and analysis who joined Holden in 2001. He was appointed to his Holden Innovation role in November, 2002.

He is neither above or below Dr Sparke in HI's structure, both reporting directly to company managing director and chairman Peter Hanenberger.

But Mr Dankesreither has a separate reporting link to Holden executive director sales and marketing Ross McKenzie, while Dr Sparke ties in with the company's engineering director, Tony Hyde.

That's as good an indication of the roles of HI's two chiefs as anything.

"We are developing some pretty complex statistical and mathematical models - to actually unearth the unrealised needs of the consumers, because you can't ask a consumer today what they want in a car in 20 years' time," Mr Dankesreither said in explaining his group's role.

But Mr Dankesreither estimated only five per cent of the market modelling's potential had been tapped so far.

"What we are proposing to do has never been done before - certainly not in GM - and we can't see any evidence of it anywhere else in our internet research," said Mr Dankesreither.

"We believe it to be a very critical need for Holden because we need to be acting today to meet the needs of tomorrow.

"What we are trying to do is come up with a model that can replicate the market historically - based on some very deep-seated human needs, then we can use that model to replicate what is going to happen into the future.

"And if you can then understand the way that certain societal changes - which are often very predictable - have an effect on the market, then you start to see what sort of cars or personal transport needs people will need into the future.

"Even at five per cent the modelling's come up with some very interesting findings."