What is Innovation?

by Jeffrey Gotro on May 8, 2012

In our previous series of posts we have been discussing how to get technology from the research phase to the product development stage and ultimately to the market.  So why have we spent this much time on the topic?  Innovation drives growth.  Cost cutting doesn’t.  When Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997 he assessed the situation by saying “The cure for Apple is not cost cutting.  The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.”  That statement should be a rallying cry for companies facing an uncertain future.  Looking back, it is clear that Apple figured out how to innovate.

A recent article in the May 2012 Harvard Business Review by Ann Marie Knott entitled “The Trillion-Dollar R&D Fix” presented evidence that many big name companies are seriously under spending on R&D and that it is costing them profits and growth.  She completed a simulation that showed if the top 20 firms traded on the US exchanges had optimized their R&D spending in 2010 using her mathematical simulation, the collective increase in the market cap would have been an astonishing $1 trillion.  Wow.  It’s a great article, so head on over to HBR.org if you want more details.

So what is innovation?  My former company (ICI) used to call innovation “the successful commercialization of invention.”  Another is “innovation is the process of successfully identifying, developing and implementing new ideas which create value.”  There are many more in the same theme, with the literature consensus is that innovation requires three main components:

  1. Creativity
  2. Execution
  3. Added value

So how then did Apple “out-innovate” so many companies?  Did Apple invent the PC? Did Apple invent the mp3 player? Did Apple invent downloadable music content? Did Apple invent the cell phone? Did Apple invent the tablet computer? The answer is no to all of these.  In innovation terms, Apple is a fabulously successful “fast follower.”  The genius was to integrate design and ease of use into their products.

So looking at the three elements above, what did Apple do to create such a powerhouse corporation?  There is no doubt about Apple’s creativity.  The user experience is just wonderful.  I remember the first time I used my brand new iPod, downloaded iTunes, ripped in some of my favorite music CD’s and plugged in the iPod.  Bingo!  Everything sync’d easily and it was so simple.  Next came the iPhone and iPad, again, the designs are elegant and the user-friendly aspects are unreal.  Apple has gotten a lot of flak over their suppliers (mainly the Foxconn subcon in China), but they are masters at execution.

And finally, nobody has to ask about did they deliver value.  Just look at the sales and stock price!  So how can you learn from Apple?

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Product Architecture Example

This is the final post in the 8 part series and here we will explore how to rapidly exploit all of the hard, but focused work you have done to build a robust product architecture.  Using the electrically conductive adhesive example, let’s say your first product was a fast cure, but required a high cure temperature.  Your first customers like the faster curing times which saves them money due to increased throughput, but they want to get additional energy savings using a lower cure temperature.  And as long as you are making a modification, the market needs a higher electrical conductivity as well.

In the “old days” a typical formulator would search existing products for something close to the customers CTQ’s and then start tweaking the formulation by adding ingredients to lower the cure temperature and increase the electrical conductivity.  This was the trial and error method, since most of the time there was little understanding of how the original formulation actually worked.

Since we have been using a product architecture approach, it is likely that during the architecture development, an understanding of the key factors governing cure speed and electrical conductivity were developed.  Remember we called these technology platforms such as the curing agents and conductivity promoters, such as the components on the left side in the figure above.  The beauty of product architectures is that the main components of the formulation are already in place, so the formulation scientist does not have to start from scratch.  Being able to modify an existing product architecture has the following advantages:

  • Shortens development time for product modifications
  • Enables rapid product line extensions if required
  • Uses existing manufacturing processes
  • Leverages a known, robust product architecture (product architectures are extensively tested during the initial development to ensure consistent performance at the customer)

We have spent the last 8 posts talking in detail about how to use a systematic process to enable formulation science.  For many, this may seem like a cumbersome and slower way to develop products.  It takes a major thinking shift in the beginning, but once you get your technology delivery process in place it actually takes less time to commercial revenues.  I have seen all too many times in the past where the formulators did a rush job to get a formulation out to the customer only to find major problems during qualification.  The customer has to wait while re-formulation occurs, then re-testing.  The many iterative loops take a lot of time and burn valuable goodwill with your customers.  If you have spend the right time upfront learning about your customers needs, then you will be ahead of them.  Wayne Gretzky once said “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”  If you drive your technology delivery system to produce products where the customers are going to be, then you will enjoy much commercial success.

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Implementing Design for Six Sigma; a Short Story

April 9, 2012

I just finished a post on using Mixture Design of Experiments to accelerate the development of complex formulated mixtures such as adhesive, composites, coatings, etc.  This made me think of a nice example of how one chemist totally engaged in the process and developed a killer product that blew away the competition and enabled the [...]

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Using Design Tools to Build Product Architectures: Part 7 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

April 2, 2012

Or Debunking the Myths of Design for Six Sigma We have been discussing how to use a formulation science approach to build product architectures by making sure our applied research efforts are developing the right technology platforms.  Critical stuff.  But what happens when you have completed the technology platforms and need to leverage them to [...]

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How to Integrate Technology Platforms into Product Architectures: Part 6 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

March 26, 2012

So far we have covered the basic components of the technology delivery system, where they fit into the process, and how to leverage resources to drive the product development process.  Let’s take a minute to drill down and look at how technology platforms are critically linked to product architectures.  Polymer formulations such as adhesives, resins [...]

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Use Product Architectures to Build Robust New Products: Part 5 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

March 19, 2012

So we’ve talked about technology platforms, open innovation, and how to use a “loose” management approach when conducting applied research and developing technology platforms.  The most important aspect of building a robust new product development process is the concept of product architectures. Product architectures have been used for a while, but don’t really get “a [...]

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Use Open Innovation to Accelerate Technology Platform Development: Part 4 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

March 12, 2012

In our last post we discussed the importance of developing customer focused enabling technology platforms as a key enabler to accelerate new product development.  But, this can be a daunting task.  What if your polymer markets are quickly changing or radical new technologies are required to remain competitive? What if you don’t have all of [...]

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Develop Enabling Technology Platforms: Part 3 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

February 29, 2012

For long-term and sustainable product development, careful attention needs to be spent on the front end of the development process.  Industry trends, technology roadmaps, customer input can all play an important role in defining your applied research goals and objectives.  Technology platforms can help to reduce complexity, accelerate game changing product development, and help leverage [...]

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Focus on “loose” Management in the Technology Development (Research) Phase: Part 2 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

February 27, 2012

In a technology driven enterprise (like most polymer companies) having the right management approach in the early technology development phase is critical to get creativity and risk taking flowing.  In the research or technology development work, failures are common, but remember “failures are opportunities to learn.”  Research scientists will conduct many experiments learning incrementally as [...]

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Utilize a Robust Technology Delivery System: Part 1 of the 8 Ways to Boost Polymer Product Development Effectiveness

February 20, 2012

New product development is hard work and requires a system or process to provide guidelines or a framework.  If you are developing only incremental product improvements, then consider two things; 1) you don’t need a technology delivery system and 2) you won’t be in business for the long haul!  No matter how big or small [...]

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