Driving Sustainability Forward: The Role of Innovation Management in Technical Materials Development

Introduction

Innovation management, in the context of a Technical Manager in Materials Sustainability, embodies the strategic integration of novel ideas and sustainability principles into the materials development lifecycle. By definition, this discipline is centered on the orchestrated pursuit of transformative solutions that foster ecological stewardship while driving technological advancement.

Key responsibilities for a Technical Manager in Materials Sustainability require a deep understanding of materials science and an astute grasp of emerging eco-friendly processing methods. The manager is on the front lines of ensuring that sustainability considerations are infused into every facet of technical decision-making, from conception to implementation. Simultaneously, it is essential to employ innovation management tools to streamline this integration, ensuring that new materials and processes align with both environmental imperatives and business goals.

Key Components of Innovation Management:

1. Ideation: Generating ideas that harmonize sustainability with function and feasibility.

2. Prioritization: Assessing and sequencing projects based on their potential impact on sustainability goals and business outcomes.

3. Development: Overseeing the translation of sustainable concepts into tangible materials and processes.

4. Launch: Executing the roll-out of sustainable materials, ensuring compliance, and measuring performance.

5. Feedback and Iteration: Utilizing stakeholder feedback for continuous improvement and sustainable innovation refinement.

Benefits of Innovation Management:

For the Technical Manager in Materials Sustainability, the benefits of innovation management are multifold:

1. Strategic Leadership: Guiding the company’s sustainability endeavors to ensure long-term viability and regulatory compliance.

2. Improved Products: Developing materials that not just meet but exceed market expectations for sustainability and performance.

3. Competitive Advantage: Establishing market leadership through pioneering sustainable materials and process innovations.

4. Cross-functional Collaboration: Enabling the exchange of ideas and expertise across departments, fostering a cohesive and innovative corporate culture.

5. Efficiency Gains: Streamlining processes and material usage, reducing waste, and optimizing lifecycle assessments for key product lines.

At the Crewe Campus, with the flexibility of hybrid working, the Technical Manager – Materials Sustainability will stand as a pillar of technical strategic leadership, steering the efforts of the business toward a future where sustainability is not just an ideal, but a tangible, valuable aspect of every product developed and launched into the market.

KanBo: When, Why and Where to deploy as a Innovation management tool

What is KanBo?

KanBo is an advanced collaboration and work management platform designed to facilitate efficient task management, work coordination, and project monitoring within organizations. It offers an interactive and visual system for managing workflows, aligning tasks with strategic goals, and fostering team collaboration.

Why?

KanBo is equipped with features that support innovation management by enabling a structured yet flexible approach to project handling. It helps managers track progress, ensure task completion, and maintain an organized repository of knowledge and resources. The hierarchical model, integrating workspaces, folders, spaces, and cards, allows for granified control and customization, which is critical in guiding innovation projects from conception through to execution.

When?

KanBo is utilized when there is a need to streamline innovation management processes, improve communication and collaboration on sustainable materials projects, and enhance resource allocation. It's especially beneficial at the onset of project planning, throughout the execution phases, and during the monitoring of outcomes to ensure continuous improvement and learning.

Where?

KanBo can be implemented in a hybrid environment, allowing the Technical Manager - Materials Sustainability to utilize it both in cloud-based settings for remote access and on-premises to meet data security and compliance needs. This versatility ensures that the tool is accessible for diverse team distributions, be it at the office, off-site, or through mobile access.

Should the Technical Manager - Materials Sustainability use KanBo as an Innovation management tool?

Absolutely. A Technical Manager overseeing materials sustainability can leverage KanBo to address complex sustainability challenges, promote the development of innovative materials, and manage cross-functional teams. The capability to structure tasks, set dependencies, and monitor progress with a variety of visual tools aligns closely with the systematic yet creative nature of innovation management in sustainability contexts.

KanBo's emphasis on data traceability, reporting, and seamless integration with existing Microsoft ecosystems can effectively support the managerial role by providing actionable insights into sustainable material development projects. The tool's communication features and document handling capabilities ensure that all stages of innovation management are well-documented, collaborative, and driven by strategic alignment with organizational sustainability goals.

How to work with KanBo as an Innovation management tool

As a Technical Manager - Materials Sustainability working with KanBo for innovation management, your purpose is to oversee and direct the successful execution of sustainable material innovations from conception to realization. Here’s how you can efficiently utilize KanBo to manage this process:

1. Ideation and Capture:

- Purpose: To collect and document creative ideas for sustainable materials.

- Why: This step ensures the foundation for innovation by gathering a diverse set of ideas that could lead to breakthroughs in sustainability.

- KanBo Action: Create a dedicated "Ideation" Space. Encourage your team to add Cards for each new idea, ensuring they detail potential impacts, benefits, and challenges.

2. Evaluation and Prioritization:

- Purpose: To critically assess and rank ideas based on feasibility, potential impact, and alignment with sustainability goals.

- Why: This ensures resources are allocated to the most promising and impactful projects.

- KanBo Action: In the Ideation Space, add customized Card statuses like "Under Review" and "Prioritized". Use the comment feature for feedback and discuss each card's value, encouraging collaborative decision-making.

3. Development and Prototyping:

- Purpose: To develop and test prototypes of the top-priority sustainable materials.

- Why: Actual experimentation and prototyping validate ideas and help refine them into viable solutions.

- KanBo Action: Create a new "Development" Space with workflow statuses for different development stages. Assign the Responsible Person role to project leads and add Co-Workers who are contributing to the tasks.

4. Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing:

- Purpose: To facilitate information exchange and cross-functional teamwork.

- Why: Promotes a holistic approach to sustainable innovation and leverages diverse expertise.

- KanBo Action: Use Spaces to bring together experts from various departments. Employ the Activity Stream to maintain transparency and the mention feature to engage specific experts for input.

5. Execution and Implementation:

- Purpose: To translate the prototyped idea into a fully operational product or process.

- Why: It’s the critical phase where theoretical sustainability concepts become practical solutions.

- KanBo Action: Set up a "Launch" Space with a detailed timeline using Card details like dates and status. Monitor progress using the Activity Stream and adjust responsibilities using the Responsible Person function as needed.

6. Review and Refinement:

- Purpose: To analyze the outcomes of the innovation process and identify areas for improvement.

- Why: Continuous improvement is key to maintaining relevance and achieving long-term sustainability goals.

- KanBo Action: Create a "Review" Space where team members can add Cards documenting their learnings and feedback. Use Card relations to link these insights to specific projects, aiding future initiatives.

Throughout these steps, as the Technical Manager - Materials Sustainability, you’ll utilize KanBo’s functionalities to streamline communication, ensure alignment with innovation goals, and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous knowledge growth. The platform's integration with existing systems allows for a seamless transition from each phase of the innovation process. The aim is to manage the entire lifecycle of sustainable material innovations within your organization effectively.

Glossary and terms

Here's a glossary of select terms related to innovation management and the KanBo platform, excluding any specific company names:

- Innovation Management: The process of managing an organization's innovation procedure, which begins from the initial stage of ideation, continuing through to implementation and refinement.

- Ideation: The creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas.

- Product Development: The entire process of bringing a new product to market.

- Service Innovation: The process of improving or creating new services to meet evolving customer needs and preferences.

- Process Innovation: The implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method.

- SaaS (Software as a Service): A software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over the internet.

- Hybrid Environment: A setup that incorporates both cloud services and on-premises infrastructure in a single operational model.

- Customization: The action of modifying something to better suit a particular task or the needs of the user.

- Data Management: The process of ingesting, storing, organizing, and maintaining the data created and collected by an organization.

- Workspace: In the context of a collaborative platform, this is the highest organizational level, often used to group projects, teams, or topics for better coordination and navigation.

- Folder: Within a workspace, a folder helps categorize and organize different projects or areas of work.

- Space: Within KanBo, a space refers to a collection of cards that visually represent the workflow and manage tasks; spaces are often related to individual projects or topics.

- Card: The fundamental unit within KanBo representing tasks or items that need to be managed and completed; they can contain information such as notes and files.

- Card Status: An indication of a card's progress within the workflow, such as "To Do" or "Completed".

- Card Relation: A feature that links cards together, showing dependencies and relationships that help in organizing tasks hierarchically or sequentially.

- Activity Stream: A real-time, chronological feed showing all the activities taking place within a space or associated with a card, including updates and interactions.

- Responsible Person: The individual who is accountable for the completion of a task or card.

- Co-Worker: A team member who contributes to the task associated with a card but is not primarily responsible for it.

- Mention: A feature in communication tools allowing a user to tag another user (typically with an "@" symbol) to call their attention to a message or task.

- Comment: A form of communication within a card or space allowing users to leave feedback, updates, or messages related to the task or topic at hand.

- Card Details: Various elements and attributes associated with a card that include all necessary information required to understand and complete a task.

- Card Grouping: A feature that allows the organization of cards within a space based on set criteria like due dates, responsible persons, or project phases.