Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - (Page 17) S TRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS – PART 2 The Innovation GAP A new reader poll of U.S. and European manufacturers shows serious gaps between the idea of innovation and the practice of managing it over time. t BY DAVID R. BROUSELL he gap between brainstorming new ideas and having structured processes in place to turn those ideas into real innovation persists in U.S. manufacturing companies and is also now evident in European companies, a new Managing Automation/Manufacturing Executive reader poll reveals. Manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic are confident that they are in touch with customer needs and generating new ideas to satisfy those needs. But they are equally clear that there is a widespread lack of internal agreement on what innovation means to their businesses, as well as a dearth of metrics to judge the effectiveness of innovation efforts and a lack of clarity in management roles and responsibilities for innovation. These are just some of the findings of the latest reader poll on innovation conducted by Managing Automation and its new sister publication in Europe, Manufacturing Executive. Fielded in June and devised in collaboration with futurethink, a New York-based innovation consultancy, about 300 U.S. manufacturers and more than 170 European manufacturers weighed in on how their companies generate new ideas, develop innovation strategies, and manage innovation processes. MA launched the survey in the U.S. market last year and extended it to the European market for the first time this year. What’s most striking this year is how similar the results are at U.S. and European manufacturers in revealing gaps between such things as innovation strategy and execution. When asked, for example, whether their innovation efforts are driven by insights about customer needs, almost an equal majority of U.S. (57.2% this year, compared with 56.7% in 2007) and EuSeptember 2008 17
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Opinion By David Humphrey Starters Road Trip Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? Part 2: The Innovation Gap Opinion By Lisa Bodell Special Report: Great Aspirations Supply Chain: The New Money Machine Product Design: Fruehauf Gets into High Gear with 3D CAD Business Intelligence: Food Distributor Turns Up the Heat on Manufacturers Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles Dialogue Opinion By Pierfrancesco Manenti Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 (Page Cover1) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 (Page Cover2) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Editor's Letter (Page 4) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Editor's Letter (Page 5) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By David Humphrey (Page 6) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By David Humphrey (Page 7) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Starters (Page 8) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Starters (Page 9) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Road Trip (Page 10) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Road Trip (Page 11) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? (Page 12) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? (Page 13) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? (Page 14) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? (Page 15) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? (Page 16) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 2: The Innovation Gap (Page 17) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 2: The Innovation Gap (Page 18) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Part 2: The Innovation Gap (Page 19) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Lisa Bodell (Page 20) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Lisa Bodell (Page 21) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Lisa Bodell (Page 22) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Lisa Bodell (Page 23) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Special Report: Great Aspirations (Page 24) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Special Report: Great Aspirations (Page 25) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Special Report: Great Aspirations (Page 26) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Special Report: Great Aspirations (Page 27) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Supply Chain: The New Money Machine (Page 28) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Supply Chain: The New Money Machine (Page 29) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Supply Chain: The New Money Machine (Page 30) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Supply Chain: The New Money Machine (Page 31) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Product Design: Fruehauf Gets into High Gear with 3D CAD (Page 32) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Product Design: Fruehauf Gets into High Gear with 3D CAD (Page 33) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Business Intelligence: Food Distributor Turns Up the Heat on Manufacturers (Page 34) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Business Intelligence: Food Distributor Turns Up the Heat on Manufacturers (Page 35) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles (Page 36) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles (Page 37) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles (Page 38) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles (Page 39) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Dialogue (Page 40) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Dialogue (Page 41) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Pierfrancesco Manenti (Page 42) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Pierfrancesco Manenti (Page Cover3) Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - Opinion By Pierfrancesco Manenti (Page Cover4)
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