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Business Innovation Observatory
Trend report
Smart factories, clean tech
and customer experience;
how to scale-up the success
of learning with users?
October 2014
Enterprise
and Industry
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Trend reportSmart factories, clean tech and customer experience;
how to scale-up the success of learning with users?
Business Innovation Observatory
Contract No 190/PP/ENT/CIP/12/C/N03C01
Authors:Gavriel Avigdor, Nicolas Gauders, Hugo Hollanders, Rebeca Lucas, Natalia Mielech and Ren
Wintjes.
Coordination:Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, Directorate B Sustainable Growth and
EU 2020, Unit B3 Innovation Policy for Growth.
European Union, October 2014
The views expressed in this report, as well as the information included in it, do not necessarily reflect the official opinion or
position of the European Commission and in no way commit the institution. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy
of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Comm issions behalf may be held
responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Table of Contents
Executive summary 2
1. Overview and context of three trends 4
1.1. Smart factories 4
1.2. Clean technologies 6
1.3. Customer experience 9
1.4. Conclusion 11
2. Case studies 12
2.1. Description of case-studies and companies 12
2.2. Examples of companies, innovative solutions and success signals 15
3. Key innovation drivers and obstacles 19
3.1. Smart factories 19
3.2. Clean technologies 19
3.3. Customer experience 20
4. Policy context and policy challenges: policies, regulations and instruments affecting the trends 21
4.1. Policy context 21
4.2. Policy context per trend 23
4.3. Policy challenges 26
5. Good policy practices 29
5.1. Smart factories 29
5.2. Clean technologies 30
5.3. Customer experience 31
6. Policy recommendations 32
6.1. Recommendations from the case studies per trend 32
6.2. Synthesis of recommendations resulting from the workshop 33
7. Conclusions 36
8. Literature 37
9. Annexes 38
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List of figures
Figure 1: Criteria used for identification of trends and selection of case studies 4
Figure 2: EU manufacturing production and employment (2010=100) 5
Figure 3: Estimated Smart application processes market value (in EUR million) 5
Figure 4: Global venture and growth equity investment in cleantech companies, 2011-2013 7
Figure 5: Cleantech innovation performance 7
Figure 6: The material savings potential in European manufacturing per year 8
Figure 7: Global advanced analytics market growth (in billion EUR) 10
Figure 8: Ranking of online services capability to influence customer behaviour 10
Figure 9: From passive exchange of value to co-creation of value 11
Figure 10: Co-creation of societal and economic impact 11
Figure 11: Actors involved in policy promoting smart and clean production 30
List of tables
Table 1: Description of trends 4
Table 2: Increases in revenues due to improved customer experience 9
Table 3: Examples of solutions providing companies 16
Table 4: Main drivers and obstacles for smart factories 19
Table 5: Main drivers and obstacles for clean technologies 19
Table 6: Main drivers and obstacles for customer experience 20
Table 7: Case-study policy challenges 27
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Executive summary
The main objective of the Business Innovation Observatory is
to identify and showcase successful and relevant business
innovation trends, for which the beneficial socio-economic
impacts justify public investments in scaling up the success.
This third Trend Report first provides an overview and
context of three identified trends. The trends involve: the use
of new manufacturing processes in Smart Factories, newenvironmental technologies and circular organisational
models concerning material flows (clean tech), and new
marketing practices in the case of Customer Experience. To
put it short: without Smart Factories Europe will continue to
lose more manufacturing jobs, without clean tech we will
continue to produce more waste, and without improving
customer experience, companies will not satisfy clients and
lose them.
Smart factoriesmesh business and production processes
with one another, draw on IT systems to optimize the use
and capacity of machines, react to production defects, andminimize adverse impacts. As such, smart factories are a key
component of the fourth industrial revolution and draw upon
innovations in for instance: smart process applications; next
generation forging; crowdsourced manufacturing; and
capacity optimization. Over the last decade manufacturing
jobs in the EU have decreased by 20%. The trend of Smart
Factories is essential to reverse this decrease and for a
European Industrial Renaissance to come true. The trend
emphasises the central importance and the possibilities of
industry for creating jobs and sustainable growth.
Clean tech represents innovative products and services
that: are superior in terms of their performance; reduce
negative ecological impacts; and contribute to the more
productive and responsible use of resources. The four case
studies of this trend concern: Closed-loop waste
management; Circular supply chains; Advanced Reverse
Treatment Technologies; and Energy harvesting. Successful
existing solutions developed by successful companies are
showcased. The potential impact includes for instance the
material savings in European manufacturing which are
estimated to be around 450 billion.
Customer Experience describes the idea of placing
customers at the centre of all considerations prior, duringand after the purchase of products or services. Increased
internet penetration rates provide enterprises with a new
medium through which they can engage and interact with
customers. In the past, enterprises relied heavily on
traditional market research that drew on focus groups and
interviews; however, enterprises seek to better meet the
needs of existing and prospective customers by drawing on
the high volume, variety and velocity of data emanatingfrom consumers online activity. By making modest
improvements in customer experience a hypothetical 100
billion company can gain additional revenues of up to 263
million over a three year period. The four case studies of this
trend concern: Neuro-marketing innovations; Predictive
Analytics; Enhanced customers support; and Customers
incentives.
In a second section the 12 case studies and a selection of
successful companies and their solutions are presented. The
cases show that visions on a future with more jobs, less
waste and more satisfied customers are real, since manysuccessful solutions already exist today, but the trends
should be scaled up in order to increase their full economic
and societal impact.
A third section describes the drivers and obstacles of a
further up-take. The main drivers concern new technologies,
regulation and high and increasing market potential and
awareness of the socio-economic impacts. The main
obstacles are: lack of understanding of the trends and
technologies involved, lacking awareness of the costs and
benefits, the (fear for the) disruptive nature, and the trends-
specific concerns regarding access to funding & skills.
In section 4 the policy context and policy challenges are
described. Many policy domains are influencing the business
innovation trends. At the EU level the many relevant
directives and programmes include those on research and
innovation policy (e.g. Horizon 2020 and COSME), financial
instruments, Entrepreneurship policy and Small Business Act
in support of SMEs, Data protection Regulation, Public
Procurement rules, Competition policy and state-aid rules,
ICT policies and instruments, and Consumer policy.
Subsequently a selection of good practice policies (at EU,
national and regional level) are discussed which couldsupport the scaling up of the successes of the business
innovation trends. Based on the case studies and the
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workshop, recommendations have been formulated in
chapter 6.
Chapter 7 concludes that a commonality in the three trends
is that they represent a more sustainable and systemic view
with circular feed-back-loops compared to the traditional,
linear, short term view on passive market-transactions. Inall the three trends it is not just about passive selling
(exchanging and extracting value), but about co-creation of
value. The creation of value from learning with users
contradicts with the old dictionary definition of consume:
meaning destroy, use up, or waste. Users of solutions
concerning the trends of smart factory, clean tech &
customer experience, continue the value creation process
through use. Generating societal and economic impact from
enabling technologies requires value co-creation from
collaboration and learning with users.
The recommendations are formulated into concrete
recommendations:
Facilitate the development and diffusion of
knowledge to scale up the trends:a first concrete
suggestion in this respect is to develop and diffuse
examples of cross-sector licence agreements which
allow the use of the application in another sector, but
agree not to sell it in the former sector. The second
concrete proposal is to establish a Proof of Concept
Fund in order to accelerate the evidence and trust in
solutions.
Adjust education and skills to scale up theinnovation trends:a concrete recommendation is to
promote pilot plants and learning lab environments
where experts and researchers can experiment, test
and learn with potential SME users and students. A
second recommendation is to support EU scale
mentorship programs with industry.
Develop stable regulatory frameworks:a concreterecommendation is to set up obstacle oriented forums
to solve regulatory issues, involving producers and
users of innovative solutions and regulators, and
possible other stakeholders.
Apply new models to measure socio-economic
impact: methods and indicators should be developed
and applied which allow stakeholders to evaluate the
costs and benefits of the introduction of new
innovative approaches for society, in terms of
economic, social and green impact.
Promote new collaborative approaches: Develop
and promote online community platforms on specific
sub-trends in for instance one of the over 30 clean
tech sub-sectors, which involve innovators, researchers,
users, investors and teachers.
Promote novel approaches to financing
innovation: two concrete recommendations are the
standardisation of regulation and procedures
concerning crowdfunding and the setting up of a Proof
of Concept Fund.
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1.Overview and context of three trendsThe procedure for the identification of new trends andrelevant company cases was based on a thorough review of
business literature and policy documents in order to identify
significant trends with socio-economic relevance.
The identification process for trends and case studies
involved two different approaches: the first one was a top-
down approach in order to identify significant and relevant
trends concerning their macro-level socio-economic impact
(Figure 1). The process involved a review of business
innovation literature and policy documents, an online search
for relevant trends in business-innovation along with the
consideration of current policy and trends.
Figure 1: Criteria used for identification of trends and
selection of case studies
The second was a bottom-up approach based on the
identification at the micro-level of companies which have
brought innovative solutions (products, services or processes)
to the market successfully. A wide range of sources was
used including internal and external company databases,
news and press releases, awards and contests, and industry
reports. Company cases were assessed based on both early
success signals (e.g. press reviews, first fund raisings,
awards, acquisition by an MNC, and technology transfers)
and late success signals (e.g. well performing fund
managers, high growth, initial public offerings (IPOs),
commercial contracts, and new rounds of fundraising).
Based on the identified trends and the pool of identified
company cases, the topics for potential case studies were
defined. This section provides some empirical backgroundinformation and evidence of three trends (Table 1)and their
societal and economic impact.
Table 1: Description of trends
Trend Description
SmartFactories
Smart factories mesh business andproduction processes with one another, drawon IT systems to optimise the use andcapacity of machines, react to productiondefects, and minimise adverse impacts. Assuch, smart factories are a key component of
the fourth industrial revolution and draw uponinnovations in for instance smart processapplications; next generation forging;crowdsourced manufacturing; and capacityoptimisation.
CleanTechnologies
Clean technology, otherwise known as clean
tech, represents innovative products and
services that: are superior in terms of theirperformance; reduce negative ecologicalimpacts; and contribute to the moreproductive and responsible use of resources.
CustomerExperience
Customer Experience describes the idea ofplacing customers at the centre of all
considerations prior, during and after thepurchase of products or services. Increasedinternet penetration rates provide enterpriseswith a new medium through which they canengage and interact with customers.In the past, enterprises relied heavily ontraditional market research that drew onfocus groups and interviews; however,enterprises seek to better meet the needs ofexisting and prospective customers bydrawing on the high volume, variety andvelocity of data emanating from consumers
online activity.
1.1.
Smart factories
Although manufacturing employment has been declining
rapidly over the last decade (Figure 2), the manufacturing
sector still contributes significantly to the European
economy, but an industrial renaissance is urgent. In 2010
about one in ten (9.8%) of all enterprises in the EU27 were
dedicated to manufacturing activities generating 27.1% of
total turnover and employing 22.6% of all people employed.1
These shares of manufacturing in European economies have
1Own calculations using data from Eurostats Structural BusinessStatistics.
case-studies on
3 trends :
1.Smart factories
2.Clean tech
3.Customer
experience
Macro success
criteria :
significant and
relevant socio-
economic impacts
Micro success
criteria :
Innovative and
successful trend
driving / solutions
providing
companies
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been declining over time due to increased competition from
abroad, fragmentation of value chains and a growing
services sector.
Figure 2: EU manufacturing production and
employment (2010=100)
Source: European Competitiveness Report 2013
However, manufacturing still has one of the highest
multiplier effects of all sectors; it is driving technological
innovation and providing skilled and well-paid jobs.2As
stated in the Dutch Smart Industry report,3business services
and other non-industry sectors strongly benefit from
demand from manufacturing industries. For every euro of EU
manufacturing output, 34 cents of input comes from other
supply sectors, so the influence of manufacturing goes far
beyond its direct contribution to GDP and employment.
Moreover, manufacturing disproportionately contributes to
exports, R&D, innovation, and productivity growth.4
Europe's economy cannot survive in a sustainable way
without a strong and profoundly reshaped industrial base.
The communication 'For a European Industrial Renaissance'
(2014) therefore urged Member States to recognise the
central importance of industry for creating jobs and growth.
As pointed out by the 2014 report of the Task Force on
Advanced Manufacturing for Clean Production,5Europe is the
global leader in supplying advanced manufacturing solutions,
but it lags behind in using them. For scaling up the long-term, macro-level (social, green and economic) benefits, it is
important to increase the use of advanced manufacturing in
European factories. In collaborative partnerships with users,
both the supplier and user learn how to develop and deploy
new smart manufacturing solutions.
2Cf. Mazarro, 20123Smart Industry; Dutch industry fit for the future (FME et al. 2014,
p.14);4McKinsey Global Institute (2012).5'Advancing Manufacturing - Advancing Europe' - Report of the TaskForce on Advanced Manufacturing for Clean Production, SWD(2014)120 final.
A smart process application is a new type of process-
centric and content-rich software used for supporting
business activities that are people intensive, highly variable,
loosely structured and subject to frequent change. The new
software category alters the way people create, manage and
interact with business activities by drawing on imported or
embedded data; a platform on which contributors can createcontent; process management for executing each step of the
business activity; document capture, output and
management capabilities; and embedded analytical tools.
When deployed within smart factories, smart process
applications analyse data collected by devices along
production lines to provide meaningful information to
management who, in turn, is able to make well-informed
decisions in complex, dynamic work environments. Smart
Process Applications have a tremendous market potential.
The market for Smart Process Applications is estimated to
reach EUR 20.2 billion by 2015, and to grow at a CompoundAnnual Growth Rate of roughly 18% towards 2018 (Figure
3).
Figure 3: Estimated Smart application processes
market value (in EUR million)
Source: TechNavio6
Next generation forgingis another smart factories trend.
It combines green and economic impact as it involves
integrating energy efficiency and pollution prevention into
the design of its processing systems. In order to do so, it
draws on lighter, stronger, and higher-quality alloys, which
enable forgings to compete with alternative materials; and
computer software that simulates heat-treatment, machinedistortion and design optimisation, thereby enabling forging
processes to predict the microstructure and mechanical
properties of products.
The industry can roughly be broken down into companies
focusing on castings and companies focusing on forgings.
The castings industry is well founded in the European
economy. The European foundry industry for ferrous castings
is the second largest in the world, though far behind China in
6Global Smart Process Application Market 2014-2018, TechNavio
(2013).
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this respect. For non-ferrous castings, however, the European
industry is estimated to be the largest in the world by
production volume.
On the demand side, the automotive industry is the most
important market segment. While iron castings are mostly
used in the automotive industry, steels castings areespecially used in the engineering and valve making
industries. Considering forgings, the European production
market collapsed in 2009 and has been recovering to a pre-
crisis point in 2010-11. There is significant growth potential
in volume due to the general Platform strategy and the
trends of downsizing engines, more Diesel powered cars and
four-wheel driven SUVs.
The smart factory trend also involves examples of open
innovation. Crowdsourced manufacturing is the process
by which manufacturers design products by combining their
patents with the services, ideas or content of the crowd. The
crowds input is typically uploaded onto a platform that is
used by manufacturers to co-design and test products within
a virtual (or real) environment.
The market for crowdsourced manufacturing is potentially
large. The value creation that can be achieved by this trend
stretches all along the manufacturing value chain, from
product development to business support functions and
customer service in a variety of manufacturing sectors, such
as consumer goods and advanced manufacturing, such as
semiconductors, automotive, and aerospace and defence,
By 2017, more than half of consumer goods manufacturerswill receive 75% of their consumer innovation and R&D
capabilities from crowdsourced solutions. According to the
research company Gartner,7consumer goods companies that
employ crowdsourcing in marketing campaigns or new
product development will boost their revenue by 1%
compared tonon-crowdsourced competitorsby 2015. So
crowdsourcing does bring companies a competitive edge,
according to Gartner. Indeed, Gartner sees a massive shift
toward applications of crowdsourcing, enabled by
technology, such as advertising, online communities,
scientific problem solving, internal new product ideas and
consumer-created products.
Capacity optimisation is the process by which
manufacturers avoid the sub-optimum use of their
resources. In order to do so, manufacturers are increasingly
using information and communication technologies (ICT) to
design production plans that consider a factory s logical
process; capacity; time set-up; flexibility; and constraints.
Examples of innovative services supporting the capacity
optimisation of factories include cyber-physical systems and
marketplaces; smart robots and machines; big data analytics;
increased connectivity and virtual industrialisation.
7http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2603215
Experts agree that future production facilities will be much
smarter than todays factories. This intelligence will be made
possible by the use of miniaturised processors, storage units,
sensors, and transmitters that will be embedded in nearly all
conceivable types of machines, unfinished products, and
materials, as well as smart tools and new software for
structuring data flows. All of these innovations will enableproducts and machines to communicate with one another
and exchange commands. In other words, the factories of
the future will optimise and control their manufacturing
processes largely by themselves. However, experts also
agree that it will take a very long time to get to that point.
Still, that doesnt make the trend any less significant for
society. The German federal government has set aside
approximately EUR 200 million to help industry associations,
research institutes, and companies develop an
implementation strategy. The U.S. government also develops
its innovative manufacturing strategy. It plans to provide upto EUR 700 billion in funding for the establishment of a
national network of research institutes and businesses.
Public authorities are responsible for making ubiquitous
broadband networks available, and industry needs to put
data standardisation and transmission protocol systems into
place in a timely manner.
1.2.
Clean technologies
Clean technology, otherwise known as cleantech, refers to
innovative products and services that are superior in terms
of their performance; reduce negative ecological impacts;and contribute to a more productive and responsible use of
resources. The emergence of clean tech as a trend is deeply
embedded in productivity-based purchasing, which facilitates
its broader market economics for enhancing sustainability.
Thus, clean tech differs from the compliance-based
purchasing of environmental tech or green tech, both of
which describe the regulation driven market of the 1970s
and 1980s.
Cleantech is a fast growing market. In 2011 the global value
of cleantech manufacturing reached 198 billion and
although growth has been slowing down, the global value of
the cleantech sector is expected to be between 240 and
290 billion in 2015, close to that of the oil and gas
equipment market.8In 2011 China had the largest cleantech
sector (57 billion) followed by the EU (47 billion) and the
US (37 billion).
Venture capital investment is an indicator of start-up
activities and has declined from above 7 billion in 2011 to
8Van der Slot, A., W. van den Berg (2012), Clean Economy, LivingPlanet The Race to the Top of Global Clean Energy TechnologyManufacturing 2012, a report by Roland Berger StrategyConsultants for WWF.http://www.rolandberger.com/media/pdf/Roland_Berger_WWF_Clean_Economy_20120606.pdf
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less than 5 billion in 2013.9About half of cleantech venture
capital is devoted to energy-related technologies (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Global venture and growth equity investment
in cleantech companies, 2011-2013
Source: Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2014
Innovation performance at country level is measured by the
Global Cleantech Innovation Index which uses data for 15
indicators and captures both inputs to and outputs of
innovation (Parad et al., 2014). A comparison of the index in
201210 and 2014 shows that for most European countries
innovation performance has declined, in particular for
Denmark and Germany (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Cleantech innovation performance
Source: Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012, Global Cleantech
Innovation Index 2014
9 Parad, M., S. Henningsson, T.A. Currs, R. Youngman (2014), TheGlobal Cleantech Innovation Index 2014 Nurturing tomorrowstransformative entrepreneurs.http://info.cleantech.com/CleantechIndex2014.html
10Knowles, V., S. Henningsson, R. Youngman, A. Faulkner (2012),Coming Clean: The Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012.http://info.cleantech.com/2012InnovationIndex.html
Closed-loop waste managementrefers to the process by
which waste from one product is used to make another
product. The rise of this business innovation has been
facilitated by clean tech, which has triggered a shift from a
linear production model (Take, Make, Dispose) to a closed -
loop model (Cradle to Cradle).
The clean technologies applied in the closed-loop waste
management use extremely different techniques. As closed-
loop seeks to eliminate waste, the techniques must adapt to
the type of waste. Dealing with metal is not the same as
dealing with coffee. However, whatever sector they are used
in, all these clean technologies share the same objective of
leveraging on waste while not harming the environment.
These technologies are sparking a transition from the linear
model of production and consumption. In the traditional
model, the product life cycle has been characterised by
manufactured goods being created, used and disposed of as
waste. In the long term, it is unlikely that this cradle to
grave approach for products will be sustainable, as
resources become increasingly constrained and threaten
todays linear model economy.
The will to decouple growth from resource constraints has
led to the emergence of innovative waste management
activities, which have contributed to the EUs share of
municipal waste that has been recycled or composted rising
from 18% in 1995 to 42% in 2012.11Similarly, innovative
waste management activities are providing market players
with the opportunity to capitalise on EUR 750 billion of
material savings.12
The term circular supply chain fits within the broader
trend of the circular economy. The concept of the circular
economy is grounded in the study of non-linearity,
particularly observed in living systems. A major insight based
on the study of living organisms or eco-systems is the notion
to optimise systems rather than components. This involves
careful management of material flows, which in the circular
economy are distinguished as either biological or
mechanical. Biological materials are designed to re-enter the
biosphere safely and build natural capital (e.g. bacteria break
down leftover food into compost, used for plant growth).Technical materials are designed to circulate at high quality
within the circular supply chain. They are not meant to enter
the biosphere.
It is argued that repairable objects are becoming
unnecessary due to increased levels of recycling. However,
11Eurostat, 2014, In 2012, 42% of treated municipal waste wasrecycled or composted, Available at:http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/8-25032014-AP/EN/8-25032014-AP-EN.PDF [Accessed on 05 May 2014]
12World Economic Forum, 2014, Towards the circular economy:Accelerating the scale-up across global supply chains, Availableat: http://reports.weforum.org/toward-the-circular-economy-accelerating-the-scale-up-across-global-supply-chains[Accessed on 05 May 2014]
-2.0 -1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
GreeceBulgaria
PolandRomania
TurkeyCzech Republic
SloveniaItaly
SpainPortugalHungaryBelgiumAustriaFrance
NorwayJapan
NetherlandsIreland
GermanySwitzerland
CanadaUK
DenmarkSwedenFinland
Israel
Change to 2012 Cleantech Innovation Index 2014
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most recycling processes result in new materials of a lower
quality and with a limited range of application areas.
The most effective circular supply chain consists of a
combination of various loops. It starts with the small loops
like reuse, enhancement and repair which can be conducted
by consumers themselves. Reuse activities increase theintensity with which each product is used before it reaches
end-of-life. Repair and enhance activities extend a products
life-cycle.
The environmental benefits of circular supply chains are
evident. In addition, circular supply chains (as part of a
nation-wide circular economy) increase the future resource
security of companies and countries. This becomes
increasingly important with rising world population numbers
and scarcer natural resource supplies. Companies and
consumers can save substantial amounts of money by
consuming fewer resources (Figure 6). This might be
substantiated by heavier taxation of resource consumption.
Figure 6: The material savings potential in European
manufacturing per year
Source: Ellen MacArthur Faundation and McKinsey
Next to the financial opportunities, a circular economy has
indirect benefits for business as well. Supply chains are
better managed, companies become less sensitive to price
volatility of resources, and they build a longer and better
relationship with their customers and other supply chain
partners.13
Advanced Reverse Treatment Technologies (ARTTs)
encompasses the processes used to transform wastewater
into a reusable and safe resource. As a part of the clean-
technologies, they intend to lessen the pollution related to
wastewater in the environment. The introduction of clean
technologies offers the possibility to reusing water
indefinitely. The most recent advances in clean technologies
for wastewater processing include: reverse osmosis, which
13 McKinsey, 2013, Circular Economy, Available at:http://www.mckinsey.com/features/circular_economy
uses a membrane for water purification; solid-liquid
separation, which uses filtration or flotation systems;
anaerobic digestion, which sees micro-organisms break down
biodegradable material and create biogas14; and waste-
eating bacteria cultivation, which draws on microbes that
generate electricity by cleaning up nuclear waste and other
toxic metals.15
There are three key benefits emanating from the use of
ARTTs. The first is the reuse of water. For example, in the oil
industry, large quantity of water is used in the extraction
process. On average, one barrel of oil generates 3 to 5
barrels of water. These wastewaters are heavily polluted
with hydrocarbons, solids and other contaminants. ARTTs will
clean these wastewaters and put them back in the loop,
lowering the input of freshwater. Hence, water separated
from oil can be reused in the extraction process over and
over.
The second benefit relates to advanced reverse water
treatment technologies ability to support water preservation,
as increased demand for water, combined with increasing
levels of pollution, is contributing to water becoming an
increasingly scarce resource.
Thirdly, clean technologies can be both energy generators
and energy efficient. Moreover, ARTTs have the potential to
reduce the costs of untreated wastewater. Most economic
costs owe to fishing, tourism and investment for securing
freshwater sources but social costs are also tied to polluted
waters that may be detrimental to the health of people and
wildlife.
Energy harvesting(EH) is the clean tech process by which
minute amounts of energy from one or more naturally-
occurring energy sources are captured and stored. Energy
Harvesting technologies are currently already applied in
everyday products like kinetic wrist watches or bicycle
dynamos which use wheel movement to generate an
electrical current. These applications already existed for a
very long period and are not revolutionary (anymore). In this
case we therefore focus on a new application domain for
energy harvesters, namely as power sources for wireless
sensors.
Energy harvesting applications can help to reduce the global
energy demand, by capturing otherwise lost energy. This is
both beneficial for the environmental and for companies
and households financial performance. Therefore, energy
14American Biogas Council, 2014, What is Anaerobic Digestion?,Available at:https://www.americanbiogascouncil.org/biogas_what.asp[Accessed on 28 April 2014]
15Michigan State University, 2011, Microbes generate electricitywhile cleaning up nuclear waste, Available at:http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2011/microbes-generate-electricity-while-cleaning-up-nuclear-waste/ [Accessed on 28April 2014]
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harvesting technologies are currently being deployed to
improve the energy efficiency of devices.
In addition, energy harvesting solutions also provide
increased freedom to product designers. Devices can become
ever smaller, as there is no need for a voluminous battery,
and completely wireless. This wireless feature allows energyharvesting applications to power equipment and installations
at remote locations, not connected to the main power grid.
More localised power generation reduces the need for
expensive power distribution grids.
Finally, energy harvesting solutions help to power the minute
devices that are rapidly spreading as a result of trends like
the Internet of Things. The reduced installation and
maintenance cost of energy harvesting applications mean
that wireless networks become economically interesting to
install.
1.3.
Customer experience
Since the development and commercialization of innovations
has become more open, customer experience has become
an increasingly important source of value and innovation.
Economic and social progress not only depends on
technological capabilities but also on organisational,
marketing or design competencies, which means radically
shifting the attention from producing products to delivering
solutions and customer value.16
According to the 10th Consumer Markets Scoreboard
(2014)17 there is an improved performance across all
consumer markets in Europe. This improvement is
particularly marked for goods markets, while services
continue to be the main sources of dissatisfaction. The
markets are ranked by consumers, in an EU-wide survey,
based on 4 components: comparability of offers, trust in
businesses, problems & complaints and satisfaction with
businesses. The EU Consumer Agenda aims to maximise
consumer participation and trust in the market.
Two recent studies underline the growing importance of
customer experience. A study among US consumers18shows
that two-thirds of consumers are willing to spend at least5% more with a company that provides excellent customer
service (and one-fifth even willing to spend at least 20%
more). More than half of consumers will not finalize a
purchase transaction if they experience poor service. For
simple inquiries customers prefer to use companies
16Chesbrough, H. (2011). Open Services Innovation, Rethinking yourbusiness to grow and compete in a new era, Published byJossey-Bass.
17http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_evidence/consumer_scoreboards/10_edition/index_en.htm
18Echo (2012), 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer Findingsfor the United States, a research report prepared for AmericanExpress.http://about.americanexpress.com/news/docs/2012x/axp_2012gcsb_us.pdf
websites or email, but for more complex enquiries
consumers prefer to interact with a real person over the
phone or even face-to-face.
A report by the Temkin Group19shows that by making
modest improvements in customer experience, a
hypothetical 100 billion company in the UK can gainadditional revenues of up to 263 million over a three-year
period (Table 2).
Table 2: Increases in revenues due to improved
customer experience
Total (million )
Retailer 263
Credit card user 226
Bank 215
Wireless carrier 201
Computer maker 197
Insurance carrier 145
Source: Temkin (2012)
The market for predictive analytics is expected to grow
strongly at about 33% per year to 21 billion in 2019.20 The
market for business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce
purchases is expected to grow more modestly at 14% per
year between 2014 and 2017 to reach more than $2,000
billion in 2017.21
Concerning neuro-marketing innovations, the market of
this customer experience trend is difficult to quantify.
However, according to the European Society for Opinion and
Market Research (ESOMAR), only 1% of the global market
research expenditure is spent on neuro-marketing
(~300 million). According to the GreenBook Research
Industry Trends Report the number of buyers who report
using neuro-marketing has remained steady at around 10%
in almost every poll since 2010. However, each year a higher
percentage of respondents say they are considering using
neuro-marketing at some point in the future (e.g. in 2013 in
total 21%), but when the next survey comes in, actual usage
has not really changed.22
Therefore, in spite of neuro-marketing being at a nascent
stage, it is expected to develop as companies seek to
enhance their competitive advantage. Neuro-marketing may
be further included in wearable smart electronics, whose
market according to Gartner will emerge as a
EUR7.5billion industry by 2016. Thereby, such neuro-
marketing applications and services may create value for
19Temkin, B. (2012), The ROI of Customer Experience AnalysisShows High Correlation Between Customer Experience andLoyalty, Temkin Group. www.oracle.com/us/solutions/customer-experience/roiofcx-temkingroup-1715500.pdf
20Case study 3421Case study 3522 http://issuu.com/researchshare/docs/grit-winter-2013.
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consumers, especially when combined with personal
preferences, while also providing more-detailed information
to retailers for targeting advertisements and promotions.23
Predictive analytics is a rapidly growing field that is
quickly expanding both its range of possible applications as
well as its customer base. It builds upon the mega trend ofbig data, as companies are increasingly embracing the
massive growth of data as a fourth factor of production,
alongside capital, people and materials.
A recent AgilOne Survey showed that European retailers are
not using predictive analytics as much as their US
counterparts but are significantly more advanced in their
application of the technique. Most US-based retailers are
only using predictive models for email, whereas around 50%
of European companies are also using predictive models for
direct mail and call centres.
The World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council on
Emerging Technologies has identified predictive analytics as
one of the 10 key trends in technological change. According
to a recent Research and Markets study, the global advanced
analytics market that covers predictive analytics, statistics
and descriptive data mining is expected to grow from
EUR 5.2 billion in 2014 to EUR 21.7 billion in 2019 (Figure
7). This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
of 33.2% from 2014 to 2019.24
Figure 7: Global advanced analytics market growth (in
billion EUR)
Source: Case study 34
Enhance customer support is another field in the
customer experience trend. Over 1 billion digital buyers
have spent more than EUR 900 billion on business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce purchases in 2013. Combined,
sales in North America, Asia-Pacific and Western Europe
account for 90% of the worldwide total.25The European e-
commerce industry is clearly dominated by the UK, Germany
and France. These three countries together represents
almost two third of the total European B2C e-commerce
sector of the EU.26
23http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2211115.24 http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/2823026/advanced-
analytics-market-big-data-analytics.25 https://www.emarketer.com/Coverage/ConsumersEcommerce.aspx.26ecommerce-europe.eu.
According to Gartners estimations, in 2013, spending on
social software to support sales, marketing and customer
service processes exceeded EUR 750,000 million
worldwide.27Gartner estimates that 35% of all customer
relationship management (CRM) software is today consumed
using Software as a Service (SaaS), a software delivery
model in which the software is centrally hosted on the cloudby another software provider. Gartner expects that figure to
grow to just over 50% by 2020,28reaching a maximum of
80% to 85% by 2025. 29One of the biggest players in the
enhanced customer support field the San Francisco based
company Zendesk that was originally founded in
Copenhagen, Denmark has recently reached a market
capitalisation of nearly EUR 750 million according to Google
finance.30
With over 10 million people contributing to crowdsourcing
activities across the world in 2013,31 customer involvement
activities are a new form of how businesses interact withcustomers breaking with the traditional seller-buyer
relationship. Recent studies have shown that people are
increasingly turning to social media to solve problems and
communicate their complaints. A survey conducted by IAB
and Lightspeed in 201232demonstrates that 44% of adults
use the web to share grievances about productsand 57% of
consumers prefer to search online to solve customer service
issues.
Figure 8: Ranking of online services capability to
influence customer behaviour
Source: Technorati Media 2013 Digital Influence Report
27http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1541415.28 http://www.crmsearch.com/crm-market.php.29 https://www.gartner.com/doc/2679218/gartner-crm-vendor-guide30 http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/16/zendesks-stellar-ipo-and-the-
current-tech-ipo-climate.31 http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/eyekas-francois-petavy-
five-predictions-for-crowdsourcing-in-2014/30116.32 http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/03/16/the-confusing-rise-of-social-
customer-service-infographic.
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Such connections and interactions between costumers and
companies through social media and other digital platforms
are expected to grow in the coming years. The total number
of social media accounts, for instance, is expected to grow
from about 3.1 billion in 2012, to 4.9 billion in 2016.
Besides, the number of social media users is expected to rise
from 1.6 billion users in 2012, to 2.3 billion in 2016.33
Given that final consumption expenditure of households
accounts for 57% of EU GDP it is important that these
markets function well.
1.4.
Conclusion
The trends discussed in this report involve: the use of new
manufacturing processes (Smart Factories), new circular
organizational models concerning material flows (Clean
Tech), and new marketing practices in the case of Customer
Experience.
Although these three trends are identified and analyzed as
independent trends, they are emerging in a common context.
This context is described in earlier trend reports, but also in a
foresight study on manufacturing 34 , and has been
acknowledged by the EU Task Force on Advanced
Manufacturing for Clean Production (2014) as particularly
important for the future of European manufacturing: The
increasing scarcity of resources and the increasing demand
for customized products and services, calls for the
development and deployment of new production
technologies, organizational changes and significant
improvement of market analysis capabilities. Big Data
supported by advanced analytical tools, will enable firms to
better understand and optimise all stages of their value
chains, from design to distribution, including supply chain
management, production processes and marketing.
A commonality in the three trends is that they represent a
more sustainable and systemic view with circular feed-back-
loops compared to the traditional, linear, short term view on
passive market-transactions (Figure 9). In all the three
trends it is not just about passive selling (exchanging and
extracting value), but about co-creation of value. Learning
with users in value chains implies a different role forcustomers. A role that contradicts with the dictionary
definition of consume: meaning destroy, use up, or
waste, since users of (smart factory, cleantech & customer
experience) solutions continue the value creation process
through use.35Generating societal and economic impact
from enabling technologies requires value co-creation from
collaboration and learning with users (Figure 10).
33 http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Social-
Media-Market-2012-2016-Executive-Summary.pdf.34A Manufacturing Industry Vision 2025, European Commission
(Joint Research Centre) Foresight study (2013)35See Vargo, Maglio & Akaka (2008) on value co-creation
Figure 9: From passive exchange of value to co-
creation of value
Source: Case study 36, PwC Analysis
We can conclude that the three identified business
innovation trends meet the macro level criteria of success in
terms of significant and relevant socio-economic impact,
beyond short term economic benefits. Some current impacts
have been evidenced and based on this evidence some
estimations of the future economic and societal impacts
have been presented.
Figure 10: Co-creation of societal and economic
impact
The economic impacts include amongst others: jobs,
productivity, market growth, sector growth, and increased
revenues. The societal impacts discussed concern for
instance: more jobs, material and energy savings, and
increased customer satisfaction. It is difficult to predict the
future full potential, but without Smart Factories Europe will
continue to lose more jobs, without cleantech we will
continue to produce more waste, and without improving
Customer Experience, companies will lose clients.
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2.Case studies2.1.
Description of case-studies andcompanies
The individual case-studies can briefly be described as
follows:
Smart factory
Smart process applications (Case study 25)
Smart Process Applications are a new type of software that
combining the benefits of process applications and advanced
analytics help businesses and factories manage theirresources, processes and systems. Data collected by devices
across production lines, logistic systems and plant sites are
processed and analysed to provide meaningful information
to decision makers.
They require highly skilled workers to develop the software,
and similarly highly skilled workers to implement the
applications at manufacturing sites and to operate them in a
production environment.
Smart Process Applications offer highly tangible benefits to
manufacturing companies deploying them in their productionprocesses. These include efficiency gains and cost
reductions, faster redevelopment and testing of
manufacturing systems. However, uptake of Smart
Application Processes in manufacturing environments is
hampered by the fact that the benefits that Smart Process
Applications offer is not understood by all potential clients.
Also, complex interactions with existing infrastructure, and
the extent to which the market is ready to adopt a new way
of thinking about manufacturing processes is slowing the
uptake of this innovation.
Company cases: Werusys (DE), Numeca (BE), Intelligent
Sensing Anywhere (PT), Canary Labs (USA).
Next generation forging (Case study 26)
Leading edge technologies are becoming more important
and drive innovation in the forging industry, the
manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using
localised compressive force. This technological process is
expected to continue for the coming years, when the forging
industry needs to be more energy efficient and
environmentally friendly. In addition, next generation forging
techniques provide numerous benefits to customers.
The forging industry plays an important role in the
manufacturing industry and is also believed to play a key
role in Europe. The castings industry is well founded in theEuropean economy. The non-ferrous casting market is
estimated to even be the largest in the world by production
volume. The forging companies have faced great challenges
in the previous years due to increased competition and
higher energy costs.
Next generation forging technologies address a wide range
of challenges including a higher complexity of castings, more
stringent requirements regarding eco-efficiency,
affordability, the quality of products and delivery condition,
and finally a lack of specialisation and skills in production
facilities.
There are various factors that drive the uptake of the trend
of next generation forging which include environmental
regulation, a need for increasingly more efficient and flexible
manufacturing, and a strong and established customer base.
Factors which negatively impact the uptake of the trend are
the characterisation of the manufacturing industry having a
traditional approach towards technology, the risk for
European forging markets to lose part of their local markets,
and the detachment of European research centres or
departments from part of their end-customers.
Company cases: Simufact Engineering (DE), Voestalpine (NL),Schuler Group (DE), Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd
(UK).
Crowdsourced manufacturing (Case study 27)
Crowdsourced manufacturing is defined as the process by
which manufacturers complement and expand their
processes with manufacturing capabilities, tools, equipment,
and ideas from a large group of people rather than from
own employees or commissioned suppliers. It includes
various forms of interaction between manufacturers, the
crowd and intermediaries such as crowdsourcing platforms.
The trend is still in its early stage, but todays online
platforms are sophisticated enough to provide substantial
benefits in solving many kinds of problems. The potential for
disruptive impact on cost alone makes early experimentation
worthwhile. More important are the broader implications for
innovation in the extended enterprise.
Crowdsourced manufacturing offers a variety of benefits. It
offers quick access to specialized resources and benefits
from the strength of weak ties of outside idea generation.
It can also lower production cost through better alignment
between consumer needs and product specifications, lessneed for in-house R&D, shorter time to market.
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Crowdsourced manufacturing for public sector goods might
save a lot of tax money this way. The market potential of
crowdsourced manufacturing is estimated to be large and
stretches all along the manufacturing value chain and across
different sectors such as advanced manufacturing and
consumer goods. By 2017, more than half of consumer
goods manufacturers may receive 75% of their consumerinnovation and R&D capabilities from crowdsourced
solutions.
Company cases: Shapeways (NL, USA), Quirky (USA), Hypios
(FR), Vehicleforge.mil by General Electric (USA), eYeka (FR).
First digitally connected toothbrush developed thanks to
ideas from eYeka's crowdsourcing community
Source: eYeka, case study 27
Capacity optimisation (Case study 28)
Capacity optimisation is a relevant trend for all European
companies that have a stake in manufacturing. Not only
does it provide a method to make more efficient use of
materials and energy, thus saving the environment, also it
can function as a catalyst to propel the innovativeness,
efficiency and optimisation of European factories forward.
There is still much to be gained by manufacturing companies
to make use of this trend, especially small and medium
companies in manufacturing, but there are positive signs on
the horizon.
By 2025, 80 to 100% of manufacturing could be using
Internet of Things applications, meaning the machines,
sensors and other connected and communicating to the
internet. This concept of the so-called Industry 4.0 combined
with capacity optimisation software is quickly becoming astandard technology in for example factory floor designing
or production planning. No matter for what scale, capacity
optimisation software allows manufacturers to make more
efficient, speedier and controllable production environments
where materials, processes and people can be managed at
fingertips.
The adoption of capacity optimisation can be accelerated
within the framework of Europe 2020 by providing a
common set of labour laws that make it less risky for
entrepreneurs to hire people abroad for foreign offices. This
initiative could fit within the flexicurity programmealthough more a tenacious standardisation of labour laws
where the interests of entrepreneurs are in balance with
labour security is called for.
Company cases: Quintiq (DE), Signavio (UK), Metaio (NL),
Siemens Electronics Manufacturing (DE).
Clean Technologies
Closed-loop waste management (Case study 29)
Closed-loop waste management refers to the process by
which waste from one product is used to make another
product. The rise of this business innovation has been
facilitated by clean tech, which calls for a shift from a linear
production model (Take, Make, Dispose) to a closed -loop
model (Cradle to Cradle). Hence, this case study lies at the
intersect of the linear and closed-loop models, as it seeks to
explore how companies are creating products and value by
recycling disposed waste.
The clean technologies applied in the closed-loop waste
management use extremely different techniques. However,
whatever the sector that they are used in, all these clean
technologies share the same objective of leveraging on
waste while not harming the environment. The products and
services showcased as examples in the case studies come
from diverse sectors: the textile, the tyre, the new material
and even the food industries.
These technologies are sparking a transition from the linear
model of production and consumption that has shaped the
global economy for the past 150 years or so. In thetraditional model, the product life cycle has been
characterised by manufactured goods being created, used
and disposed of as waste. In the long term, it is unlikely that
this cradle to grave approach for products will be
sustainable, as resources become increasingly constrained
and threaten todays linear model economy.
Company cases: Pectcof (NL), WornAgain (UK),
SecondLifElectronics (BG), Cycle4Green (FI), ALR Innovations
(IE), Alucha Technologies (ES)
Circular supply chains (Case study 30)
A circular supply chain restores, regenerates and reuses the
resources it already has at its disposal. In order to do so,
manufacturers aim to eliminate waste from their supply
chain; differentiate between consumable and durable
materials; and use renewable energy sources throughout the
supply chain.
Examples of circular supply chain activities include: product
designers working with re-processors to develop products
that can be easily disassembled and reused; retailers and
brand owners investing in waste collection, treatment and/or
reprocessing facilities; and manufacturers working with
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energy management companies and developers to deliver
renewable energy on-site.
Company cases: Sugru by FormFormForm (UK), StayGreenOil
(USA), Dutch aWEARness (NL), The Restart Project (UK).
Dutch aWEARness supply chain for its recyclable polyestercalled Reternity. Worn out garments are collected, shredded
and turned into new yarns and new fabric without quality
loss
Advanced Reverse Treatment Technologies (ARTTs)(Case study 31)
Advanced reverse treatment technologies are used in the
process of turning wastewater into a reusable and safe
resource; thereby reducing the negative impact wastewater
can have on the environment. The need to develop these
technologies has been triggered by increased urbanisation
and rising populations that place an environmental strain on
water supply. Advanced reverse treatment technologies aim
to alleviate this environmental strain by developing practical
and cost-effective solutions. For instance, companies have
developed a range of technologies for dealing with the
problem of sewage sludge, including: anaerobic digestion;
the cultivation of waste-eating microbes and algae; reverse
osmosis; and the deployment of solid/liquid separator.
ARTTs are applied in several sectors, including the
desalinisation, oil-water separation, and sewage treatment
markets. In all these sectors, the role played by the ARTTs is
crucial due to the tightening of regulations. The demand for
such solutions is also constantly increasing.
Company cases: Apateq (LU), Akvolution (DE), Watreco (SV),
Organica Water (HU), Bluetector (CH)
Energy harvesting (Case study 32)
Energy harvesting (EH) is the process by which minute
amounts of energy from one or more of naturally-occurring
energy sources are captured and stored. Energy types most
suited to EH include: mechanical energy (e.g. by recovering
excess pressure from water mains); thermal energy (e.g.waste energy from furnaces, heaters, and friction sources);
and light energy (e.g. captured from sunlight or room light
via photo sensors, photo diodes, or solar panels). The most
promising technologies for harvesting energy from these
sources are piezoelectric materials (for mechanical energy)
and thermoelectric/pyroelectric materials (for thermal
energy).
Energy harvesting technology rarely operates in isolation. A
bike dynamo does not provide much benefit without the
lamp it is connected to. The same goes for wireless
networks. Key components in such a system include an
energy converter (the harvester), a low-power energy
management controller, a sensor or other measurement
device, and an RF transmitter.
Company cases: Pavegen (UK), EnOcean (DE), Micropelt (DE),
Voltree (USA)
Customer experience
Neuro-marketing innovations (Case study 33)
Neuro-marketing draws on neuro-scientific technologies to
understand the subconscious reasoning and behaviour ofcustomers. It measures brain and body signals instead of, or
along with, traditional self-reporting tools like surveys or
interviews. It provides new ways to enhance traditional
marketing instruments by using new types of user-
interfaces, applications and software. These innovative
methods are leading to the creation of new types of user-
interfaces, applications and software that enable companies
to read the customers mind and tailor marketing practices,
products and services accordingly.
Company cases: Neurensics (NL), SensoMotoric Instruments
(DE), Neurosense (UK), Synetiq (HU), The Eye Tribe (DK) andEmotion Explorer Lab (ES).
Predictive analytics (Case study 34)
Predictive analytics review the data patterns of an array of
variables in order to make accurate forecasts. Although it
may not be able to predict future events with full certainty,
the exploitation of online data facilitates the digital profiling
of customers by projecting their future behaviour and needs.
This enables companies to offer targeted products or
services in real-time, along with timely customer support.
They also enable companies to uncover and exploit patterns
in historical data in order to identify both risks and
opportunities ahead. They allow companies to use data to
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improve their business performance by differentiating their
offerings, uncovering new opportunities and minimising their
risk exposure. Predictive analytics thus have the potential to
reshape marketing approaches, as they opens up an entirely
new way of interacting and engaging with the customer
Company cases: Rapid Miner (DE), Viscovery (AT), Big DataScoring (EE), FutureLytics (CZ) and Saberr (UK).
FutureLytics business architecture
Enhanced customer support (Case study 35)
Enhanced customer support refers to the customised
provision of support services, no matter the customer s
location of nor the time of day. The perceived quality of
support depends on the accessibility of companies, as well
as the immediacy and accuracy of their response.
With the shift from bricks to clicks, i.e. the transition from
physical shops with limited opening hours to websites that
are accessible 24/7, customers are now demanding
immediate and targeted support. To cope with this challenge,companies are developing services that promise fast and
cheap support directly to the customers couch, e.g. by
offering support in the form of live chats, mobile
applications or social media channels. In addition, enterprises
are adapting their escalation procedures by serving
customers first through FAQ webpages or moderated fora
and then, if necessary, pointing them in the direction of
personal support.
Company cases: Brainsins (ES), Qubit (UK), Inbenta (ES),
Deskero (UK), Brand Embassy (CZ) and Whisbi (ES).
Whisbis tool for video assistance
Customer incentives (Case study 36)
Customer incentives and involvement techniques are
increasingly being used to facilitate product development
and increase market adoption. Companies are incentivising
users to become involved in the development process of
their products by inviting them to test and experiencespecific innovative technologies. Through online communities
customers can share opinions on their use of a new
technology or service, rate products and put forward ideas
for improvement.
Involving customers in the development phase can also
facilitate the increased uptake of new products. By building
larger user bases, companies draw on customers to spread
products to other potential customers, resulting in viral
growth effects as referrals are a strong endorsement for
products. Incentivising and involving customers is thus about
fostering user loyalty and pro-activity in order to reduce the
cost per user acquisition (CPA) for new products and services.
Company cases: Adpoints (UK), EveKa (FR), KBHFF (DK),
Logograb (CH), Sampleo (FR), Staffino (SK).
2.2.
Examples of companies, innovativesolutions and success signals
EYekas online contest platform
Source: eYeka: case study 27
This section provides a selection of examples from case
study companies. The company eYeka is an example from
the Smart Factories trend. It enables manufacturers to
directly involve their customers into the design of new
products. The ideas are developed by a community of
250,000 creative consumers in 154 countries. Other
examples are described inTable 3 on page16.
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Table 3: Examples of solutions providing companies
Company Business innovation Signals of success
Smart Factories
Numeca (BE) A solution that allows for vast amounts ofhigh-speed virtual testing of manufacturingset-ups.
-
Numecasproducts and services are positively reviewed onmultiple websites, and they have excellent relations bothwith manufacturing companies that want to test newmanufacturing system layouts and with the academiccommunity that invites them to their research consortia.
Intelligent SensingAnywhere (PT)
Monitoring solutions that allow companies tominimise costs and maximise efficiencythroughout their distribution chain.
- ISA has established a high-class product portfolio that isaimed both at businesses that look to optimise the energyand materials costs of their plants and locations, and atutilities that with to optimise their logistical systems.
Quintiq (DE) Quintiqs unique value proposition lies inbundling all the components required to plan,schedule and optimise processes for anypotential business model on a single softwareplatform. The flexible core architectureenables users to solve their industry-specific
planning and optimisation issues.
- Company has expanded locations within Europe (9 offices)and outside Europe, from South-Korea to Australia, fromSingapore to the United States.
- The company is growing rapidly since its inception in 1997:more than 12,000 people in 80 countries use Quintiq on adaily basis.
-
The coming years the company is looking to double in size to1,400 employees.
Signavio (UK) The Signavio Process Editor allows users toshare process models and invite others tocomment on diagrams, by:Visualising, discussing and documenting
processes;Make process descriptions and related SOPsaccessible in a process portal;Integrating all employees in continuous
process improvement.
- Since the foundation in 2009, the company has served over400 customers from around the globe.
- International offices situated in Berlin, Singapore and theUnited States.
- Signavio is recognised by Gartner as Cool Vendor 2014 andregarded as industry leader in several markets.
Shapeways (NL) A printing marketplace and service start-upcompany. Users design and upload 3Dprintable files, and Shapeways prints the
objects for them or others. Users can haveobjects printed from a variety of materials,including food-safe ceramics, in a variety oflocations.
- Over 90 employees.- Spin-out of the lifestyle incubator of Royal Philips
Electronics.
-
A community of 300,000 members and three millionproducts in its online catalogue.- 10,000 shops selling designs and items. Each month, the
company receives prints and ships 60,000 orders tocustomers all over the world.
Hypios (FR) Hypios uses software that allows to findexperts for specific challenges on the worldwide web. This ensures that problems are notbroadcast to the entire world, but narrowcast
to relevant expertise in a pre-selected range ofscientific discipline. This helps maximize thenumber of relevant solutions by applyingintelligent crowdsourcing.
- Draws from a network of over 950,000 experts across theworld, to solve R&D problems for global companies since2008.
eYeka (FR) eYeka enables manufacturers to directlyinvolve their customers into the design of new
products. By leveraging creative ideasdeveloped by a community of 250,000creative individuals in 154 countries.
- 40 leading brands such as P&G, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Unilever,Nestle, Danone, Hyundai, Citroen and Microsoft are alreadytapping into eYekas community.
SheffieldForgemastersInternational Ltd (UK)
SFIL specialises in a broad range of heavysteel forgings and steel castings as well asstocking steel ingot and bar.
- Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd (SFIL) is the largestindependently owned Forgemaster company and one of themain employers in South Yorkshire.
- Despite a steady decline in steel manufacture in the UK overthe past few decades, SFIL has continued to grow and is nowa world leader in heavy steel castings and steel forgings.
- Award-winning apprenticeship programme.
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Company Business innovation Signals of success
Clean Technologies
Pectcof (NL) Unlock the potential of the coffee pulp as asource of bio based materials.
- Winner of the Dutch round of 2013 Venture Competition.- 2 GreenTEC Awards nominations.
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Finalist in the Venture Challenge - Spring 2013.- Presented at TEDxBinnenhof 2014.- Visited in March 2013 by the Dutch Minister of Economy.
SecondLifElectronics(BG)
Collect, refurbish and reuse mobile phones,portable electronics and their accessories fromthe European markets to other markets.
- Starting partnership with one of the biggest Bulgarianelectronics retailers.
- Currently expanding in Romania, Albania, Italy, Spain, Turkeyand Greece.
Cycle4Green (FI) Developed an innovative method forprocessing silicone-coated waste papers. Itallows the removal of silicone from paperfibers and to reuse it in the production ofrecycled fine and specialty papers.
- Featured in Packaging Magazine Europe, in RecyclingMagazine.
- Major end-clients in the Consumer Packaged Goods (e.g.Nivea) across Europe (UK, Germany, Austria).
ALR Innovations (IE) Developed a state of the art recyclingtechnology which through a fully automated
process removes the hazardous wastematerials from LCD flat screen panels andmonitors.
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010.- Frederick A Krehbiel II Innovation Medal 2010.
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Outstanding Young Person of the Year 2011 for the CEO.- Best High Growth Company at InterTradeIreland 2011-2012.- Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Platform award 2012.
Alucha Technologies(ES)
Owns a unique technology that separatesaluminium from plastic. It recovers cleanaluminium that can be re-used. Further, plasticis also converted into fuels.
- Finalist in the BMW Innovations Award.- Finalist in the Barcelona Entrepreneurs Awards.- Most Innovative Initiative (Diputaci de Barcelona).- Cover page & lead article in "Recycling International".
Dutch aWEARness(NL)
Dutch aWEARness is a young and innovativetextile company guided by the principles ofsustainable entrepreneurship. It has developedenvironmentally friendly polyester for clothingmanufacturing and offers its clothingaccessibility based. The company.
- Part of the EcoProFabrics programme, a two-year pilotproject within the EU Eco Innovation programme. The EC hasinvested nearly 2 million in the project, which is initially
targeting the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal,Germany and the UK.
- Almost 20 Dutch companies have expressed interest,including a Dutch refrigerator company.
Apateq (LU) Oil-water separation using membranes that donot clog rapidly.
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Red Herring 2014 winner.- Visited by the Luxembourg Minister of the Economy.
Extensive media coverage.
Watreco (SW) Using biomimetic, the firm developed a vortexgenerator technology for water treatment.
- Cleantech Company of the Year 2009.- Extensive academic literature.- Used in famous hockey league such as KHL (Russia),
SHL(Sweden), FHL (Finland) and at the Ice Hockey WorldChampionship 2013.
Organica Water (HU) Build and operate biological wastewatertreatment plants, implementing its Fixed-BedBiofilm Activated Sludge (FBAS) technology.
- Named First Cleantech company in Europe and Israel in2013.
- Water and Energy Exchange (WEX) Innovation Award.- Worldwide customer base: Europe, Asia, America.- Successful Series B financing.
Customer experience
Neurosense (UK) FMRI and biometric measures as well as onlineresponse time tools that measuresubconscious or implicit customer reactions inless than a second.
- Large corporates, e.g. BBC, Coca Cola, Ford Motors, Johnson& Johnson, L'Oreal, McDonalds, Procter & Gamble, Unilever.
Synetiq (HU) Crowd sourced neuro-marketing platform,where international community of test personsis equipped with portable EEG headsets toanalyse their brain activity and reactions tomarketing stimuli.
- Participation at Startup Sauna accelerator programme (FI).
The Eye Tribe (DK) Low-cost eye-tracking device (USD 99) toregister eye movement. Software can be usedto analyse customers behaviour.
- EUR 1.3 million seed/angel funding and EUR 1.7 milliongrant from Danish National Advanced TechnologyFoundation. Voted most Innovative Company at SXSWAccelerator Competition.
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Company Business innovation Signals of success
Rapid Miner (DE) Analytics platforms, e.g. for customersegmentation, credit ratings, resourceplanning, and asset maintenance.
- In 2014, positioned by Gartner in the Leaders quadrant ofGartner Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms.
Viscovery (AT) Platform for predictive modelling and
explorative data mining with focus onvisualising predictive models.
- In 2008, positioned by Gartner in the Magic Quadrant for
Customer Data-Mining Applications. Acquired in 2007 byBiomax Group.
Big Data Scoring (EE) Credit scoring solutions using data from socialmedia and other big data sources.
- Finalists at the CODE_n14 worlds largest IT trade showCeBIT 2014. Participants at the Web Summit 2013 as a partof the Alpha Program.
FutureLytics (CZ) Analytical platform using predictive analyticsto improve marketing campaigns.
- Media coverage: Forbes, Financial Times, CNN, TechCrunch.Cooperation with Gartner and Google.
BrainSins (ES) Plugin that improves cross- and up-selling,offering more personalised and customisablerecommendations.
- In 2014, awarded Gartner 'Cool Vendor' status. Receivedgovernment grants in Spain. Offices in Madrid, Barcelona,London and San Francisco.
Qubit (UK) Machine learning, statistical analysis and highperformance computing to optimise customerinsights and allow personalisation on e-
commerce websites.
- EUR 6.5 million venture capital, out of whichEUR 5.5 million from Balderton Capital in 2012.
Whisbi (ES) Video agent technology solution to help clientssell products and services via their website.
- In 2011, awarded Gartner 'Cool Vendor' status. Listed byWired Magazine as one of the hottest 100 European start-ups.
EyeKa (FR) Crowdsourcing platform connecting creativeindividuals with brands to boost their return onmarketing expenditure. Enables people toaccept a business challenge (animation,creative writing, video, graphic design, labeland packaging) and propose an innovativesolution to companies.
- Winner of 2012 Co-Creation Award.
Staffino (SK) Mobile application enabling consumers to givedirect feedbacks on the quality of the serviceoffered by companies employees.
- After 6 month business activity already entered multipleforeign markets.
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3.Key innovation drivers and obstaclesIn order to propose applicable policy options for scaling up
the successes of the trends, it is important to understand thevarious drivers and barriers faced by the trend-driving
companies and their clients.
3.1.
Smart factories
The most significant drivers identified in the case studies on
smart factories are listed inTable 4.
Table 4: Main drivers and obstacles for smart
factories
Smart Factories
Drivers
Smart ProcessApplication
Developments in ICT, connectivity and mobiledevices.Energy prices and environmental regulation.Shift toward sustainable manufacturing.
CapacityOptimisation
Connection to academics in the early stagesof the company.Early traction at world-class businesses.
CrowdsourcedManufacturing
Emergence of 3D-printing or additivemanufacturing.Growing use of social technologies.
Next Generation-
Forging
Complex of modelling software cater to
specific need of end-users.Continuous innovation is key to keep acompetitive edge.Market driven approach that goes beyond thetraditional boundaries of forging.
Obstacles
Smart ProcessApplication
Limited access to finance - especially forprototyping and early-market penetrationsstages.Difficulty in attracting skilled engineers.Waiting period attached to grant proposals.Bureaucracy too heavy for SMEs.
Capacity
Optimisation
Sourcing key technical talent.
Discrepancies in labour legislation across theEuropean Union.
CrowdsourcedManufacturing
Attracting and managing an onlinecommunity.Limits on traditional human resourcesactivities such as job training.Security of intellectual property.
Next Generation-Forging
Shortages in skills and competence deficits.Complex modelling software are more difficultto develop, employ and adjust.Access to globally competitive prices formaterials and energy.Access to finance for up-scaling.
3.2.
Clean technologiesThe most significant drivers identified in the case studies on
clean technologies are listed inTable 5.
Table 5: Main drivers and obstacles for clean
technologies
Clean Technologies
Drivers
Waste Management Directives on environment, packaging orelectronics are a catalyst.
Networking support of the KICs.
Circular SupplyChain
Scarcity of resources and rise of raw materialsprices.Worldwide societal changes (rise of middleclass, awareness toward climate change).
Reverse TreatmentTechnologies
Rising awareness of environmental issuesSupporting initiatives and collaboration.
Energy Harvesting Technical development like the Internet ofThings and Big Data.Increasing scarcity of resources and volatilemarkets.The rate of climate change and its impact onsociety.
Obstacles
Waste Management Outdated directives also hinder thedevelopment.Funding schemes too slow.Difficulty in finding the right workforce withthe relevant skillset (engineering & business).
Circular SupplyChain
Linear technology deeply rooted in theeconomy.Lack of sufficient differentiation betweenrecycling and reuse.
Reverse TreatmentTechnologies
Long-term projects with high working capitalConservative industry requires referencesportfolio.Requirements for public procurement areoften too tough for SMEs.Funding and grants support schemes:administrative burden and strategicconstraints.
Energy Harvesting Standards for interoperability between energyharvesters and application components.Not yet technically feasible for all applicationsdomains.
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3.3.
Customer experience
The most significant drivers identified in the case studies on
customer experience are listed inTable 6.
Table 6: Main drivers and obstacles for customer
experience
Costumer Experience
Drivers
Neuro MarketingInnovations
Deeper understanding of customers feelings.Cost saving opportunity compared to traditionalmarket research.
Predictive Analysis Legislation on data protection in EU can be acompetitive advantage.Development of Big data.
EnhancedCustomer Support
Ease to internationalise within EU.
CustomerIncentives
Business incubators supporting the growth ofSMEs.Emergence of a collaborative relationship:creation of online communities.
Obstacles
Neuro MarketingInnovations
Lack of credibility and controversy surroundingthis activity.Access to funding: transparency, banks tooconservative.Internationalisation: legal and tax challenges.
Costumer Experience
Predictive Analysis Difficult for EU start-ups to find earlyadopters.Access to finance too hard: SMEs prefer organicgrowth.Lack of time, skills and know-how to draft longgrants schemes reports.
Lack of skills for developing complex softwareand analyse large datasets.
EnhancedCustomer Support
Set-up of new enterprises was ratherburdensome and slow in some EU countries.Data protection law would not be up-to-date.Financing intangible assets and new businessmodels (banks are conservative, privateinvestors aim short-term profits.EU programmes: complicated to find theinformation.
CustomerIncentives
Definition of innovation too narrow.Financing gap for c