Imoh Ilevbare works at Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge as a Product Manager. He has provided a quick overview of these papers from Technovation.

Effective use of 3D printing in the innovation process (Open access), by Marina Candi & Ahmad Beltagui; March 2019

Paper highlights:

• How to make effective use of a new digital technology
• Orchestration, i.e. IT and manufacturing coordination, strengthens the relationship between the use of 3DP and performance
• 3DP is more effective in environments facing uncertainty than under less turbulent conditions
• The study results indicate the implications for future innovation in manufacturing technology, especially with manufacturing becoming increasingly digitised. 

Innovation indicators throughout the innovation process: an extensive literature analysis (Open access), by Marisa Dziallas and Knut Blind; March 2019

Paper highlights:

• Increased understanding of the indicator landscape; to complement the various stages of the innovation process with relevant indicators
• Identified indicators can be categorised into company-specific and contextual dimensions
• More process indicators, rather than product indicators, exist in literature
• There are 82 unique indicators to evaluate innovations, including 26 indicators for the early stages

Stage-gate process for life sciences and medical innovation investment (Open access), by Luis R. Soenksen & Youseph Yazdi; April 2017

Paper highlights:

• A simplified stage-gate process to describe the life science investment, which constitutes a current and representative view of experts and stakeholders of the life-science investment sector
• The stage-gate model includes (I) General vision and investment strategy definition; (II) Venture search, screening and rapid pre-evaluation; (III) Due diligence and negotiation of terms; (IV) Portfolio management, evaluation, and exit.

Barriers to innovation through public procurement: a supplier perspective (Open access), by Elvira Uyarra et al; October 2014

Paper highlights:

• Factors in public procurement influencing suppliers’ ability to innovate, including tender specifications, skills, user-supplier interaction and management of risk
• Barriers are perceived differently by R&D-intensive vs non R&D-performing suppliers
• Small firms and not for profit organisations are disadvantaged in procurement

Open innovation in SMEs: Trends, motives and management challenges (open access); by van de Vrande et al; July 2009

Paper highlights:

• Medium-sized firms are on average more heavily involved in open innovation than their smaller counterparts
• SMEs pursue open innovation primarily for market-related motives such as meeting customer demands or keeping up with competitors
• Their most important challenges relate to organisational and cultural issues