HP Innovation Journal Issue 15: Summer 2020 | Page 8

THE OUTLOOK: CUSTOMIZATION
The New Future of Everything
With a focus on fluidity and customization, Chief Commercial
Officer Christoph Schell envisions new ways HP is planning
to work, manufacture, and engage with customers.
T THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM in January, the
A urgency was palpable. A new decade was in front of
us. For business and government leaders, the task
was clear: Accelerate institutional change and build
an equitable, sustainable, and tech-driven future. The
Fourth Industrial Revolution demanded this.
Little did we know, these transformations would occur at warp
speed and for a reason that few could have predicted: COVID-19.
In a matter of days, not months or years, the pandemic forced us to
re-engineer infrastructures, adopt new technologies, and change
our collective mindset to support new ways of functioning. The
future scenarios we thought were still years away have arrived, and
they’re more fluid and customizable than ever before. Here’s what
I believe is in store for how we will work, manufacture, and engage
with customers going forward.
Customizing where and how we work
The global workforce is no stranger to evolution. In recent decades,
demographics have shifted; entire industries have vanished; manual
skill sets have declined while creative and digital capabilities have
become commodities. But one thing has been fairly constant
through it all: Work was mostly done outside the home.
COVID-19 completely flipped the script. And while the duration of
that work-from-home mandate might be short in the grand scheme
of things, its impact will endure.
Not everyone will return to the office, by policy or by choice.
In fact, it’s estimated that 25% to 30% of people could be working
from home multiple days a week by the end of 2021. Organizations
are already downsizing their corporate real estate. OpenText, an
Ontario-based software company, announced that it would keep
half of its offices closed following the pandemic, implementing a
“hybrid remote work model” where only a portion of their 15,000
employees would return to physical offices. They won’t be alone
in their decision. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that all
employees would have the option to continue working from home
“forever.” The ecommerce platform Shopify recently made the same
move to a permanent remote working environment.
Corporate budgets will also shift drastically. Prior to COVID-19,
only 25% of employers paid for the costs
associated with remote work, like the
internet. Employers will likely begin subsidizing
home office setups—from desks
to dual monitors to ergonomic chairs—as
employees seek the ability and the funds to
customize their home office spaces.
Businesses that retain real estate will
be tasked with rethinking the design of
their physical spaces. WeWork has instituted
“every-other-desk” seating policies,
installed sanitization stations in common
areas, and implemented one-way hallway
traffic patterns to avoid bottlenecks. Expect
others to follow suit. The shift isn’t just
physical, though. We’ve all created a new
rule book for collaboration—working in
ways that are more technology-driven and
compassionate toward our colleagues’ full
lives, not just their work lives.
A new mindset and a means
for customized manufacturing
Another area where necessity has driven
impressive progress is in manufacturing.
Practically overnight, COVID-19 crippled
our global supply chains. Hospitals ran out
of personal protective equipment (PPE)
and ventilators. Grocery stores ran short
on toilet paper and supplies. Though our
traditional supply chains were not resilient
enough to withstand a fast-spreading virus,
3D printing offered a solution.
During this crisis, 3D printing has proven
its viability as a manufacturing solution at
scale. Indeed, 3D printing organizations,
including HP, were some of the first to bring
solutions to the front lines. Worldwide,
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE PUGLIESE
INNOVATION/ SUMMER 2020
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