R&D:the best way for companies to move forward towards success

Asier Ortíz, Lantek’s Research and Development’s Manager, explains the importance of continuing with a good R&D plan in a technological company.

Activities related with research, development and innovation (R&D+I) always played a very important role in business world, being critical in some sectors such as technology. However, it seems to be that in the times the economic situation is not favourable, is when companies are more aware of its importance It’s been proved that continuing with R&D+I programs and strategies is not only profitable, but fundamental for all those business that want to survive and be competitive adapting to changes imposed by the economy, and also by the market’s globalisation.

We face the challenge of being innovative and making more with less. This means we must become more efficient and productive, and we must reduce costs. Another challenge adds to the previous: look for a distinguishing competitive advantage that contributes both to reassure the survival in an uncertainty period as the present, and to allow the company to get out of it reinforced. This situation shows up, once again, that the binomial technology-innovation is one of the main ingredients that helps minimising the possible impact of this crisis in the company, and allows increasing competitiveness.

Talking about innovation means talking about attitude, about a way of acting that allow companies develop values and attitudes that boost ideas and changes, which are translated at the same time into improvements that go beyond business excellence.

For the companies, R&D+I is the basic tool or the engine that allows having up-to date and evolutionary ready products to meet the client’s needs. This demands a continuous activity of analysis and study of the market, that will allow the company to achieve a good position to create tendencies and effective solutions to solve the demand’s problems.

We can’t think of R&D+I activities as an isolated element of the daily work, or as a process parallel to the rest of the company´s processes, but as the process that is turned in, and of which information input usually comes from other channels such as from the rest of the processes (purchases, sales, clients support, etc.). In any area we can discover a field to research and develop to solve a problem, a situation without a solution or an idea that comes from a daily action. Of course there are other processes in R&D+I fruits of daily research and search of applications for technical and technological advances.

The advantage of counting with a R&D+I strategy that allows having defined processes and considers them as something natural, is that permits the organisation being ready to face any circumstance that requires that the maximum level of development achieved up to that moment evolves towards an unknown situation that gives cause for reach the excellence.

Talking about betting for R&D+I is maybe not the most appropriate expression for some companies. It would be more appropriate to say that the companies are aware of the importance of counting with a R&D+I strategy opened and aligned with the corporate strategy, and of course, that they count with one. They must also assume the idea of collaboration, whether it be internal between all the departments of the company, or external with other companies and also with the clients.Here is the key to survive in the market, especially if it is a technological company. Because when you count with a product that makes you work on its development in order not to become obsolete, the research is fundamental, and innovation is used to make a distinction, thus causing a new excellence status that allows having a leadership situation in the market, and therefore, greater success guaranties.

Author: Asier Ortiz, Lantek Research and Development Manager

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