The company had the most successful year in its history in 2017, setting new records for revenue and earnings. To build on this success and ensure its long-term competitiveness, MTU faces the challenge of further expanding its core business with innovative products, processes, services, and business models. “The goal is to continue our strong growth trajectory in the future,” says Wolfgang Pichler, Head of Corporate Strategy. “The Innovation Engine will help us do just that, starting now.”
To meet this challenge, 3DSE provided methodological and substantive support in the development of the “MTU Innovation Engine,” MTU’s new innovation management system. By involving an MTU team drawn from a wide variety of departments and locations, we ensured that internal disciplines will continue to be optimally integrated in the future and that the innovation management system is tailored to MTU’s requirements and needs. The numerous concepts for the new innovation management system were developed using methods that are now being applied in the “MTU Innovation Engine.”
Just as an engine drives something by constantly repeating the same processes, the ultimately selected “Innovation Engine” concept also follows a fixed, structured process. This process consists of three phases: Awareness, Ideation, and Prototyping.
During the “Awareness Phase,” relevant trends and radical ideas from outside the company are identified and incorporated at an early stage, with the goal of driving innovation even faster and more flexibly. To this end, internal and external scouts continuously monitor both MTU and the outside world, identifying new trends, technologies, ideas, and startups. To focus on those topics that can provide MTU with a long-term competitive advantage, innovation fields are defined each year based on the scouting results.
In the “Ideation Phase,” ideas for the selected innovation fields are gathered through internal “Ideation Challenges,” to which employees can submit their ideas. The best ideas are presented at a pitch event. Subsequently, in an “Innovation Cell,” interdisciplinary teams further develop the ideas into potential courses of action.
In the “Prototyping Phase,” mock-ups and demonstrators are then developed quickly to validate the proposed courses of action in short iteration cycles. The innovative product concepts, services, business models, or processes are then, where possible, brought to production readiness or driven toward implementation through other internal development processes.
The “Innovation Engine” is designed to adapt to changing internal requirements and conditions. Once the Innovation Engine is set up, it can be scaled as needed—for example, by adjusting the number of innovation areas and projects. In addition, it is possible to incorporate additional “features” such as venture capital funding or open innovation approaches.
The “Innovation Engine” is driven by an “Inno Team,” which ensures that operations run smoothly and facilitates integration and communication within MTU. This team also ensures that the right internal disciplines are brought together, thereby pooling financial and human resources and directing them toward the prioritized areas of innovation. Another desired effect of the Innovation Engine is that it strengthens the culture of innovation, promotes internal and external collaboration, and tests new ways of working and organizational structures. All MTU employees are involved in this process.
To learn more about the MTU Innovation Engine and the key factors that are crucial for successful innovation management, check out our case study on R&D Insights.
