Managers at Work: ABB's Funnel Project Sparks Ideas, Innovation

Abstract

MANAGERS AT WORK Get a new idea-and you can research it. Let your mind roam the Never-Never-Land of Innovative Ideas and you will be rewarded for the gems that you discover there. This is the message ABB's U.S. R&D Center delivers to its nearly 100 research scientists, engineers and software developers. Recognizing that its employees' brain power is its principal asset, ABB's R&D organization supports innovative research in its 11 corporate research centers (CRCs) around the world. The directors of each of these centers encourage innovation in their own way and as suits the particular culture and genius of each R&D Group. Naturally, the R&D Group at Vaasa, Finland, does it a little differently than the one at Milan, Italy, or the one at Dattwil, Switzerland, or the one at Raleigh, North Carolina, and so on. This article describes the approach followed by the U.S. R&D Group, known as ETI-or Electric systems Technology Institute-located in Raleigh, North Carolina. ETI's major research areas include: software engineering, industrial IT, manufacturing technology and robotics, as well as electric power systems and alternative energy. ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies with nearly 160,000 employees in more than 100 countries. It is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The concept of the research innovation process at ETI, called the Funnel Project, is simple (see illustration, next page). It was created in 1999 by an internal innovation team, led by ETI's director, Jaime Trevino. At fixed intervals during the year, a contest is thrown open to the entire ETI population to produce innovative technology ideas that can either benefit ABB at large directly, or open the door to larger research or applied projects which, in turn, can lead to business for ABB. A screening committee comprising four panels of four judges, each of whom are experts in a particular category, then screens these ideas. Rating the Ideas Ideas are categorized under four broad headings (each broad research category being reviewed by one of the four panels of experts), and are graded on a scale from 1 through 5, with 5 being Excellent and 1, Rejected. The screening committee analyzes the validity of the proposed ideas based on the responses to the following questions: 1. Has the idea been funded before, or has the same work been done elsewhere? (It has to be an original idea.) 2. What is the deliverable? 3. What would be the impact on ETI? 4. What would be the impact on ABB? 5. Are there any sponsors, collaborators or funding for the idea from other R&D Groups, ABB Business Areas/ Units, or external customers? 6. Why is it an original/innovative idea? 7. What are the projected start and completion dates? (It should take no more than three months to complete.) Evaluation Criteria Underlying these specific questions is the awareness that the ideas should represent breakthrough technologies and processes and not be merely an alternative source of funding for ongoing projects or their extension. The key to selection for Funnel are the three principal criteria of: innovation, acceptance as a valuable new idea by the community of researchers, and alignment with ABB's business goals. Based upon a merit list that is drawn up according to the Screening Committee's aggregate grading, usually about 50 percent of the selected ideas are then advanced to the next step in the selection process: the Selection Committee stage. This Committee consists of ETI's department managers, program managers and the director. The authors of the selected ideas give a 5-to10-minute presentation to the Selection Committee about their idea and why it should be funded and then answer searching questions on how they intend to proceed. An important consideration here is the degree of interest in the idea shown by ABB's business units, external customers or internal/external R&D establishments. …