Innovation In Spain Research Articles

Technical innovation in Spain's wood-based industry: The role of environmental and quality strategies

This paper uses a logit model to quantify the probability of generating technological innovations in a representative sample of firms belonging to the wood-based industry in Spain (lumber and wood products, pulp and paper, and wooden furniture). Special attention has been paid to the incidence of environmental and quality strategies in firms as being determinant factors of innovation. Econometric results have indicated that these two strategies have increased innovation generation in the wood-based industry. In general, environmental and quality strategies tend to exert positive effects on the specific innovation activities of firms, in spite of the fact that a substitution relationship was found between the existence of quality management systems and R&D subsidies.

Technical innovation in Spain's forestry industry

This paper intends to provide an overview of the technological innovation in the Spanish wood-based industry. This characterization will be carried out through the analysis of a set of indicators based on both secondary and primary data, the later obtained from a survey taken in 2007. Results indicate a weakness and backwardness in the innovation activities performed in the forest industry, with respect to the overall Spanish manufacturing industry. This gap is wider in the case of R&D activities. However, it is necessary to indicate that the important limitations observed in the way firms carry out their innovation activities, are shared with the overall traditional manufacturing sectors.

Technical innovations at the service of cheaper labor in pre‐industrial Europe. The Enlightened agenda to transform the gender division of labor in silk manufacturing

In 1749, Jacques de Vaucanson patented his or tour pour tirer la soie or spindle for silk reeling. Vaucanson's mechanized spindle soon was adopted by most silk producer regions in Europe, at a time when silk was a main luxury commodity in Western trade and manufacturing production. In this article I analyze the introduction of this innovation in Spain in the second half of the eighteenth century. I describe how the Enlightened reformist government promoted its adoption, the main advantage in relation to former spindles being that it could be handled by women, given that less physical effort was needed. Although supported by decades of political and financial support, the diffusion of the Vaucanson spindle was limited. Nevertheless, this case is interesting because it fitted perfectly with a central aspect of the labor agenda of Enlightened reformists: to increase women's labor force participation in order to reduce productive costs and make industry more competitive; and to permit men's labor to be ‘reallocated’ to agriculture, public works and the army. Technological innovation is thus analyzed as part of the economic and social agenda of the period.

Technological capacity and innovation in Spain: a qualitative analysis based on patents

Technological innovation is a complex process that defines the capacity to produce new products and represents a key element in understanding the level of a country's technological development. It is not, however, easily measurable, even though its relationship with indicators linked to the process of research and development (R&D) and with the existence of technological capacity is recognised. Patents are indicators that provide information not only about the results of the manufacturing process but also the technological innovation processes developed by companies and organisations and the technological capacity deployed. This study has focused on Spanish technological capabilities, through the analysis of the patents that have been applied for and granted on a sector-level basis, the strength of technological cooperation and the quality of the patents measured according to the number of claims.

Knowledge acquisition from batch semiconductor manufacturing data

Semiconductor manufacturing data consist of the processes and the machines involved in the production of batches of semiconductor circuit wafers. Wafer quality depends on the manufacturing line status and it is measured at the end of the line. We have developed a knowledge discovery system that is intended to help the yield analysis expert by learning the tentative causes of low quality wafers from an exhaustive amount of manufacturing data. The yield analysis expert, by using the knowledge discovered, will decide on which corrective actions to perform on the manufacturing process. This paper discusses the transformations carried out within the data from raw data to discovered knowledge, and also the two main tasks performed by the system. The features of the inductive algorithm performing those tasks are also described. Yield analysis experts at Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs Innovations in Spain are currently using this knowledge discovery application.

Knowledge acquisition from batch semiconductor manufacturing data

Semiconductor manufacturing data consist of the processes and the machines involved in the production of batches of semiconductor circuit wafers. Wafer quality depends on the manufacturing line status and it is measured at the end of the line. We have developed a knowledge discovery system that is intended to help the yield analysis expert by learning the tentative causes of low quality wafers from an exhaustive amount of manufacturing data. The yield analysis expert, by using the knowledge discovered, will decide on which corrective actions to perform on the manufacturing process. This paper discusses the transformations carried out within the data from raw data to discovered knowledge, and also the two main tasks performed by the system. The features of the inductive algorithm performing those tasks are also described. Yield analysis experts at Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs Innovations in Spain are currently using this knowledge discovery application.