DOCSLIB.ORG

Comprehensive Innovation Management for Semiconductor Firms: Leading Practices, Capabilities and Tools by Joe Dury and Devin Bedwell

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Comprehensive Innovation Management for Semiconductor Firms: Leading Practices, Capabilities and Tools by Joe Dury and Devin Bedwell Comprehensive Innovation Management for Semiconductor Firms: Leading Practices, Capabilities and Tools by Joe Dury and Devin Bedwell VIEWPOINTS ON INNOVATION A PUBLICATION Executive Summary Semiconductor companies In 2009, Kalypso published a white paper are committed to consistently titled Semiconductor Product Lifecycle deliver meaningful growth Management: Industry Adoption, from innovation — a promise Benefits, and The Road Ahead. The few are prepared to deliver. paper highlighted the growing trend of leading semiconductor companies Without a clear innovation using Product Lifecycle Management strategy and roadmap, these (PLM) tools – specifically product data companies, and those held management (PDM) – to accelerate accountable for their results, product development, improve product Comprehensive Management Innovation Semiconductor for Firms are doomed to fail. quality, and reduce costs. Early adopters of PLM/PDM technology in the industry This paper reviews some of the leading saw development cost reductions of practices and enhanced tools that up to 40%, coupled with improved top companies in the semiconductor methods to efficiently support product industry use to stay ahead in an teams. In the years since that paper industry where comprehensive was published, leading semiconductor innovation management is companies have adopted a suite of becoming a critical requirement. more sophisticated processes, tools, and practices to cover the full innovation ON INNOVATION ON process and get new products to the market faster and cheaper while delivering on growth targets. VIEWPOINTS 2 Innovation progress has been good, Benefits of this more comprehensive but for most companies, the tools approach include reduced development and processes in place today are not costs, improved product quality, and sufficient to drive innovation with maximized return on Research and the new technology and increasing Development (R&D) investments. complexity of semiconductor products These improvements not only deliver of tomorrow. To achieve true on pressing cost-saving and margin- innovation results transformation, enhancement initiatives, but start all semiconductor firms must now the company on a path towards move beyond PDM and place more comprehensive innovation management. emphasis on first pass design success, efficient product introductions, and manufacturing flexibility. Comprehensive Management Innovation Semiconductor for Firms This will require a specific set of enhanced innovation capabilities, including: • A development product record that goes beyond existing product data record capabilities with a product data model that supports all phases of the development and innovation process • Portfolio and pipeline management tools and practices to unite engineering ON INNOVATION ON and development teams with corporate strategy and customer demand • Customer requirements management capabilities to align engineering and development teams with customer requirements and specifications, VIEWPOINTS and to identify and fix problems early in the design cycle 3 Scale and Collaboration Challenges in an Increasingly Complex Industry In order to stay ahead in the market, on new process nodes. Products that used to semiconductor companies need to remain contain 15 – 30 application blocks now have agile and quick-footed, with a focus on over 150 blocks, and design teams with 50 innovation and execution. Semiconductor engineers now require over 200 engineers companies have tools and processes in place spread across the globe. The cost of the to manage innovation today, but chips are development library, IP generation, and chip getting more complex with tighter product design for a 28nm System on a Chip (SOC) is introduction schedules and more intensive over $350 million USD, and that will rise with resource requirements. Companies must each new technology node2. have established innovation processes, global manufacturing and design locations, Intellectual Rising design costs - driven by increases in Property (IP) organic growth processes or transistor and cell count - reinforce the need licensing mechanisms, and the right balance to minimize time to market and maximize Comprehensive Management Innovation Semiconductor for Firms of technical capacity and capability to keep up in-market lifespans to pay for the new with the latest technological trends. technologies. Multiple re-spins and design flaws delay product launches, reduce the revenue The ability to scale these processes and life of the new product, and can even displace capabilities to support new products and the socket to a competitor. To deal with rising technologies is the key to future success. cost and complexity, semiconductor companies must have efficient design processes that can INCREASING DESIGN COMPLEXITY 190 scale to new technologies and ensure not just Design Cost ($M) Application Blocks $164 165 a successful tape-out, but also a successful, $104 81 $68 profitable and timely customer launch. $36 38 $18 16 Disparate Computer-aided Design (CAD), PLM, and New Product Introduction (NPI) tools need 90NM 65NM 40/50NM 32/28NM 22/20NM INNOVATION ON Process Technology Node to be integrated with instantaneous information Figure 1 Design Complexity1 sharing and communication environments to enable globally managed processes, changes, Figure 1 shows the increasing design and interdependent design tracking that is complexity as new products are introduced accessible by all teams and all locations. VIEWPOINTS 1 Source: International Business Strategies 2 Kay, Roger (2012, March 16), Rising Stakes In Semiconductor Game Squeeze Out All But A Few, Forbes Magazine 4 Equally important to NPI execution and in- need instant visibility into qualified processes, market lifespan is ensuring that resources tools, vendors and engineering teams to get are being used to develop the right products parts quickly to the end customers. Product, that customers want. Better visibility to the test and reliability teams each use their own product portfolio enables maximum alignment systems, Design Automation/CAD platforms, with customer needs and their own financial in-house tools, and processes. Efficient performance. collaboration is essential to the NPI process and can lower development costs, increase IP reuse, The need for visibility and constant compress development schedules, and improve collaboration has never been greater. To ensure product quality. that global and regional customer needs are met, typical semiconductor NPI efforts require Despite the challenges that the industry faces several hardware and software design teams, today, leading semiconductor companies can along with applications, product, reliability, maintain an innovative edge in a complex test, and production engineering teams across industry with enhanced practices and tools to the globe working in concert with global sales handle the increasing design complexity, manage and marketing teams. Internal manufacturing, portfolio decisions, and to increase global Comprehensive Management Innovation Semiconductor for Firms external foundries, internal and external final collaboration throughout the NPI process. manufacturing, wafer probe, and test locations ON INNOVATION ON VIEWPOINTS 5 Three New Leading Practices for Innovation At Kalypso, we suggest an innovation results transformation approach, supported by leading new product introduction practices, processes and tools. We have found that leaders in the semiconductor industry all have enhanced tools and capabilities built around improving the same basic priorities to overcome industry challenges. These priorities can be summarized in three leading practices. 1. First Pass Design Success innovation and collaboration dramatically improve the quality of their designs, leading to The most successful semiconductor companies higher first pass design success, lower overall possess a relentless focus on first pass success development costs, faster time-to-market, and for new Integrated Circuit (IC) designs and increased product margins. product solutions. A successful first pass design minimizes time to market and development costs, and maximizes the revenue life of a 2. Efficient New Product Comprehensive Management Innovation Semiconductor for Firms new product. Design re-spins and software Introductions kit updates massively increase development costs and lengthen the time-to-market for new With expanding product portfolios and limited products, frustrating customers. Low quality resources, semiconductor companies constantly first pass designs also produce unacceptable have to do more with less. Executives at leading yields which drive up cost, decrease profitability semiconductor companies have visibility into and increase the final release and qualification NPI projects in all phases from ideation to requirements. One semiconductor company execution. Looking at the development pipeline recently had to delay the launch of their from two perspectives - current resource load flagship processor because of multiple design and future projects to be launched - ensures re-spins and low production yields. This resulted that both the monetary and human resources in angry customers and third party developers, are allocated correctly, customer requirements ON INNOVATION ON and ultimately a loss in market share and stock are met, and changes are made quickly enough price for the company. to respond to an evolving industry landscape. Producing and taping out high quality designs Senior managers in development
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Quantum Imaging for Semiconductor Industry
    Quantum Imaging for Semiconductor Industry Anna V. Paterova1,*, Hongzhi Yang1, Zi S. D. Toa1, Leonid A. Krivitsky1, ** 1Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), 138634 Singapore *[email protected] **[email protected] Abstract Infrared (IR) imaging is one of the significant tools for the quality control measurements of fabricated samples. Standard IR imaging techniques use direct measurements, where light sources and detectors operate at IR range. Due to the limited choices of IR light sources or detectors, challenges in reaching specific IR wavelengths may arise. In our work, we perform indirect IR microscopy based on the quantum imaging technique. This method allows us to probe the sample with IR light, while the detection is shifted into the visible or near-IR range. Thus, we demonstrate IR quantum imaging of the silicon chips at different magnifications, wherein a sample is probed at 1550 nm wavelength, but the detection is performed at 810 nm. We also analyze the possible measurement conditions of the technique and estimate the time needed to perform quality control checks of samples. Infrared (IR) metrology plays a significant role in areas ranging from biological imaging1-5 to materials characterisation6 and microelectronics7. For example, the semiconductor industry utilizes IR radiation for non-destructive microscopy of silicon-based devices. However, IR optical components, such as synchrotrons8, quantum cascade lasers, and HgCdTe (also known as MCT) photodetectors, are expensive. Some of these components, in order to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio, may require cryogenic cooling, which further increases costs over the operational lifetime.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Semiconductor Industry | Accenture
    GLOBALITY AND COMPLEXITY of the Semiconductor Ecosystem The semiconductor industry is a truly global affair. Around the world, semiconductor chip designers use intellectual property (IP) licenses and design verification to provide designs to wafer fabricators, which use raw silicon, photomasks, and equipment to create chips for package manufacturing to assemble with printed circuit board (PCB) substrates for delivery to end customers. In fact, components for a chip could travel more than 25,000 miles by the time it finds its way into a television set, mobile phone, automobile, computer, or any of the millions of products that now rely on chips to operate (Figure 1). 2 | Globality and Complexity of the Semiconductor Ecosystem Figure 1: Components for a chip could travel more than 25,000 miles before completion IP Licenses Euipment Modules Package Raw Silicon Manufacturing PC Substrates Asembly Standard Products and Test components Wafer Fabrication Equipment Chip Design Design Verification Photomask Wafer Manufacturing Fabrication The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) and Accenture have teamed up to conduct a joint study on the globality and complexity of the semiconductor ecosystem to explore the interdependencies and benefits of the cross-border partnerships required to produce semiconductors, as well as to illustrate what’s needed to keep this global ecosystem operating efficiently and profitably. Industry executives can use this study to inform their company strategies, as well as to educate non-semiconductor partners, including policy makers, on the nature of their business to promote a better understanding of the important role semiconductors play in everyday life and on the globe-spanning ecosystem that’s needed to produce them.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Innovation Practices in Small Manufacturing Companies
    Review of Innovation Practices in Small Manufacturing Companies Anthony Warren and Gerald Susman Smeal College of Business The Pennsylvania State University With the assistance of Jonathan Butz Anupam Jaiswal Prashant Jhaveri Tolga Sakman Prepared for National Institute of Standards and Technology United States Department of Commerce Table of Contents Executive Summary......................................................................................................................5 1. Background..........................................................................................................................9 2. Definition of Innovation As Applied to This Project.........................................................14 3. Models of Innovation.........................................................................................................15 4. Taxonomy Derived by Testing Factors Related to Innovation Success ............................17 4.1 Development of Primary Categories and Key Factors .............................................17 4.2 Research Methodology .............................................................................................21 4.3 Results.......................................................................................................................22 5. Support for Factors Included in the Empirically Derived Taxonomy ...............................27 5.1 Manufacturing OR Service? .....................................................................................27 5.2 The Role
    [Show full text]
  • The Next Growth Engine for the Semiconductor Industry
    www.pwc.com The Internet of Things: The next growth engine for the semiconductor industry A study of global semi­ conductor trends and powerful drivers behind them – special focus on the impacts of Internet of Things. The Internet of Things: The next growth engine for the semiconductor industry A study of global semi­ conductor trends and powerful drivers behind them – special focus on the impacts of Internet of Things. The Internet of Things: The next growth engine for the semiconductor industry Published by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft By Raman Chitkara, Werner Ballhaus, Olaf Acker, Dr. Bin Song, Anand Sundaram and Maria Popova May 2015, 36 pages, 8 figures The results of this survey and the contributions from our experts are meant to serve as a general reference for our clients. For advice on individual cases, please refer to the sources cited in this study or consult one of the PwC contacts listed at the end of the publication. Publications express the opinions of the authors. All rights reserved. Reproduction, microfilming, storing or processing in electronic media is not allowed without the permission of the publishers. Printed in Germany © May 2015 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. MW-15-2285 Preface Preface The ever-expanding array of cutting-edge devices such as smartphones, tablets, ultramobile, electric cars, new aircraft, and wearable devices, is driving a constant expansion of the number of semiconductor components we use in our daily lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Microscope Innovation Issue Fall 2020
    Masks • COVID-19 Testing • PAPR Fall 2020 CHIhealth.com The Innovation Issue “Armor” invention protects test providers 3D printing boosts PPE supplies CHI Health Physician Journal WHAT’S INSIDE Vol. 4, Issue 1 – Fall 2020 microscope is a journal published by CHI Health Marketing and Communications. Content from the journal may be found at CHIhealth.com/microscope. SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES Marketing and Communications Tina Ames Division Vice President Making High-Quality Masks 2 for the Masses Public Relations Mary Williams CHI Health took a proactive approach to protecting the community by Division Director creating and handing out thousands of reusable facemasks which were tested to ensure they were just as effective after being washed. Editorial Team Sonja Carberry Editor TACKLING CHALLENGES Julie Lingbloom Graphic Designer 3D Printing Team Helps Keep Taylor Barth Writer/Associate Editor 4 PAPRs in Use Jami Crawford Writer/Associate Editor When parts of Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRS) were breaking, Anissa Paitz and reordering proved nearly impossible, a team of creators stepped in with a Writer/Associate Editor workable prototype that could be easily produced. Photography SHARING RESOURCES Andrew Jackson Grassroots Effort Helps Shield 6 Nebraska from COVID-19 About CHI Health When community group PPE for NE decided to make face shields for health care providers, CHI Health supplied 12,000 PVC sheets for shields and CHI Health is a regional health network headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The 119 kg of filament to support their efforts. combined organization consists of 14 hospitals, two stand-alone behavioral health facilities, more than 150 employed physician ADVANCING CAPABILITIES practice locations and more than 12,000 employees in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa.
    [Show full text]
  • Semiconductor Science for Clean Energy Technologies
    LEVERAGING SEMICONDUCTOR SCIENCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES Keeping the lights on in the United States consumes 350 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annu- ally. Most of that light still comes from incandescent bulbs, which haven’t changed much since Thomas Edison invented them 140 years ago. But now a dramatically more efficient lighting tech- nology is seeing rapid adoption: semiconductor devices known as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use 85 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, last 25 times as long, and have the potential to save U.S. consumers a huge portion of the electricity now used for lighting. High-performance solar power plant in Alamosa, Colorado. It generates electricity with multi-layer solar cells, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, that absorb and utilize more of the sun’s energy. (Dennis Schroeder / National Renewable Energy Laboratory) How we generate electricity is also changing. The costs of to produce an electrical current. The challenge has been solar cells that convert light from the sun into electricity to improve the efficiency with which solar cells convert have come down dramatically over the past decade. As a sunlight to electricity and to reduce their cost for commer- result, solar power installations have grown rapidly, and cial applications. Initially, solar cell production techniques in 2016 accounted for a significant share of all the new borrowed heavily from the semiconductor industry. Silicon electrical generating capacity installed in the U.S. This solar cells are built on wafers cut from ingots of crystal- grid-scale power market is dominated by silicon solar cells, line silicon, just as are the chips that drive computers.
    [Show full text]
  • Semiconductor Industry
    Semiconductor industry Heat transfer solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry In the microelectronics industry a the cleanroom, an area where the The following applications are all semiconductor fabrication plant environment is controlled to manufactured in a semicon fab: (commonly called a fab) is a factory eliminate all dust – even a single where devices such as integrated speck can ruin a microcircuit, which Microchips: Manufacturing of chips circuits are manufactured. A business has features much smaller than with integrated circuits. that operates a semiconductor fab for dust. The cleanroom must also be LED lighting: Manufacturing of LED the purpose of fabricating the designs dampened against vibration and lamps for lighting purposes. of other companies, such as fabless kept within narrow bands of PV industry: Manufacturing of solar semiconductor companies, is known temperature and humidity. cells, based on Si wafer technology or as a foundry. If a foundry does not also thin film technology. produce its own designs, it is known Controlling temperature and Flat panel displays: Manufacturing of as a pure-play semiconductor foundry. humidity is critical for minimizing flat panels for everything from mobile static electricity. phones and other handheld devices, Fabs require many expensive devices up to large size TV monitors. to function. The central part of a fab is Electronics: Manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCB), computer and electronic components. Semiconductor plant Waste treatment The cleanroom Processing equipment Preparation of acids and chemicals Utility equipment Wafer preparation Water treatment PCW Water treatment UPW The principal layout and functions of would be the least complex, requiring capacities. Unique materials combined the fab are similar in all the industries.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship Between Innovation and Tourism: the Case of Smart Tourism
    International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 12, Number 23 (2017) pp. 13861-13867 © Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com The Relationship between Innovation and Tourism: The Case of Smart Tourism Dr. Demet Tüzünkan Assistant Professor Woosong College Sol International Hotel & Foodservice Department. 171, Dongdaejeon-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon, Korea, 34606. 0000-0003-0440-294X Abstract Innovation can be an idea, practice, process, or product that turns a problem-solving idea into practice (Ottenbacher and Innovation, derived from the Latin word "innovatus", means Gnoth, 2005: 206). Indeed, Drucker considers innovation as to turn an idea into a product that can be sold or developed an opportunity (Sipe and Testa, 2009: 2). Therefore, (goods or services) (TÜSİAD, 2003:53). Innovation means to innovation is not just a concept for concrete products, but also start using new methods in the social, cultural and for businesses that provide services to customers, such as administrative environment and it is covered with words such restaurant or hotel management. as renovation or renewal. However, the meaning of innovation is too broad to be expressed in a single word. According to the In today's increasingly competitive environment, scientists, Oslo Guide, innovation is the implementation of a new or researchers and practitioners focus on the necessity and significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a importance of innovation to achieve sustainable competitive new marketing method, or a new organizational method in advantage and focus on improving products, processes, business practices, workplace organization or external techniques or procedures and constantly changing their relations and thus transforming it into economic and social managerial understandings (Oerlemans, Buys and Pretorius, benefits (Demirkaya ve Zengin, 2014:107).
    [Show full text]
  • Strategic Innovation in Tourism. a Conceptual and Review Approach
    International Journal of Research in Tourism and Hospitality (IJRTH) Volume 2, Issue 4, 2016, PP 5-10 ISSN 2455-0043 http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2455-0043.0204002 www.arcjournals.org Strategic Innovation in Tourism. A Conceptual and Review Approach Almaz Sandybayev Faculty Member, Business Administration Department, Abu Dhabi Men’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE Abstract: Tourism is one of the fastest growing and promising areas of management with a high economic and social importance for the economy of many countries. Current conditions of tough competition in the tourist market, economic and political instability in many regions, the fast-growing needs and demands of tourists are proposing a new challenge of transition to an innovative path of tourism development industry. The article discusses the issues of strategic innovative activity in the sphere of tourism and presents the main areas of innovation in the tourism sector, as well as factors affecting the innovative development of tourism. According to the author, the number of factors underlying features of innovative activity in the sphere of tourism includes specific properties of the tourism product, producers and consumers of tourism services. The purpose of the article is to describe the principles and basic requirements for the management system of innovation in tourism in the macro- and microeconomic levels. Keywords: tourism, innovation, innovation in tourism, management. 1. INTRODUCTION Innovation is considered as a major source of competitive advantage and economic growth (Porter and Ketels, 2003). Innovation is a set of scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial activities aimed at commercialization of existing knowledge, technologies and equipment.
    [Show full text]
  • Electric Power Grid Modernization Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
    Electric Power Grid Modernization Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Michael I. Henderson, Damir Novosel, and Mariesa L. Crow November 2017. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License. Background The traditional electric power grid connected large central generating stations through a high- voltage (HV) transmission system to a distribution system that directly fed customer demand. Generating stations consisted primarily of steam stations that used fossil fuels and hydro turbines that turned high inertia turbines to produce electricity. The transmission system grew from local and regional grids into a large interconnected network that was managed by coordinated operating and planning procedures. Peak demand and energy consumption grew at predictable rates, and technology evolved in a relatively well-defined operational and regulatory environment. Ove the last hundred years, there have been considerable technological advances for the bulk power grid. The power grid has been continually updated with new technologies including increased efficient and environmentally friendly generating sources higher voltage equipment power electronics in the form of HV direct current (HVdc) and flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) advancements in computerized monitoring, protection, control, and grid management techniques for planning, real-time operations, and maintenance methods of demand response and energy-efficient load management. The rate of change in the electric power industry continues to accelerate annually. Drivers for Change Public policies, economics, and technological innovations are driving the rapid rate of change in the electric power system. The power system advances toward the goal of supplying reliable electricity from increasingly clean and inexpensive resources. The electrical power system has transitioned to the new two-way power flow system with a fast rate and continues to move forward (Figure 1).
    [Show full text]
  • Mckinsey on Semiconductors
    McKinsey on Semiconductors Creating value, pursuing innovation, and optimizing operations Number 7, October 2019 McKinsey on Semiconductors is Editorial Board: McKinsey Practice Publications written by experts and practitioners Ondrej Burkacky, Peter Kenevan, in McKinsey & Company’s Abhijit Mahindroo Editor in Chief: Semiconductors Practice along with Lucia Rahilly other McKinsey colleagues. Editor: Eileen Hannigan Executive Editors: To send comments or request Art Direction and Design: Michael T. Borruso, copies, email us: Leff Communications Bill Javetski, McKinsey_on_ Semiconductors@ Mark Staples McKinsey.com. Data Visualization: Richard Johnson, Copyright © 2019 McKinsey & Cover image: Jonathon Rivait Company. All rights reserved. © scanrail/Getty Images Managing Editors: This publication is not intended to Heather Byer, Venetia Simcock be used as the basis for trading in the shares of any company or for Editorial Production: undertaking any other complex or Elizabeth Brown, Roger Draper, significant financial transaction Gwyn Herbein, Pamela Norton, without consulting appropriate Katya Petriwsky, Charmaine Rice, professional advisers. John C. Sanchez, Dana Sand, Sneha Vats, Pooja Yadav, Belinda Yu No part of this publication may be copied or redistributed in any form without the prior written consent of McKinsey & Company. Table of contents What’s next for semiconductor How will changes in the 3 profits and value creation? 47 automotive-component Semiconductor profits have been market affect semiconductor strong over the past few years. companies? Could recent changes within the The rise of domain control units industry stall their progress? (DCUs) will open new opportunities for semiconductor companies. Artificial-intelligence hardware: Right product, right time, 16 New opportunities for 50 right location: Quantifying the semiconductor companies semiconductor supply chain Artificial intelligence is opening Problems along the the best opportunities for semiconductor supply chain semiconductor companies in are difficult to diagnose.
    [Show full text]
  • The Product Innovation Engineering Program and International Collaboration
    AC 2009-1134: THE PRODUCT INNOVATION ENGINEERING PROGRAM AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION Martin Grimheden, Royal Institute of Technology Page 14.1243.1 Page © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 The Product Innovation Engineering Program and International Collaboration Abstract This article summarizes efforts undertaken within the Swedish Product Innovation Engineering program (PIEp), in the area of education for product innovation. A key aspect of the program is to create a systematic change in higher engineering education in product development, to move toward a focus on innovative product development, where entrepreneurship thrives and student ideas are brought to reality. Examples include the introduction of new undergraduate and graduate courses in innovation engineering, close integration between project courses offered at PIEp partner universities, joint research projects, and workshops that allow entrepreneurs and companies to better utilize student ideas and projects. During the first years of PIEp, in the build-up phase, a large effort has been placed on creating an international network of ‘innovation friends’. The founders strongly believe that the ‘wheel should not be invented again – rather that there is an obligation to search for, find, and gather all relevant actors within this field, on a global arena. Within the rather limited network of partners and friends established this far, several common interest areas have been explored, including activities such as university-spanning workshops and collaborative projects. Introduction – The Product Innovation Engineering Program, PIEp The Product Innovation Engineering program (PIEp) is a Swedish national research and development program with the purpose of enhancing product innovation capability within Swedish universities and companies. PIEp was launched in late 2006, with governmental funding, 1 as the Product Innovation Engineering Program, PIEp.
    [Show full text]