Innovation Platform in Manufacturing SMEs

Innovation Platform in Manufacturing SMEs

Introduction

Innovation has been defined as the ability of a company to create something new in a burst of creativity to bring about improvements in a way of doing things which benefits both, company and its customers. Innovation is typically associated with a research and development (R&D) department. However, a heavy budget for research and development is not a prerequisite to bring about innovation and improvement in a company, sometimes a suggestion from employees can bring about an innovative idea that eventually develops into a successful product (for example, Post it notes that was just a suggestion from an employee of 3M). There is a wrong misconception in the minds of SMEs managers that bringing about innovation requires heavy budgetary resources that their companies does not possess, that's why they are called SMEs. This misconception and “myth” has been busted by a number of successful SMEs, especially in manufacturing industry through their innovative and competitive products which are as competitive, sometimes improved than that of their large sized competitors. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with small budget for research and development yet an enabling organizational culture and environment can successfully compete with large organization through innovation in their systems, processes and products. Such a narrow definition of innovation is often accompanied by a hefty R&D budget and an avoidance of processes that could hinder creativity. SMEs operating in manufacturing industry throughout the world are facing numerous challenges to stay competitive in the business; one of them is to match the quality of products manufactured by their large sized manufacturing firms with heavy budget for everything, from R&D to new and improved machinery and production systems. However, innovation offers a big hope for SMEs manufacturing firm because it's not a derivative or result of a big budget which large sized manufacturing firms have. By applying innovation and technology, Manufacturing SMEs not only can successfully meet these challenges, but can open up new business opportunities for them (Li & Xu, 2008, Pp. 1).

Manufacturing SMEs can foster innovation in every crucial functional area that can define their company and the products it is offering through innovation platforms. Innovation platform sharply focuses on particular societal challenges where the Government of United Kingdom is already taking action through fiscal measures, procurement, regulation or policy for tackling a particular problem. Innovation platforms improves the coordination between key industry players, government and academic and help identify the barriers to meet the challenges, map potential routes to overcome the possible barriers and align different activities for supporting innovative solutions to the problems. Innovative platforms in United Kingdom aim to change fundamentally the ability of businesses to provide improved and innovative solutions for the global market place, meet country's economic performance, and provide better quality of public services. This paper explores the area of innovation and innovation platform in manufacturing SMEs by reviewing current research literature, identifying areas where innovative practices can be implemented or further improved, and pinpointing alternative tactics that ...