Innovations, systemic

Combining the practice of preventive maintenance and total quality control and total employee involvement results in an innovative system for equipment maintenance that optimizes effectiveness, eliminates breakdowns, and promotes autonomous operator maintenance through day-to-day activities. This concept known as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) was conceived by Seiichi Nakajima and is well-documented in his book Introduction of TPM and is highly recommended reading for all involved in the maintenance area. 

Crow, M. M., and Bozeman, B. (1998). Limited by Design R D Laboratories in the LLS. National Innovation System. New York Columbia University Press. Hoddeson, L., et al. (1993). Critical Assembly A Technical History of Los Alamos Dining the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945. New York Cambridge University Press. 

Schwalbe, T., Autze, V., Hohmann, M., Stbner, W. (2004) Novel Innovation Systems for a Cellular Approach to Continuous Process Chemistry from Discovery to Market. Organic Process Research and Development, 8(3), 440-454. 

Patents are not the only option to promote innovation. Systems of research grants awarded by governments have existed for centuries. Such systems enable innovations to reach the public domain, making them accessible for everyone. 

Widening the view from energy-related research to innovation systems... 

Therefore, the research and innovation system of a country has to be analysed and must be convinced by the opportunities and the new vision of a 2000 Watt per capita society. Any recommended efficiency-policy portfolio and R D efforts have to be evaluated within the context of the relevant research and innovation boundary conditions of the actors and institutions involved (see Fig. 20.3). The research and innovation systems of a country encompass the biotopes of all the institutions that are ... 

Figure 20.3. Scheme of Swiss energy and energy-efficiency research and the related innovation system (source Fraunhofer ISI). 

Since energy and material efficiency is dispersed over all the sectors of an economy and private households, the efficiency innovation system is characterised by ... 

These characteristics of the efficiency innovation system are general in nature and indeed almost independent of the specific country considered, but they are also highly dependent on the ubiquity and heterogeneity of energy and material efficiency. The weaknesses of under-co-ordinated innovation policy making, which seem to... 

Although the technical feasibility of a 2000 Watt per capita society in the second half of this century has been clarified and its economic feasibility is likely to be achievable at present energy price levels, its practical realisation remains an open question. The external cost of fossil-fuel use and many obstacles at sectoral and technology levels still hinder a fast implementation, as do a limited perception of the motivation and opportunities of possible first movers and supporting actors and a limited understanding of the innovation system. 

The organisational structure of the energy efficiency community and the related research and innovation system obviously have to be much improved when compared to energy supply communities - whether thermal power plants, renewables,... 

According to the German word Akteure, actors in an innovation system means manufactures, importers and users of chemicals (actors in the supply chain, economic actors) as well as authorities, science, public interest groups and other participants outside the supply chain (cf Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Actors in tlie innovation system inside and outside the supply chain...

In addition to the general systems inertia already mentioned, the uncertainties that always remain in view of all iimovations represent significantly more effective barriers to iimovation than all positive or negative motives and interests of the participants, which could be ascertained in the various case studies. The need to focus on innovation systems at supply chain level as well as overcoming system inertia and uncertainties and/or lack of knowledge, as fundamental barriers to innovation are some of the important findings of the SubChem project . However, this in turn produces new questions. 

What does flexibility and/or inertia of innovation systems depend on (the ability to be innovative) ... 

Model of innovation systems at supply chain level ... 

For joint action in innovation systems and especially also for outlining the framework conditions by the political actors, it is expedient to understand the itmovation systems. The model developed in the scope of the project serves to create a systematic hnk between the framework conditions, the influential factors and the correlations between the participants. The various contributory parties can better assess their own options for influence, existing resistance to new ideas, possible coahtions or the significance of market trends, and can approach change processes in a more purposeful way as a resrrlt of this. 

With regard to the location of innovation systems, however, neither the regional nor the national level (national and regional iimovation systems) could be apphed in the SubChem project due to the subject of examination. A branch approach (sectoral innovation systems) was also not an appropriate way to approach the SubChem project. The iimovation systems examined by SubChem are to be found over the entire supply chain from natural raw material supply and chemicals production to disposal and recychng (innovation systems going beyond supply chains and/or product life cycles). 

As with each innovation process not only technical modifications but also new production processes and modified product features have to be taken into account. Also and especially economic and organisational changes, investments and new business relations as well as new assessment questions present considerable challenges for the actors in the innovation system. 

In doing so, the first question essentially aims at gaining a better understanding of innovations related to hazardous substances in the supply chains in order to deduce indications as to how the actors within these innovation systems can optimise their efforts to minimise risk. The second and third questions are concerned with how the actors in the innovation system can achieve more safety with regard to the objective of preventing and reducing chemicals-related (eco)toxicological risks. 

Case studies, hypotheses, model understanding of chemicals-related innovation systems... 

The case studies essentially fulfilled three functions in the SubChem project. Firstly, they served as a source of realisation secondly as the background and illustration of hypotheses and type characterisation/modelling of innovation systems and thirdly, for legibility to incorporate our results in narratives about substances . The study proceeded on the basis of document analyses and collaboration with several practice partners in each instance. The cases were selected so that they covered as wide a spectmm of substitution conditions and product types as possible (cf Table 1). In this way the cases covered the following ... 

Together with the other chemicals-related projects in the [riw] program (INNOCHEM and COIN) an abstract model of the innovation system was drawn up according to Hemmelskamp 2000 . To obtain a more generalisable understanding of chemicals-related innovation systems, the results of the case samples and the hypothesis development were also interlinked and abstracted in such a way that two basic types of innovation systems were able to be identified and illustrated towards the end of the project. 

Figure 7. Basic model of innovation system (based on model by Hemmelskamp, 2000)...

Guiding principles and management solutions orientation for actors in the innovation system... 

It was endeavoured to put into operation the induetive and deductive abstrae-tion or generalisation movements mentioned at the start with the aid of these evaluation strategies in the ease studies. This was done, among other reasons, in order to formulate generalisable findings (also by means of relational comparisons), which would not have been obtained solely from the inductive generalisation of the case studies. On the basis of that, at least a rough approach for the type eharaeterisation of innovative systems was developed. In the final analysis, the aim was actually to be able to formulate (very eautious ) expectations (forecasts would certainly be too mueh) about the probable direetion of irmovation, iimova-tion level and the diffusion rate of iimovative solutions in these irmovation systems on the basis of determinable system constellations and identifiable main influential factors. ... 

Even if, from the present standpoint - i.e. after the project was completed - we had excessive demands with these further abstraction steps (regarding type characterisation and justified expectations about the behaviour of innovation systems deducible from that), the project results concerning hypothesis formation, model development and recommendations for action are indeed entirely presentable. 

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