The way in which innovation and R&D occurs has changed over time. From lone inventors such as Werner von Siemens and Thomas Edison whose work was mostly done in private and not released until thought viable or a patent granted. For many years this was how new products came about, until business such as Siemens saw the advantages of sharing ideas and founded research laboratories in or around their current factories and properties. This method of in house collaboration has many models and methods associated with it, from departmental stages to network and response models.
Early R&D models usually fall into the over-the-wall, departmental model (Trott, 2005). A potential product is created by R&D department and then thrown over the wall to engineering. The engineering department create prototypes, and throw these to the manufacturing department etc. and finally to marketing.
It is widely accepted that this insular departmental view of the process hinders the development of new products, as a great deal of reworking and consolation is often needed (Trott 2009).
More recent methods or new product development favour the network models of R&D. The collaboration of departments and staff that results in an accumulation of knowledge over time. Mechatronics could be considered an ideal example of a networked approach to new product development. Mechatronics is the combination of several disciplines of engineering including mechanical, electronics and systems engineering with the aim of creating a design process that unifies these subfields.
In a business approach the network model involves several departments collaborating towards new product development together from the beginning of the project and not just at the required stage.
Open Innovation
Many businesses are now going further in the use of network models extending them beyond the scope of their employees. Thanks to an ever increasingly connected world, companies are able to connect their employees and other experts around the world, opening up the innovation process. Siemens for example has created its own social media platform that not only connects its employees to one another but also links their state of the art simulation laboratory in real time. This means that employees around the globe have access to test data in Germany, allowing for the greater collaboration on projects and problems solving, increasing innovation and decreasing the development process.
Companies may also create partnerships with other research institutes such as universities, run innovation competitions, and look to fund start-up businesses, with the hope that this will drive the R&D process and keep the company sustainable and profitable.
References
Trott, Paul, 2005, Innovation Management and New Product Development, 3rd Edition
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/innovation-strategy/promoting-open-innovation.html
Mechatronics Notebook 