Covestro looks for open innovative solutions for new growth

By introducing the concept of an "open innovation hub" at its Asia-Pacific Innovation Center in Shanghai to involve more external partners in research and development, German polymer materials manufacturer Covestro is expecting to accelerate translation of innovative ideas into industrial breakthroughs and to inject new impetus into its growth in China.

The move, announced in October, comes as the multi-industry ecosystems in China have evolved through open innovation principles that have pushed the boundaries of traditional industries, according to the company.

"China is setting the pace for technologies in many areas that address future trends, and we see tremendous potential to engage with different innovation partners," said Holly Lei, president of Covestro China. "With the hub concept we take a step forward in implementing our 'in China, for the world' innovation strategy."

Covestro said the hub concept will support experts and partners with an infrastructure to work on five key areas including sustainability and digitalization. It will enable experts to reach out into the ecosystems to find partners for sustainability and circular economy, and help to build networks for industries and applications where Chinese developments play a leading role. Examples include mobility, robotics, hyperloops, biomaterials and drones, the company said.

The concept will also foster projects on digital sales and new digital services with the help of tools such as artificial intelligence, voice recognition and augmented reality. It will also contribute to expanding Covestro's existing network with universities and institutes.

"We will bundle our open innovation activities under one umbrella now," said Michael Schmidt, head of Innovation, Covestro, Asia-Pacific. "We strive for a close and intense collaboration with our partners from all kinds of industries with the goal to build a leading innovation ecosystem for our customers."

Covestro is active in connecting with external partners in startups and academia even before it implemented the branded open innovation concept in China. The company said the open innovation hub will help to further accelerate the innovation cycles for different industries and customers in the country.

During the K 2019, one of the world's largest plastics and rubber trade fairs, held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in October, Covestro demonstrated a wide range of high-performance materials, particularly in sustainability and digitalization. Among them were material solutions used to support the development of 5G technology. The polycarbonates manufactured by Covestro for antenna casings not only show perfect signal transmission but also offer utmost design flexibility, according to the company.

China is leading in 5G network deployment, and Covestro is working with partners in China to develop 5G materials as part of its open innovation approach. For example, the German new materials developer and manufacturer is working with Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on the optimization of radio frequency data transmittance.

Covestro has also leveraged its know-how in digitalization to support Haier, one of the largest home appliance makers in China, to search for a way to optimize production with improved insulation materials at the Haier Covestro Digital Lab in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province.

Covestro's partnership with Tongji University is another typical example of open innovation and has reported fruitful results in recent years.

Covestro joined hands with Tongji University in 2011 to establish the Covestro-Tongji Innovation Academy to promote industry-academia cooperation which focuses on industrializing innovation outcomes in the areas of mobility and construction, as well as providing education and talent development programs in related fields.

"The academy is intensifying collaboration in the field of market-driven innovation, sustainability and commercialization," said Schmidt, who is also dean of the Academy and head of innovation for the Asia-Pacific region at Covestro. "Although we have a strong history of innovation, we cannot rest on our laurels. The academy gives us inspiration on how we can leverage speed, new technologies and new business models to further enable sustainability for the country and beyond."

Moreover, Covestro has set up an endowed chair in partnership with the UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development for sustainability-related research topics such as circular economy, urbanization and climate change.

Covestro joined hands with Tongji University to host the "Future Cities Competition: Shanghai 2019" in August to encourage young people to help provide solutions to major urban challenges.

At present, China is Covestro's largest single market, with sales revenue totaling 3.1 billion euros ($3.43 billion) in 2018, accounting for 21 percent of group sales. Covestro's cumulative investment in China has exceeded 3.3 billion euros since 2001.

(China Daily 11/08/2019 page6)