Authors: Richard Platt (Strategy + Innovation Group LLC, USA), Sergei Ikovenko GEN3 Partners, USA, Joe Ficalora (Joe Ficalora Associates, USA)

Abstract: Speed and Profitability are cornerstones of manufacturing, the tools and methods used, define the ability to get competitive advantage.  Rapid proto-typing tools are an industry standard, however the advantages that these provide are now common place for many to use.  The true competitive advantage is gained when using these tools in new, unique and different ways than they have typically been used.

Understand a new set of methods and approaches simplifying the process and mitigating the risk all the while lowering product and process costs during the all critical NPI phases of manufacturing

The Challenges and Reality of Corporate Innovation Today:  If we take the position of being a corporate innovator, program manager, or champion today who is responsible for enabling the company that we work in, we and our colleagues are faced with some very difficult challenges.

• There are multiple systematic innovation practitioners and methods all vying for our attention and hopeful use by us, we already know that TRIZ is a good tool but which is the best way to greatest value from it?
• Innovation methods and tools are not always able to effectively address risk and uncertainty during the process of innovation, of course we can highlight the gaps but that does not help us to manage the risk during the development of the technologies and concepts. How are we to address that obstacle?
• Some innovation methods are laborious and don’t pay off for the amount of time and effort required to use them to their completion (ARIZ). Yes we can get good solutions, but it does take a significant amount of time to do it.  Is this the most effective method for addressing tough problems?
• In some cases competing innovation consultants speak poorly of others methods, or consultants and outright state that their method is superior to others, or that there innovation school is better than others, without showing demonstrable proof.  How are we to know which is better?
• There is a Computer Aided Innovation (CAI) software package on the market today, arguably the leader in corporate innovation tools, that is extremely expensive in comparison to other tools, and yet still does not meet the needs of the majority of corporate innovation managers from the standpoint of users by being easy to use by all of the engineers in a company.  The software itself creates its own barrier to adoption and acceptance.

All of these issues make the challenge of being a corporate innovator or manager overwhelming with all of this competing and contradictory information and makes the job of being an engineer applying systematic innovation methods even harder to overcome through all of these barriers to adoption and acceptance.

It is from the research, experience and application in the corporate environment by the author that will provide corporate innovation program managers and engineers a better more effective approach to utilizing systematic innovation tools and innovating itself without being constrained by these limitations and issues.