Vanguard Magazine

44 AprIL/MAY 2017 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q What is your role in your organization today? I currently serve the company as Presi- dent, managing the day-to-day operations of the company, but I also act as the tech- nical expert on our cold spray repair and additive manufacturing projects. When I have the opportunity, I like to do the re- pairs at the client's location myself, to be able to get a feel of how we can fine-tune our processes to make the repair proce- dures as painless, reliable and efficient as possible for our clients. Q What was your "aha" moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our reader? Trying to sell innovation is a difficult business due to the inherent reticence of people to give up a known solution for an unknown solution, even if the known solution is terrible! I always thought, like many engineers, that the way around this problem is to have a rock-solid presenta- tion regarding the technical aspects of the innovation. My epiphany was finally understanding that you are not selling a technical methodology or a body of knowledge. You are selling yourself, your expertise, and the idea that you can solve the problem, not that the technology will solve the problem. Technical understand- ing of the technology is just one of the necessary checkmarks you need to make a sale. Q Step back and analyze your journey; what is the takeaway you want to give to our audience? Innovation is hard work. Developing new technologies, or adapting existing tech- nologies to new situations requires not only to get past the technical hurdles, but also requires convincing people that although you may be proposing a solu- tion which seems too good to be true, it might really be possible to attain. Innova- tion drives progress, and progress is worth the sweat and tears you need to put in to make it happen. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? Seeing how quickly additive manufactur- ing is establishing its roots in all sorts of industries, all around the globe. We are at the eve of a significant shift in the way we manage production, logistics and inven- tory management, all brought about by the culmination of decades of innovation in additive manufacturing, Internet of Things and automatization. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? Elon Musk is a visionary and a model for innovators everywhere. He founded companies which are solving today's and tomorrow's problems, while most of the world is still focused on how to grow a fossil fuel based economy. Q What are the biggest impediments to innovation in today's enterprise? The biggest impediment to innovation anywhere, in my opinion, is cash flow. It is hard to justify investing in innovation when the return can be only much fur- ther down the line, or when a large sum of money is required to jump-start the process. The solution to this is to provide an innovation solution which can gener- ate cost savings as early as possible in the cycle, to justify the investment to upper management and ensure a project will live to see the glory of its full potential. Q How has innovation become engrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? As a startup, innovation is the only vector for success in a technology industry. Large companies deal excessively well with day- to-day management and continuing de- velopment. To eventually become a large company, start-ups must create new ways of working, selling and developing solu- tions to differentiate themselves from the crowd. As such, innovation, especially dis- ruptive innovation, becomes the lifeblood of successful startups. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? I believe the coming mass-adoption of ad- ditive manufacturing, Internet of Things, automation and other aspects grouped in "Industry 4.0" will shift the manufactur- ing world back towards local manufactur- ing. As such, we must understand what the implications of this shift are, and react to these implications as they are unfolding. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Always strive to innovate. If you don't, someone else will do it anyways! PhiLiPPe duPuis PrEsiDEnt pRecision 3d G GAMe CHANGEr

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