Narrow Results

In an exploratory survey to R&D managers in different sectors of European Process Industry, the importance and present use of a formal work process for process development has been studied. A new conceptual three-phase model for the "process development process", including the identification of production needs, process development and transfer of results to production, was also tested. The results show that only 44% of the companies in the study presently use a formal work process for process development, but the need for such a process is considered to be high. Good support was given for the new conceptual model as a starting point for further development of a company-specific "process development process".

In Process Industry, process development traditionally takes a large part of the company's total development efforts, but has nevertheless not received much attention in academic studies. As a part of a larger research project concerning process development in Process Industry, the allocation of company resources to R&D, and to process development in particular, has been investigated in an exploratory survey to R&D managers in European Process Industry (Mining & Mineral Industry, Food & Beverage Industry, Pulp & Paper Industry, Chemical Industry, Basic Metal Industry, and Other Process Industry). The results show that of the total resources for R&D, 40% was allocated to process development, and over 60% of the companies expected this figure to increase in the future. This figure not only shows the future importance of process development, but also indicates that the importance of product development in this group of companies is at present still rated higher than process development. The results from the study do not fit the most widely used theoretical models, and it is concluded that there is a need for better models with more explanatory power. The new concepts of product and process development intensity are introduced. The product and process development intensities can be looked upon as aggregated measures of individual development efforts by a company, and it is thus argued that they are of overall company strategic importance.

Introducing existing, improved or radically new process technology in the process industries is not finished until it is operating well at the firm’s premises; a fact of growing importance in the perspective of digital transformation. However, since it is uncommon for firms in the process industries to develop own process technology, they are dependent on suppliers for the acquisition of new equipment. Relying on the development of an organisational framework, the authors’ industrial experiences, and a literature review, success factors for inter-firm process technology transfer were initially developed. To facilitate the company use, and as an illustrative case, the success factors were afterwards included in a survey to informants in the petrochemical industries. The findings indicate that companies would benefit from the development of an internal guide for inter-firm process technology transfer. The success factors could not only be used as components in such a manual, but also serve as a “check-list” for internal improvement programs for process technology transfer.