Innovation process development

A salient application of RD is the manufacture of methyl-acetate. The conventional process consisted of a reactor and 10 separation units eight distillation columns, one liquid extraction unit, and one decanter. An innovative process developed by Eastman Chemical Company (Agreda et al., 1990) and displayed in Fig. 7.30 replaces the whole flowsheet by a single RD unit. The economic advantage is impressive, five times reduction both in capital and operation costs (Siirola, 1996). 

The new economic responsibility demands that the university in the Innovation process, develop a broker s function, either by the university Itself or by means of professional outside help, to bring the two parts of the innovative process together." Several such brokerage mechanisms are discussed. 

Answers to the first question can be illustrated by giving some examples (see Table 1). Eastman Chemical reengineered its innovation process and doubled the value of its R D portfoho (71—74). A team at Eastman was asked to provide (/) an assessment of the then-current innovation process, (2) a vision of the ideal process, (J) a flow chart of the modified process, (4) measures of the process, and (5) key roles and responsibihties. The team identified four main subprocesses needs identification, concept development, implementation, and market development. 

The detailed analysis, involving many respondents inside and outside the company, led to changes in the overall innovation process, ie, a company-wide priority system for innovation projects, measures of innovation for each functional and business area, training and supportive management systems for project managers, informal multifunctional teams in concept development and market development, a stmctured needs identification process, and appointment of a process steward to monitor the innovation process, measure how it functions, and coordinate innovation projects. 

The R D function itself will be organized from company to company in very different ways. In some firms, the responsibiUty for innovation will be broadly shared and a distinct R D unit may cease to exist. In others, technical developments from an R D lab will be the principal source of innovation for the business. In still others, the primary task of the R D or technology group will be to obtain technology from outside the firm. Those involved in R D will need to make certain that their knowledge and talents impact the business irrespective of their precise function. The innovation process will become less linear (Fig. 8) as more feedback loops, technology transfer, and cooperative efforts are involved. 

Only two processes, high-temperature pyrolysis and mobile incineration, have proved effective for soil decontamination and are considered to be commercially viable. Both involve heating the contaminated soil to a high temperatnre, which is costly in terms of energy use and materials handling. There are substantial opportunities for innovation and development of processes for the separation of eontaminants from soils and the in-situ treatment of contaminated soils. Examples of each are given in the following subsections. 

Innovation - advocates and opponents origin from microtechnology list of microfabrication techniques selectivity and efficiency as main driver for industrial implementation special properties and general advantages of micro reactors process-development issues BASF investigations on liquid/liquid and gas-phase reactions micro reactors as ideal measuring tools production in micro reactors as exception, the rule will be transfer to mm-sized channels [111],... 

The appropriate period for which an invention should be protected is that which allows the recovery of the costs of the innovative activity adjusting for the risk incurred. But this can only be considered in an ideal situation with a single isolated innovation that does not affect other possible innovations and in which the innovation process cannot be speeded up with additional resources. If a shorter period of protection were given instead of this ideal period in ideal conditions, the innovation would not be developed. And if the period were longer, there would be an unnecessary delay in the supply of innovations that would effectively create a welfare loss. 

ChemOvation Ltd., founded in 1998, focuses on providing an integrated drug discovery support service via collaborative programs, and the manufacture of innovative compound libraries. Apart from that, their range of services includes chemistry development, automated parallel synthesis, scale-up, process development, and screening. 

Well-to-wheel analysis needs to be applied for all relevant time steps to understand the evolution of environmental effects and possibly costs in the short to long term. This is of specific importance when innovative processes are considered, as these are characterised by technology development and cost curves with high gradients. 

By force of circumstances the manufacturers of mineral wools participated in the development of test methods to distinguish between hazardous and non-critical fibres as well as appropriate criteria for legal classification. A delay in the innovation process was caused by the discussion as to which criteria for the restriction of... 

Innovation process The development of biosolnble fibres for use in silencers was a difficult task from a technical aspect. On the one hand, the materials had to be soluble in the lung environment, on the other hand, they had to guarantee durability in the acidic environment of the exhaust flow. The change-over period until the release of new materials in the automotive industry is no shorter than 2-3 years depending on production conditions (investment and test cycles). Since the start of 1999 biosolnble fibres have been produced in series for use in silencers. 

Innovation process Unlike silencers, a substitute for ceramic fibres in catalytic converters is not yet available because very stringent technical requirements have to be met. The test cycles and clarification of the technical and other properties (occupational health and safety and environmental protection) are also correspondingly extensive. Solutions are being developed in cooperation with manufacturers, users and official bodies. 

Innovation process Water-based low-solvent dipping coatings have been state-of-the-art for some time as primers. In the mid 1980s the development of water-based fillers and topcoats was advanced by VW. These have become estabhshed extensively in Germany. Solvent-free powder clear coatings have been used by DaimlerCluysler (as powder slurry suspended in water) and by BMW since 1997. 

Innovation process Small innovative companies started in the seventies to develop alternative stripping agents. However, up to now these products represent only a niche market. Even though the DCM market declined between 1986 and 2000 in Germany (about 80 %), substitution of DCM was limited to aerosols and adhesives. Also improved emission reduction in industrial plants lowered the consumption of DCM. 

A closer examination of the case studies reveals the extreme complexity and inter-hnked nature of the processes in an innovative system. Determining, which were the decisive factors that were manifest by a particular example of substitution, tended to be irresolvable in view of this complexity. A top-down analysis of the systems view of the simple model assists in orientation. In addition, some phenomena that are important for iimovation processes can only be revealed from a systems view, e.g. system inertia and system ambience , which is frequently referred to as the innovation chmate . Decisively, phenomena such as emergence are only discemable at a systems level. Emergence is of central importance for the comprehension of innovation processes, where development of a new element is the core feature. Emergence means that a novel, impredicted and usually complex feature is produced in the system (or by the system) which no individual contributor had planned or could conceivably plan. In most cases, new elements can neither be commanded externally nor can they be negotiated in a discourse between the participants from their estabhshed interests. Creativity is required here. 

Development of a model and a more profound comprehension of the complexity of an innovation process can help unprove the ability of an iimovation system to be innovative. It cannot provide orientation, nor ensure that the direction of an innovation is appropriate. This is the preserve of the evaluation processes, which also must cope with knowledge gaps and the unavoidable uncertainty involved in any innovation. 

The SubChem project aimed to improve comprehension of innovation processes in chemicals risk assessment and from these deductions to develop recommendations for action. The recommendations are not solely related to substance and technical iimovations and their framework conditions, but also encompass organisational and institutional itmovations within the scope of extended risk management. From experience gathered in the course of the SubChem project, the most important recommendations for the various actors in the innovation system can be grouped according to their distinctive roles. 

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