Innovation and productivityPROCESSING

•in feed manufactInnovation in feed manufacturing is a process that

requires a good economic and R&D management plan.

Such a plan ould be worthless if people included in

the R&D activity were not creative and productive. Such

individuals create the opportunity for ideas to happen

with incredible speed. From experiences at Ffirtek some

valuable advice could be compiled.

By Dejan Miladinovic,Norwegian University of LifeSciences (UMB), Fortek,Norway

Considering that innovation is a con-tinuous process of discovery, learningand application of new technologiesand techniques from numerous sources,many of the techniques and processesare in erdependent. Technologicalcapaci of a firm may also be influ-enced by external factors such as theRaD infrastructure and the functioningof the capital markets. For the feed in-dustry, applied innovations are a focusfor any REtD team, Applied innovationoCCUISvhen an advanced technology isapplied in the production process and itis POSITIvelycorrelated with REtD inten-sity, research personnel and investmentin lazed equipment.The Cenrre for Feed Technology - Fortek,in ,'0- ay and its employees haveaained a lot of knowledge obtainedby observation of, and working with,in 'REtD teams and employeesfo any years. From these experi-ences a few tips related to the processo 'active idea execution within theresear and hence creation, of

e product development could beco=. ed, All these tips are based on

observations by workingaD personnel and are not

based - conclusions, they are onlysuggesnve,

unng

Innovation in feed manufacturing is a must in a very competitive environment.

Tip 1 - Do not hesitateIndefinite planning and dreaming aboutthe company's new product will hardlybring the research opportunity andhence experimental execution. If thisperiod is too long the R8:D managersand entire REtD team can lose valuabletime and pattern of the idea createdby marketing team. A bias towards the

R8:D action can be found in many crea-tive professionals that are bound withso much varied information found indifferent scientific publications or othersources. These professionals shouldchallenge themselves to take the actionsooner rather than later. The minuteREtD professional start acting, the soon-er valuable feedback will help refine the

AIiAboutFeed ' Vol 2 ' Nr 3 • 2011 21

PROCESSING

o Assessment

• People

• Strategic processes

• Tactical processes

• Operational processes

Assessment- R&D capabilities, Current and future analysis, Gap analysis, Maturity mapping

People- Facilitators, Trainers, Reviewers

Strategic process- Education and training, Communication management, Reward and recognition

Tactical processes- Problem identification process, Idea strategy and selection, Project portfolio management

Operational process- Implementation roadmap, Risk assessment, Data collection, Cost-benefit analysis

Figure 2 - Technological evolution, S-Curve diagram by laird Close, University of Arizona.

NEWTECHNOLOGY

CURVE

_-- THE BREAKTHROUGH!

EXISTINGTECHNOLOGY

CURVE

PioneeringEngineering & Science

Prospecting for new possibilitiesexploring, evaluating, inventing

Measure of Applied Effort

Sustaining MasteryOver a Technology

Building of firm foundations;improving, augmenting, applying

original idea. In this way, R8:D profes-sionals will be able to move forwardwith a more knowledgeable perspective.

Tip 2 - Take the blue-sky conceptout of your headThe good thing about a R&D conceptis that it includes the team memberswithin the continuous innovation loop(Figure 1). R&D individuals tend tokeep their vast ideas in their head andit is very difficult to communicate withthem about a simple research model.The downside of this is that suchparticular thinking brings action on a

22 AIiAboutfeed.net - Vol 2 - Nr 3 - 2011

will get to the final technologicalconcept (Figure 2), some simulationscan be performed with various softwarepackages. Since the requirements forthe feed industry equal the requirementsof the food industry, some serious andmodern approaches should be practisedwithin the cheaper R8:D advancedprocess-simulation environment. In thisway, the R&Dteam will synthesise theknowledge obtained during theprocess-simulation and thereafter theidea can be refined, but also a newconcept can be created or idea-develop-ment improved. If one of the simulatedconcepts satisfies the company'srequirements the pilot production canbe executed with in-house equipmentor the trial can be performed within thetest installation of the developer. Onething that the entire R8:D team shouldunderstand is to listen closely and learnfrom any single failure, which shouldnot discourage them, but rather stimu-late the team to do it again until theoptimal product has been obtained.

very low level. To avoid this kind ofR8:D paralysis the idea from the headshould be put on paper immediately inan executable concept with the smallerperformable series performed. Once theidea created on paper will be performedon a small scale, an insight will be ob-tained on how to employ some certainfeed manufacturing technology andhow the product development would bebrought to the next level.

Tip 3 - TrialsIn order to avoid a concept of trial anderror, and before the R8:D department

Tip 4 - Project's simplicityDuring a project/product developmenta lot of ideas are created which usu- .ally expands the scope of the project.Most of the time this idea-expansionalso cripples the project. The onlyremedy that can be suggested is towrite down in the beginning a simpleproject statement and the goals withthe end-result that should be expected.In the case that the R&D team hascollaborators from other industries orequipment suppliers, the R&D managerhas to make sure that there is agree-ment about the objective and that theentire agreed concept is revisited regu-larly. Rememberwhen scope startscrippling the research, you will noticeit very fast.

Tip 5 - Work on your RaD projectevery dayDo not cripple you brain and creativityby forcing yourself to get done withthe project as soon as possible. The bestR8:D and hence product development isdone in small bites. The stimulus givento your brain by creative juices willstart to flow more freely if you use only

a half of your working day directlyinvolved in the REtDproject. For theREtDprocess it is not about how muchyou do it, but how often you do it. It isbrain exercise that counts.

Tip 6 - Break long-tenn projects intosmaller chunksIn order to manage all the expectationsand to stay motivated for year-long oreven longer endeavours the REtDper-sonnel should try to break each projectinto smaller chunks that will take onlya few weeks to complete. In that waythe REtDmanager can ensure that allthe employees will stay sharp andeveryone will feel that the project ismore manageable. By the end of eachproject chunk some incremental smallrewards should be provided in order tokeep the team members enthused aboutthe project. Even if there is a verylong way to go it is very important topause, to take stock of what has beenaccomplished and what is to be done.The creation of this momentum is veryimportant for long term projects that

require serious creativity and techno-logical knowledge.

Tip 7 - Meetings only for a reasonSometimes meetings can actually be aproductivity drain for REtD.Anyhow,in the case that people must meet, theREtDleader should ensure that every-one who will be attending the meetingknows what needs to be accomplishedfrom the outset. In the case that peoplethat do not help out in achieving theREtDobjective are present, the REtDmanager should find a nice way to tellthem that they can leave. A suggestionwould be that REtDmanagers will ask inthe beginning of the meeting a simplequestion such as: "Do we all know whywe are here?" or "Does everyone needto be here?" In order to trim the run-ning time of REtDmeetings, a standingmeeting would be as convenient and asproductive as long seated meetings.

Tip 8 - Be able to accept a no forsome ideasAs REtDmanager saying no to some

ideas is the essential part of doing thejob. Creative energy is not finite andtherefore saying no is the essential partof the productivity equation. When theREtDdepartment is in execution mode,please keep in mind that unexpectedopportunities also would meandistraction from the work at hand.

Tip 9 - REtD rules of productivity aremade to be broken sometimesBy developing routines during the REtDit should be followed only if they areworking. Sometimes big feed millersand their REtDdepartments tend tofollow up the rules set many years agowhen lots of things were very different.Suggestion is that if forward motionhas become impossible with your cur-rent routine, you should try somethingelse. Read the scientific publications orpublications from applied journals andbring in a new decision or create newroutines. Breaking non-working habitsoffers a new perspective and helps theREtDteam to recharge and head backto the fray. AAF