The global consulting firm is launching a new Industry X.0 Studio to help accelerate the development of smart connected products and services “from months to weeks”.
Consulting firm Accenture is expanding its innovation presence in Chicago with the launch of the Industry X.0 Studio to help its clients accelerate the development of new smart connected products and services “from months to weeks”.
The opening of the Forge builds upon Accenture’s continued growth in the city. In July, the company announced it will increase the footprint of its Chicago Innovation Hub, located in the 500 West Madison building – which was renamed the Accenture Tower – and add 600 highly-skilled tech jobs and significantly grow its apprentice programme.
Continuous innovation
The new studio provides a uniquely equipped environment that Accenture says fuses design, software engineering, hardware engineering and industry expertise. It is located in the mHUB, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing physical product innovation centre.
“Our clients, who are leaders in virtually every industry, are under tremendous pressure to continuously innovate,” said Pallavi Verma, senior managing director at Accenture, who leads its business in the Midwest US.
“The new Industry X.0 studio, which we call a ‘Forge,’ is part of our ongoing investment in Chicago and our efforts to bring continuous innovation to our clients, helping them reimagine their futures and solve their biggest challenges.”
Forges are part of Accenture’s Industry X.0 practice, which helps organisations apply advanced digital technologies to reinvent products, services and business models, from design and engineering, to manufacturing and support, to supply chain management and logistics.
“No organisation today can afford to work 12 to 18 months on an innovation as practiced traditionally,” said Craig McNeil, who leads Accenture’s Industry X.0 practice in North America. “At a Forge, we practice speed to value, meaning we can collapse the innovation timeline to five to six weeks.
“This is because design, software, hardware and industry professionals – many of which came to us through acquisitions, like Nytec, Pillar Technology and Mindtribe – all work at the same table. A Forge lets them tap the entire stack of equipment and methods needed to take ideas from sketch to final product.”
Accenture currently operates Industry X.0 Forges in Columbus, Ann Arbor, Des Moines, and Jefferson. Additional Forges are planned to open across the United States and in Asia in the coming 12 months.