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How do they know that? Innovation in manufacturing
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Information helps power innovation. To develop new and improved products and processes, firms need knowledge and technology. To get that knowledge and technology from outside, they generally have three options: buying information; buying advanced machinery, hardware and software; or collaborating.
Four out of five manufacturers that introduced a new or significantly improved product or process from 2002 to 2004 cited buying machinery, equipment and software as their most common innovative activity. One out of five manufacturers reported purchasing external research and development, and roughly the same number purchased other external knowledge.
Companies get information relevant to their innovative activities from multiple sources. For a strong majority of companies, clients or customers are a highly important source of information. Many cite suppliers of equipment, materials, components or software, and competitors or other firms in their sector. Other sources include consultants’ commercial and public research organizations, universities, colleges and other higher education institutions.
For many, the route to innovation is collaboration. From 2002 to 2004, one in five innovative companies had some kind of collaborative arrangement and many had overlapping collaborations. Three-quarters identified suppliers as their partners. Nearly as many also reported partnerships with clients. Forty percent reported collaborations with other plants in the same firm; one-third teamed with industrial associations.
