Unless manufacturers thoroughly understand the problems they’re trying to solve with technology— and can work with the mercurial nature of tech companies — they’re wasting time, money, and putting tried-and-true processes at risk.

If you don’t really understand the pain point, you could solve for a technology problem, but it’s the wrong problem. You could miss a chance to lock up IP and surrender long term competitive advantage. And you could wind up with multiple companies, organizations and departments who cannot coordinate with one another and figure out how to commercialize anything. 

The challenge feels pronounced for a company like Kubota, a venerable component of the heavy industrial sector. Kubota built its reputation on manufacturing tractors and construction equipment – tough solid vehicles built to withstand punishment and the test of time. Kubota’s R&D process takes between 18 months and two years to ensure adherence to the company’s unyielding quality standards.

Technology startups don’t operate that way. They are serial risk takers with high tolerance for failure, creating success from nimble iteration. So how does a company like Kubota manage to blend stable, predictable product design strategies with tech companies whose rapid iteration cycles feel unstable by comparison?

You don’t.

That’s what Todd Stucke, president of Kubota Tractor, finally realized. The solution lies in hooking these two very different ways of operating under a new, shared leadership structure specifically for technology development, giving one room to breathe without sacrificing the quality standards enforced by the other.