Vision 2012/1 - Rolls-Royce

Energy efficiency will increase
Flexible drive modes
New materials and constructions
Production technologies
Environmental awareness
Towards zero leakages
KEY DRIVERS
for the next 10 years
Emphasizing cooperation
with customers
Joint development
Emphasizing Service business
Easy maintenance
Design for global manufacturing
Market area based supply chains
Key innovation drivers within offshore
for the coming years.
including PSV, AHTS, FPSO/FSO and PMSC.
“Naval architects contributing to this project
in the mid 1970s were great observers and
listeners. The design is truly innovative,
contributing holistic hull and vessel solutions,
a collaboration between Rolls-Royce and
forward-thinking shipowners,” says Eloranta.
Companies that listen to client needs and are
first to resolve them have the competitive
advantage. He is passionate about that.
A premium on agility. Rolls-Royce invested
a total of £923 million in R & D last year. When
asked, Sauli Eloranta would, of course, have
liked to see a larger part of it invested in
Offshore, but he does not complain.
He smiles:
“Put it this way, we have made considerable
achievements.”
Rolls-Royce thrives on fast-changing
opportunities and places a premium on
agility. The Group senses change ahead, and
acts with operational, strategic, and decisionmaking
muscle.
“Innovation demands agility. Rigidity and the
exclusion of variation undermine
development. Give people time and space to
innovate – empower them to try new things.
This game is all about improving products
and services. Rolls-Royce must stay ahead of
change.”
Five year time frame. Speed-to-industry is
a prerequisite in Offshore, where competition
is intense and the market dynamic.
“Getting a product or service swiftly out into
the industry is a critical business innovation
tactic,” says Eloranta, while admitting that
very short time frames can sometimes be the
real challenge. He is talking five years
maximum, the same time frame as the
client’s next project.
“Ideation can’t be long. We can’t get caught
up with glossy processes and tediously
protracted market research. Truthfully, there is
nothing like a time limit to stir action and
group cohesion around a product.”
Lean, dynamic and keen to succeed,
Rolls-Royce anticipates the escalating
demands of marine operators and deploys
innovative products widely and rapidly.
Sauli Eloranta names just a few:
replace external exhaust casings and an
unobstructed 360-degree bridge view to
improve safety at sea.
bridge consoles.
efficiency despite engine speed variations.
substitutes steel wire with fibre rope for
greater deep-sea safety.
consumption and maintain reliable vessel
speeds regardless of transit conditions.
low SOx, NOx, CO2 and particulate emissions.
higher power density marine motors.
“Future innovation will birth new technology
in areas such as clean combustion
technology, computational design and
analysis methods, power electronics,
advanced electrical machines, fuel cells and
magnetic and superconducting materials,”
predicts Eloranta.
Managing innovation. Harnessing the
ideas of the company’s 1,400 engineers,
Sauli Eloranta believes the greater the
collaboration, the greater the innovation.
He leads strategy teams that pinpoint
technology development needs. Receiving
ground-level feedback from the company’s
technicians, these teams of technical,
marketing and operations experts create
the product strategies of the future.
“Engineers from every discipline get involved.
They find the challenges, brainstorm on
technology and are given the power and
responsibility to take action. We have set up a
structure for empowerment and people get
energised about this,” he says.
VISION 1/12
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