How to advance quality practices in the automotive industry: engaging the customer in a community
In my last two blog posts, I’ve talked about the tremendous potential that cloud computing and advanced analytics capabilities have for driving product quality management across the consumer experience lifecycle, creating opportunities that were unachievable until now. Another component is the ability for automakers to get closer to their customers like never before with direct results on their ability to manage quality.
Capability #3: Engaging the customer in a community
Today’s connectivity has created a large pool of connected consumers that are willing and want to engage.
At Microsoft, to drive development and quality in Windows 10 for example, we created the Windows Insider Program. We had more than five million people volunteer to take part in the program, receiving pre-release functionality to test out and provide feedback.
It enabled us to test new ideas, even to prove out a specific innovation with just one customer, which dramatically improved the way we designed the product and is changing our ability to react at consumer speed. We have similar programs for other services like our Power BI Analytics Program.
With the same level of real-time connectivity and advanced analytics, it becomes possible to see a similar path forward in the automotive industry, testing out new ideas to ensure these are developed with high quality and minimized customer friction. This could be something like alerting a driver of a potential problem with their vehicle and helping book an appointment at the nearest service center.
To the driver, it appears to be a simple process, but only because of the power of the intelligent cloud taking place behind the scenes. To deliver this kind of customer service involves integrating streaming analytics on the vehicle, predictive analytics running in the cloud based on both the car and the driver’s driving style, communication back to the vehicle owner, and integrating the owner’s service agreement, personal schedule, and the service shop’s availability.
A great example of this complexity made to look easy can be seen in this video of QorosQloud. Qoros Automotive is providing an industry blueprint with its forward-thinking, award-winning connected car, using the power of cloud computing, data analytics and intelligent devices to engage directly with customers and deliver personalized consumer experiences from anywhere.
One of the reasons for Qoros’ success is for its commitment to an open and flexible platform that is scalable, enables full integration with new services and information, and complies with industry standards and regulations.
These standards and data formats are another important capability central to effective quality management, which I’ll talk more about in my next blog.
LinkedIn: Chris Harries
Twitter: @chrisharauto
