What creates innovation? Where do all these new ideas in the automotive industry come from?

It's exciting to think that all the new innovations come by accident, during "A-ha!" or "Eureka!" moments just like we see in the movies, but most of the time this isn't the case. Usually, new ideas come as the result of a lot of hard work, exploration and experimentation through a process called Research and Development (or R&D).

To be more precise, R&D is when automotive companies engage in activities to look for new ideas or to improve on existing ones. This not only happens in regards to automotive technologies, but companies also perform R&D into the materials used to make automobiles as well as production techniques. Believe it or not, R&D can also be done to improve automotive customer service!

If you're an automotive student or someone working in the industry, why should any of this matter to you? Shouldn't research and development just be the concern of those in upper management and the researchers working with them?

Absolutely not! There are plenty of reasons you should pay attention to the latest innovations that come from automotive research and development. 

Here are four reasons why:

It helps you understand trends in your industry/sector

There are two types of professionals in any industry: those who are reactive and those who are proactive. Reactive professionals just do their work as they're told and don't pay much attention to what changes might happen further down the line. While this simplifies things and gives them less to worry about, this also means that any sudden changes in trends will also catch them by surprise. In a fast-evolving field like the automotive industry where more and more jobs are being automated, this could mean trouble! 

Someone who pays attention to new research and development in the industry could also spot trends as they're happening. For example: if you know that your job may be automated in a few years to come, you still have time to learn new skills and prepare yourself for the changes that will happen. You'll keep yourself valuable to employers in the automotive industry, ensuring your own job security for years to come!

It enables you to be more efficient at your job

Remember: R&D isn't just about producing innovative technology, it can also produce innovations in materials and production techniques. Monitoring these innovations enables you to do your own 'research' to understand these materials and techniques that might help you do your job better.

Even before your employer provides you with training or education on those innovations, you would already have at least a basic level of knowledge on it. This, in itself, would give you an advantage over your peers!

You'll contribute better ideas to your team

In this day and age, it's easy to keep up-to-date with innovations in the automotive industry. Looking online, or even following the right companies on social media, will help you to stay very well informed. Keeping yourself aware of what's going on and continually picking up new ideas enables you to contribute innovative suggestions to your own company.

For example, perhaps you've read about some research done into automotive customer service. Maybe you could suggest some low-cost solutions to your manager to produce a customer experience that's much more efficient than before. This could lead to better reviews from customers and increased customer loyalty.  

It reminds you never to be complacent

Out of all these reasons you should pay attention to the R&D of the automotive industry is this: it reminds you never to be complacent. When you've worked in an industry for an extended period, going through the same processes almost every day, it's easy to get complacent. If you fall into this trap, it becomes challenging to learn new things and to keep growing. And when this happens, you lose your competitive edge, and your peers will outperform you easily.

When you keep yourself well-informed and knowledgeable about what's going on, you not only make yourself a more valuable employee for your company. You also regularly remind yourself of all the fantastic things that are still possible in this field you've chosen for yourself. As you continue growing in the automotive industry, you'll even discover things that you never thought were ever possible!