Smart Cooking Roadmap: Digital Transformation of a Traditional Industry

Bosch aimed to revolutionize their extensive appliance portfolio by integrating modern UI, connectivity, and advanced system architecture in a traditionally conservative industry characterized by substantial investment and long lead times.

Background

The emergence of consumer smart home applications and advancements in Machine Learning AI necessitated a transformative feature roadmap for Bosch. Achieving a unified vision involved collaborating with global innovation stakeholders across Europe, Emerging Markets, and China, and developing competencies within the North American team for effective implementation.

Role

As Head of Smart Cooking:

  • Luc, as the Smart Cooking leader in North America, strategically set a feature roadmap through 2030. He successfully negotiated and secured innovative features like Burn Protection and Meal Recognition by directly engaging with project leaders, global stakeholders and the board.

  • Luc's approach harmonized short, medium, and long-term digital and hardware feature roadmaps, leveraging portfolio management frameworks such as Blue Ocean/Red Ocean. He spearheaded comprehensive Ethnographic Research to ensure a relentless focus on end-user needs.

As Head of Cooking Innovation and New Business Opportunities:

  • Luc directed the strategy for market engagement based on thorough PEST trend analysis and user qual/quant validation along a proprietary Consumer Driven Innovation (CDI) process

  • Led a cross-functional and multinational team in a bespoke lifestyle research project to foster alignment towards a shared vision

Methodology

  1. Research:

    Conducted extensive research to understand current market dynamics, consumer preferences, and technology trends relevant to the smart cooking industry.

  2. Value Drivers Identification:

    Identified key value drivers for consumers in the smart cooking space, focusing on what features and functionalities would add the most value to the end-user experience.

  3. Blue Ocean Diagram:

    Utilized the Blue Ocean Strategy framework to visually map out new market opportunities and unexplored areas in the smart cooking industry, aiming to differentiate Bosch's offerings from competitors.

  4. Platform Architecture/Full Process Design:

    Developed a comprehensive platform architecture, outlining the entire process from conceptualization to implementation of smart cooking features.

  5. Value Drivers/Customer Requirements Engineering (CRE):

    Focused on integrating customer requirements engineering to ensure that the roadmap aligned with what customers value the most in smart cooking technologies.

  6. Portfolio Blue Ocean:

    Applied the Blue Ocean Strategy at the portfolio level, ensuring that the entire range of smart cooking products offered by Bosch stood apart from competition and addressed untapped market needs.

  7. Lifestyle/Needs Gap Analysis:

    Conducted a lifestyle and needs gap analysis to understand where current products were falling short and what new needs could be addressed through innovation.

  8. Trend Research Using PEST Analysis:

    Performed PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) analysis to anticipate future trends and how they could impact the smart cooking market and technology adoption.

  9. Digital Transformation - Tiered Levels:

    Outlined a tiered approach to digital transformation, ensuring that each level of product and service offering was digitally enhanced in a way that was both feasible and aligned with market expectations.

  10. Stakeholder Management:

    Managed project stakeholders and the board of management through sprint reviews and strategic workshops

Results

  • Product Innovation Recognition:

    Market first consumer facing oven with integrated camera and food recognition in region Europe

  • Increased Price Premium:

    New features enabled a 19% markup in the luxury value class

  • App Engagement Rate:

    Retention boost of 28% due to improving the app UX and adding critical cooking content

Lessons Learned

  • agility towards launch is more important than perfect for areas with rapid technology advancements

  • challenge tech push early; can be expensive to pivot

  • handle app and appliance software concurrently for one experience

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