HP Innovation Journal Issue 08: Winter 2017 | Page 29

Digital Transformation
Q&A
Leaders from SAP, Siemens, Johnson & Johnson, and Deloitte
discuss digital transformation and 3D printing
Gil Perez
SVP of IoT and Distributed Manufacturing
SAP
Q: What do you believe will be the most surprising about the dig-
ital transformation of manufacturing and the 3D printing industry
in the next five years?
A: SAP’s vision might be more like five to 10 years, but we see man-
ufacturing as a service (MaaS). The ability for people all around the
world to design something, upload it, open a store, and manufacture
it, without the need for it to be transported back to them. It can be
tested, qualified and verified at the location of manufacturing and
sold locally or globally. In five to 10 years, people will be able to con-
sume manufacturing as a service. 

Joe Sendra
VP of Manufacturing Engineering /
Technology, Johnson & Johnson
Bob Jones
EVP of Global Sales and Services
Siemens
Q: How can companies leverage additive manufacturing to gain an
advantage over their competition?
A: To make this work and drive a competitive advantage, customers
need to realize this is a paradigm shift. Understanding we cannot
just apply the best practices of subtractive manufacturing, custom-
ers need to look at the art of the possible. Start by reimagining how
they can redesign a particular part or entire system based on the
flexibility of additive manufacturing. When customers and executives
start challenging that across their design organization, that’s where
they are going to drive that competitive advantage, and achieve the
true benefit of what is possible with additive manufacturing. 

Doug Gish
Manufacturing Strategy Leader
Deloitte
Q: How does your organization view the digital transformation hap-
pening all around us? Q: Do you think we’ve reached an inflection point in the market, and
what is the key factor tipping those scales?
A: Our vision at J&J is to change human healthcare, through great-
er speed, efficiency and personalization. But we aren’t going to do
it alone. The winner is not the one who comes up with the solution
but the one who stitches it all together. That’s what is radically dif-
ferent with digital transformation and 3D printing. We now have a
convergence of data, cyber-physical connectivity, and 3D printing to
imagine solutions that were previously unattainable. That’s how we
change the world. For us, this means radically changing how to con-
ceptualize, design and deliver personalized, patient-specific solu-
tions that result in improved outcomes. 
 A: Absolutely, we are seeing the convergence of a number of forces
right now. When you think about the ecosystem to make this happen,
it’s complex. It’s centered around amazing 3D printing technology
that HP has brought to the forefront. It’s centered around compa-
nies grappling with how they change their business models and
apply this technology. From there you start to draw the ecosystem
circle bigger and it becomes about material science, cybersecurity,
IP rights, etc. So, there is a large ecosystem of players that has to
get around this and work together to make it scale. 

Issue 8 · Winter 2017 · Innovation Journal 25