1. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
Augsburg Innovationspark
Current occupation
Just a couple of weeks ago we founded our own company with the city of Augsburg and the
regional government as shareholders. The purpose of the company is to develop the Innova-
tion Park, which is basically a 70 hectare (173 acre) city development project, which includes
the construction of a 27 Mio€ building designed for R&D activities.
Today, 150Mio€ are already spent for the Innovation Park project.
It is aiming at securing the industrial location by supporting companies to stay ahead in the
market with innovative products.
Our focus, vision or you may also call it our USP (unique selling proposition) is to support
the development of product oriented technologies for resource efficiency because that will
give our companies the competitive lead.
We feel very strong about it because indicators show an accelerated lack not only of rare
earth metal but also of certain other materials combined with the influence of mega trends
such as the demographic development.
Shared believe in cooperation’s for effective innovation
You need to know that the region we are living in is characterized by many successful high-
tech companies such as SGL, Kuka, Fujitsu, MT Aerospace, Eurocopter, just to name a few
of the big ones. The project was initiated with the industry and is strongly supported by insti-
tutions of different nature across various technologies but also by all political directions.
However, there is a shared believe, that companies in the region need a platform where they
can boost their innovation performance to stay ahead of the competition.
Before, a new product was defining the materials it needed to be produced. That is no longer
the case. Nowadays, it is important to design to the resources available. In other words,
during the development process a very close look must be taken not only at the availability
of materials but also along the product life cycle. As a result, the innovation process be-
comes more complex.
We believe that cooperation can explore the full potential of our innovative knowledge but it
needs a platform where this can happen. An effective cooperation can reduce time-to-
market.
And I suppose that is the reason why I have the privilege to speak to you today.

2. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
Siemens
Just a couple of weeks after I started working on the project I received a call by the Siemens
headquarters in Munich. They asked me whether I would help them to find a certain compe-
tence. It had something to do with IT security systems. Coincidentally, I was in a position to
help them. However, I was somehow startled by their inquiry so I asked them why they ap-
proached me. The answer was simple: “Well, our investigation is linked to a project and so
we used the keyword “innovation” in Google and the Innovation Park popped up”.
Hey, big deal, I thought. Imagine, one of the biggest companies in the world is using
“Google” to find the required knowledge. But then I asked “In which department are you
working?”. And the following answer changed a lot in the way we were looking at our project:
“We are a department scouting world-wide for new knowledge or certain competencies that
we are lacking. We, Siemens have to stay in the lead with innovative products and we know
that it is impossible to create all innovative ideas just out of your own resources.”
Today’s pressure is immense. And therefore it is probably a good timing for the EIX Innova-
tion Event: Competition with Boeing, increasing pressure from small aircraft manufacturers,
a flat curve in future aircraft technology improvements over time may force you to review the
way you develop new products or product improvements?
In addition, new external factors further increase the pressure such as demographic chang-
es which require growth. More people must be fed, claim a certain standard of living and
want to move around. So at first glance that seem to be good news for the aeronautical in-
dustry.
However, the environmental program of the United Nations (UNEP) has calculated that if we
continue like we do today, in 2050 we will consume 140 billion tons of minerals, ore, fossil
combustibles and biomass. That is 2 times more than today. At the end of the century 4
earths will be required to satisfy the demand. It simply doesn’t work!
Henkel (Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care und Adhesive Technologies)
However, the industry is already reacting. Henkel’s CEO Kaspar Rorsted gave out the Fac-
tor-3-Strategy: Increase product quantity by 3 in 2030 without increasing material input. That
would require an efficiency improvement of 5-6% per year! You can easily imagine that it will
not be possible to achieve the target without radical changes in product development and an
innovative approach to the entire value chain.
In view of that and because R&D engineers have a good understanding of the correlations, I
believe they must pro-actively play their role as an entrepreneur in the company!
Sounds contradicting, doesn’t it? No! The engineering activities and the associated respon-
sibility are part of what makes a “healthy company”. Let me explain in short what the criteria
of a healthy company are and what I believe should be understood:

3. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
1. Market position (market share, degree of brand awareness, customer satis-
faction, customer value, presence in market segments)
2. Productivity (work, money, time, knowledge)
- Knowledge: how many % of the existing knowledge is used in your compa-
ny?
3. Capability to attract good people
4. Liquidity/assets and cash flow
5. Profitability
6. Innovation performance
a. Innovation rate: How much turnover is generated by products not older
than x-years?
b. Ratio of successful start-ups to flops
c. Time-to-market
d. Power of renewal: too little innovation = slow dying; or the contrary:
too much bustle but no effectiveness
So, how can I improve innovation performance to keep my competitors at distance?
By definition innovation shall always create new value for customers. It is a fact that e.g. low-
tech industries tend to associate innovation with technical features of our products. Watch
out - provocative question: Are you low-tech? Think about the information industry – if they
would do that they would be out of business in seconds!
[Visit to KUKA robots]
Now, innovation needs pressure. Without pressure hardly anything happens. There are 7
sources of innovative opportunity, according to P. Drucker:
1. Unexpected events
2. Incongruities between the expected and the actual
3. New process requirements
4. Unanticipated changes in industry or market structure
5. Demographic changes
6. Changes in perception, mood, or meaning
7. New knowledge
“New knowledge” is the least reliable and least predictable of them all! I know that runs
counter to conventional wisdom which holds that innovators are usually scientists or in this
case “Airbus engineers” to extend the frontiers of knowledge.
True is, that many, many more business successes can be attributed to innovations in pro-
cess (in all forms) than knowledge breakthrough at product level.
Why is that so important to understand? Because it has consequences in the way we organ-
ize ourselves in the innovation process. One of the largest inhibitors in companies – no mat-
ter large or small- is their own culture which didn’t allow them to overcome behavioral barri-
ers and go beyond their traditional role!

4. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
It sounds extremely trivial but the right culture shall encourage open mind mentality, a will-
ingness to exploit change rather than resist it, the ability to see opportunities where others
see threats. Remember what I said about a healthy company. In essence there is more risk
defending the past than to develop the future.
At Augsburg we defined an approach to overcome those barriers and to give new life to the
traditional innovation process. We believe, and many scientific institutions and companies in
the region support us, that an effective cooperation between science and industry, between
the OEM and its suppliers or a mix of it produce better results when done on an equal foot-
ing. Innovation happens not only faster but also with a wider consideration of consequences
along the value chain of the product life cycle.
How does that work?
The Augsburg Innovationspark Project started a couple of years ago when 2 scientific insti-
tutions namely the DLR (German Aeronautics and research center) and the FhG (Fraunho-
fer Gesellschaft-Europe’s largest application oriented research organization) decided to pool
their efforts in order to get funded by the government to build their institutes. At the end their
strongest argument was the establishment of complementary competencies (i.e. applied
carbon fiber technology). Today you can visit the 2 institute buildings just next to each other
in the Innovation Park. The joined opening ceremony took place in May 2013.
Remember, 2 traditionally competing institutes work together now!
And there is more to come. We have commitments for at least 2 additional institutes to add
to our competencies.
The Augsburg Innovation Park Company is building on this spirit. Amongst others we have
defined 3 strategies to achieve our vision of boosting innovation performance through coop-
eration:
1. Establish a consulting network based on robust processes
2. Establish a map of competencies (institutions, companies, individuals, key
words, descriptions)
3. A “Meet-and-collaborate” format with and for the “right” people
I am convinced that the approach will be successful and a win-win for everybody who is join-
ing the “Innovation Park Network”.
Here is the deal: I am also convinced that the approach can be translated into large compa-
ny structures too.
Again, the basic idea is to explore the existing potential to improve innovation performance.
Furthermore, ways must be defined how to access them in the organization.
I see 3 kinds of innovation performance potential:
1. Effective collaboration with suppliers, probably the most important (product
improvements, logistics, participation, performance based contracts, etc.)
2. Performance driven cooperation with application oriented research institutes
3. Cross departmental / cross-national R&D management

5. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
Before coming to the end I would like to draw your attention to the power of Marketing. A
close cooperation, shoulder-to-shoulder with marketing can be extremely rewarding for both
when developing new products to create value.
The relationship between Product Development and Marketing works both ways. Marketing,
for example can provide new value creating inputs for R&D departments to be tested. R&D
on the other hand can test new ideas through Marketing in the market. These are just 2 ex-
amples and there many other reasons which justifies a close cooperation. It is not coinci-
dence why P. Drucker once stated:
“The business enterprise has two and only two basic functions: marketing and innovation.
Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.”
Summary
• The EIX Innovation day – very good initiative – must be continued in changing times
to maintain the lead in the market.
• The “Innovator” community need to have a strong voice in the company – must claim
their entrepreneurial position. You can do that for example by demonstrating your
close cooperation with marketing!
• Business success is mainly attributed to the innovations in process not necessarily
always associated to technical features.
• Change is necessary and change comes with change in culture. The potential is
enormous if we only manage to access the existing knowledge (criteria of a “healthy”
company).
• Challenge marketing – don’t be challenged. Try to move forward together in unison.

6. REGIO AUGSBURG
WIRTSCHAFT GMBH
Telefon: (+49) 821 450 10-0
Telefax: (+49) 821 450 10-111
E-Mail: innovationspark@region-A3.com
www.augsburg-innovationspark.com
Ali Cabac, AIRBUS Senior Manager Fuselage & Payload FUTURE PROJECTS and Jano von
Zitzewitz, Managing Director Augsburg Innovationspark GmbH, at the “AIRBUS Innovation Day”.
Contact:
Jano von Zitzewitz
Tel.: +49 (0)821 324 1590
jano.vonzitzewitz@augsburg.de