Developing and increasing maturity of the R&D organization of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer to a global leading level

In 2011, Hero MotoCorp separated. Ltd. by Honda, with the aim of maintaining leadership in the local market, entering new markets and developing new technologies by 2020. After parting ways with Honda, Hero invested approximately $120 million in a new development center in Jaipur (Rajasthan, India). At this location, called Hero Center of Innovation and Technology (CIT), it is possible to fully perform product development from the first sketch to the handover to production. In parallel with the establishment of a world-leading infrastructure in the two-wheeler sector, product development and technology experts were recruited from all over the world. At the end of 2017, R&D already comprised around 600 employees. In addition to establishing and expanding the infrastructure and technical competencies, it was also necessary to create a suitable development process landscape and structures.

For this, Hero hired 3DSE. In a short and intensive analysis phase, the fields of action were identified and prioritized according to their potential impact. The processing of these fields of action was divided into feasible and successive maturity or implementation stages. From the best practice approaches of 3DSE and Hero’s internal know-how, customized solutions were developed, piloted in parallel and then transferred to the entire development organization. Within two years, the development logic was set up, appropriate development plans incl. prototype phases were implemented and ten additional core product development and project management processes were introduced. For anchoring, all central development roles were trained in parallel and accompanied operationally in the implementation.

“With the support of 3DSE’s consultants, our R&D has made a huge leap forward in maturity. This is reflected in the clear process landscape, the structures and the much better interaction between the central roles,” explains Dr. Markus Braunsperger, CTO at Hero.

Overall, the core R&D processes and roles were defined and implemented at Hero in two years. This means that all new and major customization development projects rely on the new processes, which are known and understood by all relevant roles. As a result, Hero now has a much higher level of development process stability as well as better interaction between the central roles.