Global Leader in Manufacturing

The client transformed a basic database into a true innovation ecosystem to help implement a streamlined innovation funnel resulting in a shorter path to innovation.

The challenge

The Client’ open innovation team is nimble, collecting needs from different teams across the organization, vetting innovation technologies and partners and reporting to the CEO. To manage this, the company built a solid, structured innovation framework with proper KPIs, metrics and gates, evaluation stages and decision-making criteria. Over the years the Client also developed an ecosystem of innovation brokers (collaboration partners) in different sectors and geographies. As part of its innovation process, it identified strategic areas for innovation and worked closely with each broker, launching innovation challenges, aimed at discovering innovative products and solutions that they could incorporate into their product portfolio relatively easily.

The Client’ innovation initiatives resulted in a sizeable database with data coming in from different sources which was difficult to manage. The company tried to solve this challenge by implementing third-party in- novation software, whose limitations and inability to offer a relational database quickly rendered it unsuitable.

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The solution

To meet the Client’ complex needs for a platform that allows the management of day-to-day operations in addition to funnel-ling processes, Skipso customized their state-of-the-art innovation solution. The result was a centralized platform where the Client can manage all its internal and external innovation initiatives. Using the platform, The Client open innovation team can quickly and efficiently evaluate all requests, ideas, startups and projects through its predefined innovation workflows.

Through custom modules that work seamlessly together, the Client can:

  • Manage multiple innovation workflows, moving ideas and projects through the different funnel stages
  • Provide feedback on challenges and ideas
  • Evaluate ideas, projects and innovations through pre-defined criteria
  • Assign ideas, challenges and projects to specific brokers in its database
  • Launch and manage multiple internal and external open calls, innovation challenges and ideation initiatives

The results

The Client’ new centralized platform combines seamless modules allowing it to run its innovation workflow engine, generate ideas, get feedback on them and implement them as part of one fully integrated ecosystem. The implementation of this modular one-stop-shop for all of the Client’ innovation needs allows the company to realize efficiencies in managing the different stages of its innovation funnel and the process of vetting partners and technologies – ultimately shortening the path to innovation and benefiting the end consumer.