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10 PRoJeCt HoUse sYsteMs InteGRAtIon
elements39 Issue 2|2012
Product and process
go hand in hand
Chemical products have to satisfy customers’ requirements and
the demands of the market completely. Over the past three years,
Evonik’s developers in the Project House Systems Integration
of Creavis Technologies & Innovation have paved the way for
new applications for innovative materials.
[ text Dr. Michael Olbrich ]
ReseaRch in the ivory tower—this is a beloved metaphor
for describing the gap between scientific work
and market reality. At Evonik, R&D has long forsaken
the ivory tower in favor of efficient development
work based on market requirements and megatrends.
Evonik’s project houses, an element of the strategic
research and development unit Creavis Technologies
& Innovation, are one feature of its R&D landscape.
In many of these project houses, employees from
a variety of disciplines and business units of the
Group have worked together to develop ideas and innovations
since the year 2000. Over a period of three
years, the employees combine their knowledge and
their different experiences and advance their projects
single-mindedly, outside day-to-day operations.
This allows them to build new areas of expertise and
bring products and processes to market readiness
faster.
While the first project houses focused primarily
on the development of basic technology and products,
their objective evolved over time to a greater focus
on new processes and new applications—today, they
work in closer proximity to the market. Project hous es
work on behalf of the Group to venture further into
new markets than the business units, and it is an open
question whether a project can be brought to successful
completion within three years—whether a
technically attractive solution will be found and, ultimately,
whether a marketable product is produced.
The work of the project houses, therefore, complements
the research done in the business units by
advancing medium-risk developments. But the risk
is worth it: The interdisciplinary teamwork outside
normal day-to-day business often proves to be a catalyst
for pathbreaking ideas. And for the individual
researchers, the limited duration of the project house
commitment—combined with its high visibility among
top management—is a challenge that promotes personal
development and extends employees’ horizons
beyond their normal daily work.
As the strategic research and development unit of
Evonik Industries, Creavis is commissioned to build
new and sustainable businesses for Evonik and develop
forward-looking technology platforms. The