Frost & Sullivan 'New Product Innovation Leadership Award' - Report in English

2014 French Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

New Product Innovation Leadership Award

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

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New Product Innovation Leadership Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure France, 2014 Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges Frost & Sullivan's research shows that France's Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure market is emerging fast, equipped with strong market drivers to accelerate the growth of this market. France possesses one of the highest numbers of EV charging stations in Europe, only second to the United Kingdom, and is anticipated to have a vast network of 600,000 installed EV Charging Infrastructure by the year 2020. This number is encouraged by large investments from the French Government for sustaining the growth of the industry in an attempt to provide tremendous opportunities for infrastructure service providers, manufacturers and system integrators.

As France takes a leap of faith into e-mobility, the industry suffers from several challenges that are restraining its growth and suppressing industrial development. The rising cost of electricity in France, triggered by the elevating cost of nuclear waste management, causes customers to contemplate the viability of EVs, thus restraining the development of the industry. High cost of installation, tailgated by poor service and a lack of integrated solutions by manufacturers and system integrators, affects customers’ preference for return on investment (ROI), prioritizing capital expenditure (CAPEX) over operating expenditure (OPEX). The dearth of sustainable, economically-viable solutions, thus, dampens the growth of the industry, creating numerous unmet needs in the process.

Key market participants should address the abovementioned industry challenges by creating innovative solutions that are sophisticated, economical, and reliable, accompanied by extensive value added services to enhance customer satisfaction, concurrently promoting awareness on e-mobility.

Visionary Innovation and Product Excellence

Unmet Needs

Advansolar is an innovative solar electric vehicle charging infrastructure systems integrator in France. Established 4 years ago for the sole purpose of accommodating the needs of the E-mobility market in France, Advansolar strategically positioned itself in the gray areas of industrial convergence between electric vehicles and renewable energy, equipping itself with competencies to deliver sustainable solutions for customers, as well as establishing strategic partnerships with market leaders while strengthening its foothold in the region.



Frost & Sullivan notes that Advansolar offers off-grid and on-grid electric vehicle charging infrastructures that are powered by solar energy, a clean solution that benefits the environment by significantly reducing carbon footprint while providing an economically-viable solution for customers by eliminating their dependency on the grid and creating Brand Value at the same time. Advansolar’s products also ensure mobility, as it does not require pre-existing foundations, thereby enabling EV charging infrastructures to be relocated or deployed in remote areas that are off grid. Advansolar also provides visibility through its products by equipping them with billboards, which can be rented out to advertisers while increasing public awareness on solar charging solutions.

Use of Mega Trends

Advansolar successfully leverages the upcoming trends of Connected Living and The Internet of Things by integrating its products with high-speed broadband connection to deliver around-the-clock connectivity to users. Advansolar is also working on developing a machine-to-machine (M2M) program to connect all its stations to a sophisticated network, enabling users to connect with their service providers and vice-versa. The company’s EV charging network also enables it to gather invaluable data on users’ habits and patterns, giving it the liberty to share it with municipalities and service providers, simultaneously fostering a platform for strategic partnerships. Advansolar’s ceaseless efforts in developing visionary solutions in line with the emerging mega trends are remarkable, establishing it as a superior service provider for Smart Cities in France.

Aspirational Ideas

Being the pioneer in developing solar EV charging infrastructure in France, Advansolar embraced the concept of on-site self-consumption of solar energy, dispensing with the primitive concept of remote solar energy utilization. Advansolar enables customers to harness and utilize solar energy to be able to charge their electric vehicles, concurrently eliminating their dependency on the grid and, thus, forming a powerful solution that is anticipated to be a game changer in the market on a global scale. Frost & Sullivan's analysis confirms that apart from giving Advansolar a competitive edge in the French market, the company’s bold approach in embracing avant-garde technology is truly aspirational, creating awareness among consumers and key market participants while fortifying their position in France.

Reliability and Quality

Being able to control the entire value chain, ranging from product design and manufacturing to installation, Advansolar is able to deliver EV charging infrastructure of impeccable quality to customers. Its expertise in design, aesthetic parts and engineering enables it to manufacture unique solar EV charging stations which meet the industrial standards, requires minimal maintenance and are durable. Frost & Sullivan research reveals that this ensures high customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Advansolar’s solar EV charging infrastructure has gained multiple positive customer testimonials from market leaders such as Schneider Electric and Veolia; where cost effectiveness and reduction in carbon emission expectations have been exceeded.



Product/Service Value

Advansolar’s solar EV charging stations are versatile, and can be equipped with sophisticated technologies, such as smart meters, high-speed broadband, and mobile charging facility, a value add to its products. Apart from customized products, Advansolar provides a unique product portfolio, whereby customers are able to combine the benefits and the specifications of different products to deliver cogent solutions, thereby eliminating the concept of a rigid and standardized product portfolio. Advansolar is also constantly exchanging insights with market leaders, such as Cisco, Schneider Electric and DBT-CEV, and new rising technology providers such as Adipsys, to further improvise its product and technology portfolio, keeping itself at par with the transpiring industrial convergence.

Design

Advansolar strives to render a fulfilling total customer experience by providing customized and personalized product designs for customers. Advansolar provides pre-sales consulting services in an effort to understand and develop highly customized product designs and solutions, tailored to customer demands. Advansolar promotes total ownership among customers by personalizing and designing their product according to specific customer brands, enabling them to utilize their EV charging infrastructure as a compelling marketing tool, creating awareness among society and increasing its brand reputation in the process.

Conclusion Established with the aim to provide sustainable solutions for customers, Advansolar deliver leading-edge solar EV charging infrastructure to its customers. Frost & Sullivan's independent anlysis of the EV Charging Infrastructure market clearly shows that the company’s incessant efforts in integrating disruptive technologies into its charging infrastructure prepares it beforehand for the forthcoming industrial convergence, enabling it to successfully address industrial challenges and develop products and solutions tailored to effectively address the ever-evolving needs of customers. Advansolar has perfectly positioned itself as a Smart Cities service provider, setting revolutionary standards in the industry towards attaining a sustainable future.

Based on the results of our research, Frost & Sullivan is proud to present the 2014 New Product Innovation Leadership Award in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure to Advansolar.



New Product Innovation Leadership Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon continually introducing new products to the market, and commercializing those products to the greatest extent possible. For these dual goals to occur, a company must be best-in-class in three key areas: (1) take into account what your competitors are, and are not, doing; (2) meet customer demand with a comprehensive, value-driven product or service portfolio; and (3) establish a brand that resonates deeply with customers and stands apart from other providers. To achieve best-practice levels in brand, demand, and positioning is a rare and significant accomplishment, and that is why Frost & Sullivan celebrates it with the New Product Innovation Leadership Award. Recipients of this award represent the top ten percent of their industry: the other ninety percent can’t keep up.

Key Benchmarking Criteria For the New Product Innovation Leadership Award, we evaluated the total client experience and strategy implementation excellence according to the criteria detailed below.

Visionary Innovation Criterion 1: Unmet Needs Criterion 2: Use of Mega Trends Criterion 3: Pioneering Best Practices Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy Criterion 5: Aspirational Ideals

Product Excellence Criterion 1: Match to Needs Criterion 2: Reliability and Quality Criterion 3: Product/Service Value Criterion 4: Positioning Criterion 5: Design



The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards

Research Methodology Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research methodology represents the analytical rigor of our research process. It offers a 360-degree-view of industry challenges, trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies. Too often, companies make important growth decisions based on a narrow understanding of their environment, leading to errors of both omission and commission. Successful growth strategies are founded on a thorough understanding of market, technical, economic, financial, customer, best practices, and demographic analyses. The integration of these research disciplines into the 360-degree research methodology provides an evaluation platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels.

Decision Support Scorecard To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This analytical tool compares companies’ performance relative to each other. It features criteria unique to each award category and ranks importance by assigning weights to each criterion. The relative weighting reflects current market conditions and illustrates the associated importance of each criterion according to Frost & Sullivan. This tool allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to each criterion, and to assign ratings on that basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation; ratings guidelines are illustrated below.

360-Degree Research: Seeing Order in the Chaos



Best Practice Award Analysis for Advansolar

Decision Support Scorecards: New Product Innovation Leadership The Decision Support Scorecards, shown below, include all performance criteria listed and illustrate the relative importance of each criterion and the ratings for each company under evaluation for the New Product Innovation Leadership Award. The research team confirms the veracity of the model by ensuring that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies.

Finally, to remain unbiased and to protect the interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players in as Company 2 and Company 3.

Decision Support Scorecard: Visionary Innovation

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent) Award Criteria

Visionary Innovation Unm

et N

eeds

Use

of

Meg

a Tr

ends

Pion

eering

Bes

t Pr

actic

es

Blu

e O

cean

Str

ateg

y

Asp

irat

iona

l Ide

als

Wei

ghte

d R

atin

g

Relative Weight (%) 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 100%

Advansolar 10 9 9 9 9 9.2

Company 2 9 8 8 7 8 8.0

Company 3 8 8 7 7 8 7.6

Criterion 1: Unmet Needs Requirement: A clear understanding of customers’ desired outcomes, the products that currently help them achieve those outcomes, and where key gaps may exist

Criterion 2: Use of Mega Trends Requirement: Ability to incorporate long-range, macro-level scenarios into strategic plans, thereby anticipating and preparing for multiple futures that could occur

Criterion 3: Pioneering Best Practices Requirement: A nothing-ventured-nothing-gained approach to strategy implementation that results in processes, tools, or activities that generate a consistent and repeatable level of success

Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy Requirement: Proven track record of creating new demand in an uncontested market space, rendering the competition obsolete

Criterion 5: Aspirational Ideals Requirement: A willingness to look beyond the simple goal of generating a profit to embrace a more powerful ideal of bringing greater value to customers or the planet



Decision Support Scorecard: Product Excellence Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent) Award Criteria

Product Excellence Mat

ch t

o N

eeds

Rel

iabi

lity

and

Qua

lity

Prod

uct/

Ser

vice

Val

ue

Posi

tioni

ng

Des

ign

Wei

ghte

d R

atin

g

Relative Weight (%) 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 100%

Advansolar 10 9 10 9 9 9.4

Company 2 9 8 8 8 8 8.2

Company 3 8 8 8 7 8 7.8

Criterion 1: Match to Needs Requirement: Customer needs directly influence and inspire a product’s design and positioning

Criterion 2: Reliability and Quality Requirement: The product consistently meets or exceeds customer expectations for performance and length of service

Criterion 3: Product/Service Value Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar offerings in the market

Criterion 4: Positioning Requirement: The product or service delivers a unique, unmet need that competitors cannot easily replicate or replace

Criterion 5: Design Requirement: The product’s visual presentation makes it easy to use, and makes customers happy to use it



About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages more than 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

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Frost & Sullivan 'New Product Innovation Leadership Award' - Report in English