Annual report 2011 - Trelleborg

VISION, BUSINESS CONCEPT, STRATEGY
INNOVATIVE
CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS
Innovation is one of Trelleborg’s core values and a cornerstone of the Group’s
growth strategy. Innovation programs are concentrated on developing long-term,
value-generating solutions and applications in close cooperation with customers.
Innovation activities not only encompass products and functions, but also
processes, applications and services among customers and users. Through
innovative customer solutions, Trelleborg is growing together with its customers.
Development in cooperation
with customers
The purpose of Trelleborg’s innovative
expertise is to act as a resource enabling
customers to speed up development of
competitive solutions for their own customers,
users and consumers – to take
the next step.
Trelleborg offers world-class technology,
materials expertise, technical resources,
innovation and service. The offering
satisfi es a broad spectrum of industrial
customers’ needs to seal, damp and
protect in demanding environments.
Research and development is conducted
at three levels. The fi rst level comprises
fundamental physical and chemical materials
know-how concerning polymers
and other materials. The second level involves
applications expertise within the
Group’s global market segments. The
third level is the specifi c design of products
and solutions.
Focus on solutions and
applications
It is often necessary for customers to
identify solutions that seal, damp and
protect before they can develop functions
for their own products and services
and create new customer offerings that
26 Annual Report 2011 Trelleborg AB
enhance their competitiveness. Trelleborg
can customize polymers and combine
them with other material to provide
customers’ products with functions featuring
such unique properties as elasticity,
strength and resistance for highly challenging
applications.
R&D expenditure
SEK M
500
400
300
200
100
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Expense, excluding
amortization
Capitalized
Trelleborg’s innovative capacity extends
beyond materials technology. An important
competency is the ability to understand
customers’ business logic and
recognize the customers’ need for innovative
applications to enhance effi ciency
and save resources. This may require
combinations of polymer development,
electronics, support and services for
larger intelligent systems that could pave
a new way for technology and problemsolving.
Global development with
local proximity
Trelleborg has built up a global network
of development units and placed these
at the disposal of its customers. These
provide advanced equipment for sound
analysis, pressure, temperature and load
simulation, measurement of wear and
friction, system analysis and non-linear
material analysis. An extensive test function
has been established to guarantee
lasting quality. Parameters tested include
compression, fatigue, pressure resistance,
wear, load, vibration and sound.
In the fi nal phase, testing of prototypes
and fi nished products is often performed
at the customer’s facility under realistic
conditions.
Several of the development units
possess fundamental physical and
chemical materials know-how of polymers
and other materials and thus have the
capacity to develop technology, strategic
products and materials. The number of
development units is steadily increasing.
They represent strategic investments to
consolidate and develop the competitive
position when a market has become
suffi ciently large. In 2011, Trelleborg had
some 45 development units in 19
countries.
GRI: 4.8, Governance (EC), EN, LA, HR, SO, PR