- Active Steering steers BMW to two awards for Innovation
- Holistic approach to innovation the key to real-life driver enjoyment
- Innovations ‘made in Germany’ guarantee on-going success
BMW Group has been crowned Germany’s “most innovative company”, presented
with the prestigious Best Innovator Award 2004.
German Federal Minister Wolfgang Clement is the patron of the award,
initiated by German publication Wirtschaftswoche and management consultants AT
Kearney and is determined by a high-calibre panel of judges.
“The BMW Group, as one of the world’s most innovative companies, shows that
Germany still leads the global field as a centre of innovation,” says Wolfgang
Clement.
The cornerstone of the BMW Group’s success is its strategic focus on
developing customer-friendly innovations, coupled with an approach to
innovations management that is unique within the motor industry.
“Leading innovations are the best form of copy protection for our products
and a guarantor of the global success of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce,” says
Professor Burkhard Göschel, BMW Board Member responsible for Development and
Purchasing.
“Innovations ‘made in Germany’ are still setting standards.”
The judges of the Best Innovator Award selected the BMW Group in recognition
of its innovative products such as Active Steering, but also for “making
professional innovative processes a key strategic and cultural constituent of
every area of the company”.
Winning the Best Innovator Award is no flash in the pan. In 2002, the BMW
Group was the first European company to receive the Outstanding Corporate
Innovator (OCI) Award in the USA. This innovations management “Oscar” honours
companies that have distinguished themselves by “outstanding innovative strength
and growth through successful products”.
For its Active Steering system, the BMW Group was awarded the
‘Innovationspreis der deutschen Wirtschaft’ (Innovation Award of German
Industry) in early 2004.
Keeping the customer in mind - focusing on “real-life”
innovations
The focus of innovations management at the BMW Group is not
on individual technical components such as the engine or chassis, as previously,
but on vehicle functions, which are viewed holistically within various fields of
innovation.
Thus the innovation area of “driving experience”, for example, comprises the
interaction of the engine, chassis, steering, transmission and brakes.
“This approach involves looking at the overall package at an early stage
through the customer’s eyes,” says Professor Göschel.
Innovations management, with representatives from the marketing, development,
purchasing and production divisions, prioritizes the numerous technical
innovations according to this principle. Ultimately, only those innovations,
which promise clear customer benefit and a strengthening of the brand character,
go into production.
Three stages to success - innovations management at the BMW Group
The BMW Group is the only automotive company in the world whose
innovations management covers all the areas of development. The advantage is
that new ideas can be fed into the development process quickly and directly. It
starts with the ‘impulse’ phase.
Here, employees in a worldwide network - including suppliers, universities
and research establishments - identify forward-looking innovations. The crucial
factor is the focus on ideas not only from the world of motoring but also from
other areas such as the electronics or software sectors.
In a world first for the motoring industry, this stage implements the Virtual
Innovation Agency (VIA): at www.bmwgroup.com/via
Even small and medium-sized companies can submit innovative ideas and
suggestions to the BMW Group. These are examined and, if suitable, are taken
further in consultation with the “inventor”.
The second stage is “innovation control”, when the innovations are analysed
for their suitability for vehicles and developed up to a certain level.
“Innovation transfer”, finally, ensures that the selected innovations are
channelled into volume production and thus a concrete product.
Innovation is people - scope for new ideas
Innovative processes
define the working method not only of the development division but of every
other department as well: all employees and managerial staff promote innovative
thinking on a company-wide basis as a basic mindset.
“The living fascination of innovation makes the BMW Group one of the most
popular employers in the world,” says Professor Göschel.
In this way the company promotes the ideal interaction between lateral
thinkers, freethinkers and creative, inspirational staff with people who apply
reason, logic and precision to translating such novel ideas into soundly
established processes.
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