INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES
SEVILLE
W.T.C., Isla de la Cartuja, s/n,
E-41092 Sevilla
Modern Biotechnology and the Greening of Industry
The Introduction of Process-integrated
Biocatalysts in Companies –
Effect of Dynamics in Internal and
External Networks
Final Report
Editors:
Oliver Wolf, Per Sørup
European Commission - Joint Research Center
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies IPTS
Spain
Authors:
Dr. Bärbel Hüsing
Gerhard Jaeckel
Stefan Wörner
Andreas Würth
Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (ISI)
Germany
EUR 19582 EN
January 2000
ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels • Luxembourg, 2000
The views expressed in this study do not necessarily reflect those
of the European Commission (EC).
The European Commission retains copyright, but reproduction is
authorised, except for commercial purposes, provided the source
is acknowledged: neither the European Commission nor any
person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the
use which might be made of the following information.
The Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe,
Germany has been commissioned by the Institute for Prospective Technological
Studies (IPTS), Seville, Spain to carry out the study "The Introduction of Processintegrated Biocatalysts in Companies – Effect of Dynamics in Internal and External
Networks" in the period from July 1998 to July 1999. This study is part of the IPTS
project "Modern Biotechnology and the Greening of Industry".
Authors of the report:
Dr. Bärbel Hüsing (Project manager)
Dipl.-Phys. Gerhard Jaeckel
Dipl.-Wirtsch.Ing. Stefan Wörner
Andreas Würth
Secretary:
Silke Just
Other ISI staff involved: Dipl.-Biol. Stefanie Giessler
Stephanie Knieriemen
Natalie Schumann
Dipl.-Agrarbiologin Elke Strauß
Contact:
Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research
(ISI)
Breslauer Strasse 48
76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
phone: +49-721-6809-210, fax: +49-721-6809-176
e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
List of contents
i
page
List of tables .............................................................................................................iii
List of figures ...........................................................................................................iv
Executive Summary.................................................................................................. I
1.
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
2.
Objectives ........................................................................................................... 3
3.
Methodology....................................................................................................... 5
4.
5.
3.1
Typology of the sectors and firms .................................................... 5
3.2
Identification and selection of the companies for case
studies ............................................................................................... 6
3.3
Performing the case studies .............................................................. 7
3.4
Analysis of the case studies, conclusions for policy
purposes ............................................................................................ 7
Typology of industries investigated ................................................................. 9
4.1
Chemical industry............................................................................. 9
4.2
Food industry.................................................................................. 15
4.3
Pulp and paper industry .................................................................. 20
4.4
Textile industry............................................................................... 26
Analysis of case studies ................................................................................... 33
5.1
Comparative description of the case studies................................... 33
5.2
Comparison of the companies' background, their situation
at the beginning of the project, and the strategic aspects of
the innovation projects.................................................................... 36
5.3
Role of greening in the innovation process .................................... 39
5.4
Challenges and hindrances encountered during the
innovation projects in the case studies ........................................... 42
5.5
Supporting factors identified in the case studies ............................ 51
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.................................................................................................... page
6.
Summary .......................................................................................................... 55
6.1
Requirements, prerequisites............................................................ 55
6.2
Hindering and supporting factors ................................................... 56
6.2.1
Awareness – Hindrances ................................................................ 57
6.2.2
Awareness – supporting factors...................................................... 58
6.2.3
Assessing the benefit/cost ratio – Hindrances ................................ 59
6.2.4
Assessing the benefit/cost ratio – Supporting factors..................... 61
7.
Conclusions for policy purposes..................................................................... 63
8.
Literature ......................................................................................................... 71
Guidance for performing case studies interviews ............................................. 75
1.
Information about the interviewee(s) ............................................. 75
2.
Information about the company...................................................... 75
3.
The innovation process ("case") ..................................................... 76
3.1
Situation of the company before/at the beginning of the
innovation process .......................................................................... 76
3.2
How did the innovation project proceed after its successful
start? ............................................................................................... 76
3.3
Outcome of the innovation process for the company ..................... 77
4.
Relevant frame conditions, supporting and hindering
factors ............................................................................................. 78
5.
What is specific, what can be generalised? .................................... 78
6.
Recommendations .......................................................................... 78
7.
Important aspects, not yet discussed?............................................. 79
Annex ....................................................................................................................... 75
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List of tables
............................................................................................... page
Table 3.1:
Overview of case study candidates ............................................. 8
Table 4.1:
Number of companies in the EU chemical industry by
employment size-class in 1992.................................................. 10
Table 4.2:
Top chemical companies in the world 1997.............................. 10
Table 4.3:
Average shares of chemicals in total manufacturing
industry 1987 – 1993................................................................. 13
Table 4.4:
Waste production per unit of product in the chemical
industry...................................................................................... 14
Table 4.5:
Environmental expenditure of the chemical industry as
percentage of sales 1990 - 1996 ................................................ 14
Table 4.6:
Number of companies in the EU food and drink
industry by employment size-class in 1992 .............................. 16
Table 4.7:
Top food companies in the EU 1994......................................... 16
Table 4.8:
R&D to value-added ratios for various industries in
1989 ........................................................................................... 19
Table 4.9:
R&D intensity for pulp, paper and printing (business
expenditure on R&D / production in percentages).................... 24
Table 4.10:
Recovery rate of used paper in Western Europe 1991 to
1997 ........................................................................................... 25
Table 4.11:
Number of companies in the EU textile industry by
employment size-class in 1992.................................................. 28
Table 4.12:
Top textile companies in the EU 1994 ...................................... 28
Table 4.13:
Hourly wage costs (wages + social contributions) in the
clothing industry in US$............................................................ 30
Table 5.1:
Overview of the six case studies performed.............................. 34
Table 5.2:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during
the innovation projects of case 1 and case 2.............................. 44
Table 5.3:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during
the innovation projects of case 3 and case 4.............................. 46
Table 5.3 continued .................................................................................................. 47
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.................................................................................................... page
Table 5.4:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during
the innovation projects of case 5 and case 6.............................. 48
Table 5.4 continued .................................................................................................. 49
Table 5.5:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during
the innovation projects in the six case studies........................... 50
Table 7.1:
Policy measures for a) development of new
biotechnology processes for PIEP and b) further
diffusion of existing biotechnology processes for PIEP ........... 68
List of figures
Figure 4.1:
Geographic breakdown of the EU chemical industry
production in 1997....................................................................... 9
Figure 4.2:
Foreign trade in the chemical industry from 1990 to
1997 ........................................................................................... 11
Figure 4.3:
Geographic breakdown of the EU food industry (share
of added value) .......................................................................... 15
Figure 4.4:
Foreign trade of the European food sector 1985 – 1994 ........... 17
Figure 4.5:
Geographic breakdown of the EU paper and board
production in 1994..................................................................... 21
Figure 4.6:
Foreign trade of the EU in the pulp and paper sector
1985 – 1995 ............................................................................... 22
Figure 4.7:
Geographic breakdown of the European textile industry
(share of added value) in 1994 .................................................. 27
Figure 4.8:
Foreign trade in the textile industry from 1985 to 1995............ 29
Figure 7.1:
Supporting schemes for the broader use of biotechnology in production-integrated environmental protection
(PIEP) are located at the interface of biotechnology
programmes, of environmental programmes and of
general industrial innovativeness programmes ......................... 63
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I
Executive Summary
Within the concept of production-integrated environmental protection (PIEP),
biotechnical processes have an important role, and therefore an increased uptake of
this technology can be observed in industry. The question is if the implementation
of this technology follows an optimal integration path, or if there exist obstacles
which hinder an accelerated development. In order to identify the decisive factors
for the adoption of biotechnology for pollution prevention, six case studies were
performed in nine companies from the chemical industry, the food industry, the
textile industry and the pulp and paper industry in Germany, Austria and the
Netherlands which already apply process-integrated biotechnical processes with an
environmental benefit. The decision-making and implementation processes which
led to the introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts into these companies were
investigated. From the analysis of the case studies, from literature and from expert
interviews hindering and supporting factors were identified.
Biotechnology for pollution prevention requires extensive expertise in
biotechnology, environmental management, market requirements and customers'
needs. In most cases, this comprehensive know-how is not and cannot be present
within one company, but can only be acquired via cooperations and participation in
appropriate networks. Especially in the food, pulp and paper and textile sector, this
is hampered by structural and economic factors, such as small and medium-sized
companies, low research intensity, difficult economic situation, and conservativetraditional attitudes. Environmental benefits are not sufficient incentives for the
adoption of biotechnology for pollution prevention by companies. Decisions are
much more influenced by economic considerations, company strategy, and product
quality. Participation of companies in appropriate networks, active dissemination of
the concept of pollution prevention by biotechnology instead of pollution
remediation, further implementation of environmental management procedures in
companies, and providing practically oriented tools for company-specific
assessments whether certain biotechnical processes will be advantageous for them
could support the further adoption of biotechnology for pollution prevention.
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1.
Introduction
At present, environmental biotechnology is dominated by end-of-pipe processes,
e. g. biological waste water treatment or bioremediation of contaminated sites.
Closer to sustainability than cleaning up pollution after it has occurred should be the
design of industrial production processes in a way that consumption of energy and
resources and release of harmful substances and waste are minimised from the
onset. Biotechnical processes definitely have an important role within such a
concept of production-integrated environmental protection (PIEP). They can
significantly contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution and to the
increase of companies' economic efficiency. Despite this potential and a broad
knowledge base in Europe (Enzing et al. 1998), process-integrated biotechnical
processes are not yet widely used in industry.
The European Commission aims at actively supporting the broader use of
biotechnical processes for the prevention of environmental pollution. As a step
towards this aim, the IPTS project "Modern Biotechnology and the Greening of
Industry" has been launched, in order to identify the main barriers to the
introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts into companies and to derive policy
recommendations how the broader application of biotechnology could be triggered
for greening purposes. Within the IPTS project "Modern Biotechnology and the
Greening of Industry" the following questions will be addressed:
•
What is the present status of process-integrated biocatalysts (European level)?
•
Are there any gaps between the available knowledge of biocatalysis and its
industrial application in process-integrated biotechnology?
•
What are the barriers to the introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts at the
company level?
•
What incentives are needed to encourage the introduction of process-integrated
biocatalysts?
•
How does European competitiveness compare with that of the USA and Japan
(international level)?
As a part of the IPTS project "Modern Biotechnology and the Greening of Industry"
the Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) has been
commissioned to carry out the sub-project "The Introduction of Process-integrated
Biocatalysts in Companies - Effect of Dynamics in Internal and External
Networks". It addresses the question what the barriers to the introduction of
process-integrated biocatalysts at the company level are. By performing case studies
in companies which already apply process-integrated biocatalysts it is analysed how
these biotechnical processes have been adopted and implemented. Widening the
Commission's understanding of the decision-making and implementation processes
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
2
which lead to the introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts into companies,
should enable the Commission to take targeted and effective measures in order to
promote the introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts into companies.
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2.
3
Objectives
Based on case studies in the four industrial sectors chemistry, pulp and paper,
textiles and food, this study aims at elucidating the dynamics in company-internal
and company-external networks which lead to successful introduction of processintegrated biocatalysts. The technologies under investigation are modern processintegrated biotechnologies, which have been designed for greening purposes or
have a greening effect.
Altogether, the project pursues the following aims:
•
To identify the dynamics influencing the introduction of process-integrated
modern biocatalysts in company-internal or -external networks.
•
To draw conclusions from these dynamics and make recommendations for
shaping biotechnology policy.
•
To show to what extent these conclusions and recommendations can be applied
to technology policy in general and to other research on technology policy.
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3.
5
Methodology
The study consists of three parts:
(1)
Empirical Part. In the empirical part six case studies were carried out in
companies from different industrial branches which have successfully
developed and/or implemented process-integrated biotechnical processes or
process steps. The circumstances which provide encouragement or form
barriers to the (finally) successful process integration are of special interest
(chapter 5).
(2)
Analytical Part. Generalising from the individual case studies, the analytical
part investigates how companies manage complex innovation processes in
biocatalysis, to which extent the selected case studies are typical for e. g. the
sector, the company size, its position in the biotechnological production
chain, for biotechnology or other technologies which evolve in highly
dynamic and strategy areas, etc. and to which extent the environmental effect
of the innovation influences the innovation process as compared to other
factors. As six case studies are a rather limited information base for farreaching conclusions, the findings from the case studies must be compared
with findings from other studies in order to find out to which extent the results
from this subfield of biotechnology are in line with other research on
innovation dynamics (chapter 6).
(3)
Policy Implications. From the conclusions of the analytical part, suggestions
for biotechnology policy are derived (chapter 7).
3.1
Typology of the sectors and firms
In order to be able to select both "typical" case studies and to analyse whether
findings in the case studies are of general or special nature, a typology of the sectors
investigated is required.
The four sectors investigated, chemical industry, pulp and paper industry, textile
industry, and food industry, were characterised with respect to indicators such as
number and size distribution of companies, economic situation of the sector, its
international competitiveness, its investment in R&D, existing R&D infrastructure
and networks, environmental awareness, tradition in the application of
biotechnology, relevant framework conditions. Relevant information was compiled
from various sources, especially literature including sector specific studies,
international statistics, and publications of and telephone interviews with industrial
associations. The collected information was verified in the interviews with the case
study companies (see chapter 3.3) and is documented in chapter 4 of this report.
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3.2
6
Identification and selection of the companies for case studies
In order to identify companies which actually use or develop process-integrated
biocatalysts, literature and database searches were carried out. Moreover, experts
from industry, research institutions and industrial associations were contacted by
mail or phone and asked for relevant information. The following difficulties were
encountered during this identification process:
•
The concept of production-integrated environmental protection is not yet widely
known. Many experts gave us information on biotechnology companies in
general, or on companies using or selling biotechnical end-of-pipe processes.
•
The information we tried to obtain is often confidential. Some experts were
unwilling to disclose names of companies which apply such processes, or were
only willing to disclose the company names if their (the informant's) name, was
kept confidential.
Once identified, more information of the respective companies were gathered from
literature, company directories and internet sources in order to characterise the
companies with respect to the following selection criteria:
•
Coverage of the industrial sectors chemical industry, food industry, textile
industry, pulp and paper industry,
•
Coverage of several European countries,
•
Application or development of process-integrated biocatalysts (rather than endof-pipe technology),
•
Environmental benefit of the bioprocess,
•
Companies representative for the sector investigated,
•
Inclusion of companies of different sizes,
•
Inclusion of enzyme producers, enzyme producers and -users, enzyme users
only.
Due to the difficulties which were expected in recruiting companies for case studies
a preliminary list of 13 promising candidates for a case study was compiled in order
to be able to finally gain access to six companies. The list and ranking of case study
candidates was approved by IPTS. Table 3.1 gives an overview of the
13 companies. After the approval by IPTS, ISI approached the companies one after
the other in autumn and late 1998 in order to find out whether they were willing to
participate in a case study. The companies received a brief description of the project
and the Fraunhofer ISI. Confidentiality was guaranteed. As had been expected,
gaining access to the "first-choice companies" proved to be difficult, timeconsuming, lengthy, and in 3 cases unsuccessful. The main reasons for the
unwillingness of companies to take part in the study appeared to be
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7
•
Managers‘ lack of time for such a study,
•
Secrecy reasons,
•
No sufficient benefits for the company were perceived to justify the devotion of
resources to such a study.
All in all, 9 of the 13 preselected case study candidates were contacted until 6 cases
could be recruited. 3 contacted candidates refrained from participation in the study.
4 companies were not contacted at all (table 3.1).
3.3
Performing the case studies
In late 1998 and early 1999, the six case studies were carried out. In each case, on
average two to four personal in-depth interviews were performed with high-ranking,
experienced staff with intimate knowledge of the respective innovation process,
e. g. the project co-ordinator, the head of the biotechnology R&D department, a
member of the executive board responsible for R&D and/or marketing. The
interviews were led according to an interview guide (questionnaire) which was
specifically adapted to each company and each interview partner (see annex). The
interviews each lasted several hours, and the information were taken down in
interview minutes.
The information from the interviews were complemented by information from
written material, such as project reports, company brochures and business reports,
and scientific-technical publications. The findings were documented in a separate,
confidential report for each case study. In order to obtain a feedback from the
investigated companies, the separate confidential report was sent to the company
investigated for comments. If necessary, the report was modified according to the
comments received from the respective company.
3.4
Analysis of the case studies, conclusions for policy
purposes
One of the goals of the proposed study is to derive generalised findings from the
individual case studies. Therefore, the case studies were analysed in a comparative
and generalising way. For this purpose, findings from the typology of the sectors
investigated (chapter 4) and results from the literature and other relevant studies
were included. Based on the findings of the case studies and their comparative
analysis (chapters 5 and 6), conclusions for policy purposes were drawn (chapter 7).
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Overview of case study candidates
D
3
x
NL
4
x
D
x
D
SME, large multinational companies
6
7
8
9
10
11
x
x
DK
NL
DK
D
D
BEL
SME
large joint venture
SME
SME
large
large multinational
research daughter of large multinational
SME
12
13
x
x
x
x
x
x
D
x
A
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x
x
x
1
2
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
3
x
x
4
x
x
5
x
x
(1 partner)
x
8
5
x
Not
contacted
x
x
Refrained
from
participation
2
SME, young technology-based company
large multinational
joint venture of two large multinationals
large multinational
Typology of company
Participation in IPTS project
Case study
no.
UK
Country
Enzyme user
+ producer
x
Pulp and
paper
1
Textile
Chemical
Food/feed
Case
No.
Enzyme
user
Enzyme know-how
within company
Industrial sector
Enzyme
producer
Table 3.1:
6
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4.
Typology of industries investigated
4.1
Chemical industry
The chemical industry produces a wide range of intermediate and finished goods.
Most important product classes are basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics,
and other household products, paints and chemical fibres. One third of the products
are reprocessed within the chemical industry itself. The other production is destined
for other industries like textile industry, paper industry or agriculture and directly
for consumers.
The European Union is the world's leading producer of chemicals. According to the
European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC 1999), the EU accounted for
383 billion ECU (31 %) of a total chemicals production of 1,223 billion ECU in
1997. The US came second with a share of 28 %, followed by Japan with 15 %.
Within the EU, Germany, France, the UK, and Italy were in descending order the
largest chemicals producers (figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1:
Geographic breakdown of the EU chemical industry production
in 1997
UK
12%
I
12%
B
9%
F
18%
E
7%
NL
7%
OTHER
11%
D
24%
Source: CEFIC 1999
In 1996 the chemical industry accounted for 416 billion ECU (11 %) of all sales in
the EU manufacturing sector, second only to the food industry.
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1.67 million employees in 38,440 companies generated a gross value added at
market prices of nearly 132 billion ECU, the highest in the European manufacturing
industry, followed by the machinery and equipment sector with about
130.4 billion ECU (CEFIC 1999).
Industry Structure
Most firms by number are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although
only 6.8 % of all companies have more than 100 employees, they employ 81 % of
the workforce in the chemical industry and generate 86.4 % of all sales (table 4.1).
Table 4.1:
Number of companies in the EU chemical industry by employment
size-class in 1992
Number of
employees
<20
20-99
>100
Number of
companies
31,560
4,644
2,636
Percentage of
all companies
81.0
12.0
6.8
Percentage of
employment
7.0
10.9
81.9
Percentage
of sales
5.0
8.3
86.4
Source: European Commission 1997
Europe claims the leading position in the chemical industry. Six of the ten biggest
companies have their headquarters in Europe. The first three in terms of worldwide
sales are located in Germany (table 4.2).
Table 4.2:
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Top chemical companies in the world 1997
Company
BASF
Bayer
Hoechst*
DuPont
Merck
Novartis
Dow
ICI
Rhône-Poulenc*
Mitsubishi Chem
*Merger announced.
Source: CEFIC 1999
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Country
Germany
Germany
Germany
USA
USA
Switzerland
USA
United Kingdom
France
Japan
Sales in million ECU
28,360
27,966
26,489
21,237
20,838
18,957
17,648
15,961
13,587
12,630
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International Orientation
Not surprisingly, Europe is also the leading exporter of chemicals. In 1997, extraregional exports of the EU reached 25 % of sales, compared with 18 % and 15 % of
the United States and Japan, respectively (CEFIC 1999). The steep rise of the trade
balance surplus seen in 1993 and 1994 resulted primarily from the depreciation of
the ECU and the recession in the domestic markets in 1993. After two years of
consolidation on a high level, the surplus surged again in 1997 (figure 4.2). The
most exported products are fine chemicals, whereas basic chemicals account for
most of the imports. The main regions for exports are Asia (including Japan), North
America, and Eastern Europe. These regions are in turn importing most into the
European Union.
Trade surplus in millions of
ECU
Figure 4.2:
Foreign trade in the chemical industry from 1990 to 1997
45.000
40.000
35.000
30.000
25.000
20.000
15.000
10.000
5.000
0
-5.000
EU
USA
Japan
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Year
Source: CEFIC 1999
Trends and Perspectives
According to the European Chemical Industry Council, growth rate in terms of
volume reached an annual average of 2.9 % between 1985 and 1997. This was well
behind those of the USA (3.2 %) and Japan (4.2 %). Nevertheless, the chemical
industry achieved a so-called growth premium, i. e. growth in chemicals
outmatched that in overall European industry by 1.0 % and that of GDP by 0.4 %
(CEFIC 1999). The by far most expanding sector were pharmaceuticals with an
annual growth of 4.3 % between 1990 and 1997. Below average was growth of
agrochemicals, paints and cosmetics.
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In the future competition is expected to intensify, especially because of new
competitors from Asia. Due to much lower labour costs, these firms are expected to
push into the markets, primarily in areas of mass production like chemical and
pharmaceutical standard products, intermediate goods, paints and vitamins. This
trend requires an increase in competitiveness of the European chemical industry.
The companies try to restructure, reduce costs and, after concentrating on their core
competencies, they more and more tend to merge (e. g. Rhône-Poulenc and
Hoechst). The main incentives for mergers are hopes for increased productivity and
profitability, economies of scale in R&D and access to new markets. This
restructuring process contributed to a loss of 250,000 jobs in Europe since 1990.
Beginning with 1996, the job losses stopped, however.
The number of strategic partnerships, mainly with few big and international logistic
firms, and joint ventures has increased dramatically in recent years. While in 1989,
a company had an average of two partnerships, this figure rose to about six in 1994
and is expected to reach 14 in 1999 (European Commission 1997). The main
advantages of the partnerships are reduced time for procurement, lower costs and
better service for the customers.
Innovation and Biotechnology
Innovation plays an important role in maintaining the competitiveness of the
chemical industry, in reducing production costs and in searching for new products
with a higher added value. This applies especially for the pharmaceutical industry.
Most companies maintain R&D departments and use various forms of cooperation
with external institutions like universities and other research establishments.
Expenses for R&D reached 5.2 % of sales in 1997. This ratio differs from sector to
sector. In 1992, it varied from 2.2 % for man-made fibres to 5.6 % for
pharmaceuticals (CEFIC 1997). The targets of R&D depend on the particular
sector: producers of basic chemicals focus their R&D efforts on cost reduction. In
the industrial and fine chemicals sector, R&D is aimed at both product and process
innovation, whereas the speciality chemicals industry concentrates on developing
new products (EIMS 1996a). Until 1992, expenses for R&D increased in the EU,
similar to the development in the United States and Japan. The downward trend
between 1993 and 1995 resulted from a slowdown in R&D spending growth
combined with a recovery of sales (CEFIC 1997). The European chemical industry
is R&D intensive, as it accounted for 23 % of total R&D expenditure in the
manufacturing sector, whereas its share of turnover is 12 % (table 4.3).
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Table 4.3:
EU
USA
Japan
Average shares of chemicals in total manufacturing industry 1987 –
1993
Chemical industry in
total R&D
manufacturing
23 %
17 %
12 %
Chemical industry in
total manufacturing
turnover
12 %
10 %
8%
Share of EU R&D
cumulated spending
100 %
90 %
39 %
Source: CEFIC 1997
Factors hampering the innovation process are financial risks like lack of funds, high
costs and the long pay-off period, internal resistance to changes mainly in case of
process innovation and competitive risks, as for example standards, regulations and
lack of customer responsiveness to new products (CEFIC 1997). The companies try
to minimise the financial risks by cooperations and R&D joint ventures, particularly
in the pharmaceuticals industry, where R&D expenses are highest.
Biotechnology is regarded as one of the most promising areas for R&D in the
future. For pharmaceuticals it has become a key technology. According to experts,
virtually all innovative products will be based directly or indirectly on
biotechnology (Mc Coy 1999). Biotechnically produced proteins for therapeutical
use like insulin are for example one major sector, in which biotechnology will play
a substantial role. An even greater importance of biotechnical processes can be
forecasted for the innovation process of the pharmaceutical industry. Instead of
time-consuming and more or less incidental conventional screening methods, new
highly efficient methods are developed with the help of whole genome sequencing
activities (Lohner et al. 1998). For the chemical industry, biotechnology is more a
tool for organic synthesis. The main areas, in which biotechnical processes will be
used, are seen in synthesis of high value special and fine chemicals and for
asymmetric synthesis of chiral substances (Liese and Villela Filho 1999, Schulze
and Wubbolts 1999, von Schriltz 1998, Pantaleone 1999). Here the often high costs
of biotechnical processes are more likely to be compensated by higher prices than in
areas like basic chemicals, where cost reduction is the main task for the producers.
Factors impeding a broader use of biotechnical methods in chemical synthesis are
(Hüsing et al. 1998):
•
Inherent disadvantages of biocatalysts,
•
Unfavourable ratio of R&D expenditure to potential sales,
•
Lack of market knowledge and orientation in technology-prone companies,
•
Difficult integration of biotechnical processes into existing processes,
•
In some cases regulations and standards,
•
Competition with other technologies.
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The development of biotechnology is realised in form of building up know-how
within the companies or by cooperations and joint ventures.
Environment
The most severe environmental problems the chemical industry encounters are the
emission of pollutants during production, as well as consumption and disposal of
their products. Moreover, energy consumption is high, especially in the basic
chemicals sector. The amount of waste produced per unit of product differs widely
between the different product groups of the chemical industry: as can be seen from
table 4.4, the ratio of waste per unit of product is much more favourable for basic
chemicals than for specialty chemicals. This is mainly due to the fact that specialty
chemicals require very waste-intensive purification procedures, and that the market
price is high enough to allow such a costly waste of resources.
Table 4.4:
Waste production per unit of product in the chemical industry
Product unit
Basic chemicals
Commodities
Specialty chemicals
1 ton
100 kg
1 kg
Waste
per product unit
0,5 tons
100 kg
10 kg
Ratio Waste units
per product units
50 %
100 %
1000 %
Environmental expenditure (operating costs and capital spending) varied between
nearly 5 % of sales in 1990 and about 4 % in 1996 (table 4.5).
Table 4.5:
Environmental expenditure of the chemical industry as percentage
of sales 1990 - 1996
Capital spending
Operating costs
Total
1990
1.0
3.9
4.9
1991
1.0
3.9
4.9
1992
1.0
4.0
5.0
1993
0.8
3.8
4.6
1994
0.6
3.5
4.1
1995
0.5
3.4
3.9
1996
0.6
3.5
4.1
Source: CEFIC 1999
As integrated environmental investments substitute the traditional end-of-pipe
investments to an increasing degree (CEFIC 1999), these figures tend to
underestimate the actual expenditure. The environmental share of integrated
investments is difficult to assess and therefore often not reported at all.
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The chemical industry managed to separate growth of energy consumption and CO2
emissions from growth of production. According to CEFIC (1999), energy
consumption increased by 8.4 % between 1985 and 1996, while production was
expanded by 34.7 %. As growth of CO2 emissions in the same period was only
1.9 %, emissions per unit of production was decreased by more than 24 %.
4.2
Food industry
Besides a broad range of end products, the food industry produces a line of
intermediate goods, which are used in other branches. The main product groups are
meat and fish, fruits and vegetables, frozen food, dairy products, sugar
confectionery, and beverage.
Figure 4.3:
Geographic breakdown of the EU food industry (share of added
value)
UK
20%
D
22%
F
17%
OTHER
11%
NL
7%
E
13%
I
10%
Source: European Commission 1997
Over the last decade, Europe has become the biggest producer of food in the world,
changing position with the United States. Between 1985 and 1994, production was
increased from 338 billion ECU to 477 billion ECU and expected to reach nearly
5901 billion ECU in 1998 (European Commission 1997). In 1996 production
reached 503 billion ECU, while the US and Japan recorded a production worth
374 billion ECU and 220 billion ECU (CIAA 1999). Meat, dairy products and
tobacco are the main products in terms of production and consumption. In 1996 the
food and beverage industry sold products worth 547.6 billion ECU (15 % of all
1 EU15 including Sweden, Finland and Austria.
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sales in the European manufacturing industry), making the food industry the most
important sector of the manufacturing industry. Over 272,000 companies employed
about 2.6 million persons or 11 % of the workforce in the manufacturing industry.
They generated a gross value added at market prices of 129.4 billion ECU. The
countries with the greatest share of the added value were Germany, the United
Kingdom and France (figure 4.3).
Industry Structure
The food industry is dominated by a relatively small number of companies, despite
the fact that some 92 % of all firms have less than 20 employees. Nearly 70 % of
the sales are made by companies with more than 100 employees (table 4.6).
Table 4.6:
Number of
employees
<20
20-99
>100
Number of companies in the EU food and drink industry by
employment size-class in 1992
Number of
companies
256,063
16,545
4,588
Percentage of
all companies
92.4
6.0
1.7
Percentage of
employment
30.1
18.1
51.8
Percentage
of sales
14.7
15.8
69.4
Source: European Commission 1997
Table 4.7:
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Top food companies in the EU 1994
Company
Unilever
B.A.T. Industries
Hanson
Ferruzzi Finanziaria
Group Danone
Montedison
Grand Metropolitan
Eridania Beghin-Say
Associated British Food
Hillsdown Holdings
Country
Netherlands – UK
UK
UK
Italy
France
Italy
UK
France
UK
UK
Sales in million ECU
38,299
15,062
14,069
11,955
11,679
10,723
9,054
7,721
5,859
5,499
Source: European Commission 1997
Big companies are primarily common in the United Kingdom. Nine out of the 15
leading companies in the EU have their headquarters in Great Britain. The top firms
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are for example Unilever (NL-UK), B.A.T. Industries (UK) and Hanson (UK)
(table 4.7). One of the leading firms in Europe is also Nestlé from Switzerland with
sales of 35.1 billion ECU in 1994.
International Orientation
The European Union is in general autarkic, as far as the food sector is concerned.
The volume of exports exceeds that of imports by far, leading to a surplus in the
trade balance despite fluctuating trade flows. Between 1985 and 1994, the EU
exported on average a mere 7 % of production. The export to production ratio
varied in 1996 from 1.3 % in Portugal to 23.1 % in France. The Netherlands
(13.4 %), Germany (13.3 %) and Italy (10.1 %) also exported more than 10 % of
production (CIAA 1999). However, in recent years, both exports and imports tend
to rise (figure 4.4), despite various trade restrictions and restraints. Yet trade within
the European Union still dominates, as here these obstacles do not exist any longer.
Meat, dairy products and sugar are the most exported products. In 1994 the main
trade partners were the members of the EFTA, Brazil and the United States
(European Commission 1997).
Figure 4.4:
Foreign trade of the European food sector 1985 – 1994
35000
30000
25000
million ECU 20000
15000
10000
Trade balance
Source: European Commission 1997
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
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1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
Imports
0
1986
Exports
1985
5000
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Trends and Perspectives
The European food industry grew with an average of 2.7 % in the years 1986 to
1991, 1 % below the average growth of the overall manufacturing sector. Since
1990, however, the food industry enjoyed an above average growth. Real
production (adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations) expanded in Europe by 25.2 %
between 1985 and 1994, in the United States by 19.1 % and in Japan by 15.6 %
(European Commission 1997).
As in nearly all sectors of economy, competition increases in the food industry as
well, primarily in form of trade brands and brandless products. Companies,
especially the large ones, react in form of cost reductions, mergers and acquisitions.
This concentration process is part of the efforts to gain more purchasing and
marketing power.
Due to the low growth before 1992 and the rationalisation processes, 100,000 jobs
were lost in the European food industry between 1990 and 1995. The decrease in
employment was nevertheless not as distinctive as in other sectors of the
manufacturing industry, because intensity of labour remains high. Since 1995 the
job losses slowed down (European Commission 1997). Employment is generated by
the SMEs, whereas the large companies tend to reduce employment. As a result of
technological innovation, more jobs are created in higher added value service
sectors (Walker et al. 1998a).
Furthermore, the food industry has to respond to a change in demand. Trends are in
favour to cheap products on the one hand and high quality, high price products on
the other hand, to the detriment of products with medium quality and price. This
results from two main types of consumers, which are beginning to emerge: one
group is aged between 18 and 45 with unconventional habits of eating and high
relevance of the value of the products in consideration of their price. The other
group are people aged over 45, who regard quality as the most important criterion
for their buying decisions. This group represents about 40 % of the demand
(European Commission 1997). The main trends in the food and drink sector for the
next 20 years are (Walker et al. 1998a):
•
Consumers will buy food to meet their individual nutritional needs,
•
Smart cooking equipment will be commonplace in many homes,
•
Packaging will provide detailed information on the food contents,
•
Advanced food processes designed by computers will further enhance food
quality and hygiene,
•
Food raw materials will be designed to meet consumer needs for improved
quality.
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Innovation and Biotechnology
Product innovations become more and more important as competition intensifies,
consumer needs diversify and demand for healthful products increases. Even so,
expenditure for R&D remains low. According to Galizzi and Venturini (1996), the
food industry "is characterised by a low R&D intensity, radical innovations are
absolutely rare and R&D is only a minor component of expenditures for
implementing non-price strategies." The food industry has one of the lowest R&D
to added value ratios of any industrial sector (table 4.8). In 1994 R&D expenses
amounted to 1,180 million ECU or about 0.23 % of production2. But the number of
minor or incremental innovations observed in recent years is all but neglectible.
Table 4.8:
R&D to value-added ratios for various industries in 1989
Denmark
France
Germany
Japan
Sweden
United Kingdom
Food and drink
1.2
1.6
1.2
2.0
1.8
1.0
Drugs
18.0
31.7
16.0
13.0
41.2
22.6
Electronics
12.7
?
15.6
18.4
33.2
22.9
Source: Traill and Grunert 1997
Low R&D intensity in the food industry is often claimed to result from imports of
technological innovations from other high-tech industries like machine tools,
advanced materials or biotechnology. Recent surveys (Traill and Grunert 1997)
however show that "food industry presents a relatively balanced picture between
product and process innovation and between the use of innovations from within and
from outside the industry."
As the roots of biotechnology can be found in the manufacturing of food and drink
biotechnical approaches are broadly and traditionally used in this industrial branch.
Despite this tradition in biotechnology, new biotechnology (e. g. genetic
engineering, analytical methods based on biotechnology) plays until now only a
rather small role in SMEs of the food industry, while large multinationals have
broadly adopted these techniques. Application in SMEs is hindered by a still
prevailing negative perception and a fundamental lack of knowledge of the
technology (Walker et al. 1998a). Suitably qualified staff is rare, although there are
considerable differences between the EU member states. Based on their studies,
2 altogether for Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain,
Sweden and the United Kingdom (OECD 1996).
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Walker et al. (1998a) therefore call for a campaign to raise awareness of the
benefits of biotechnology for companies, and for continual training to reach high
level skills.
Environment
In the food industry several environmental problems exist which have not yet been
solved satisfactorily. Among them are the production of large amounts of sludges,
by-products or organic waste from food processing, which could be converted to
valuable substances but are presently discarded, the emission of bad odours and
dust, as well as a high water and energy consumption in some processes. Moreover,
a substantial problem arises from the waste of packaging (Boudouropoulos and
Arvanitoyannis 1999). Many countries introduced special laws for recycling of food
packaging.
Due to small profit marges and a low research intensity in the food industry new
application areas for biotechnical processes are innovative products and reduction
of production costs. Innovations which only reduce the environmental load do not
offer sufficient incentives for an alteration of production procedures. Although there
are established biotechnical processes in food industry which resulted in a processintegrated reduction of the environmental load, these effects have been more or less
"desired side effects" while the driving forces for the adoption of the respective
processes by industry were more efficient processes or novel products. Future
potentials of biotechnical processes lie in innovations where the reduction of
environmental load can be coupled to product quality improvement. This should
especially be the case with the optimisation of already established processes.
Further potentials lie in the conversion of polluting side products and waste which
are presently discarded into valuable substances (Hüsing et al. 1998).
4.3
Pulp and paper industry
The pulp and paper industry in Europe generates many products. The main product
groups are wood pulp and chemical pulp, which serve foremost as intermediate
goods, all sorts of paper for various areas of application and board in many
variations. The intermediate and the finished goods are destined for other industry
sectors and consumers. The pulp industry has to be distinguished in some ways
from the paper industry, as pulp is a standardised product sold mainly (about 80 %
of production) to integrated customers, making the pulp industry more dependent
and less flexible than the paper industry.
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In 1996, the pulp and paper industry reported sales of 114.6 billion ECU, a share of
3 % of the European manufacturing industry. About 620,000 employees created a
gross value added at market prices of 39.8 billion ECU, ranking 13th in the
manufacturing sector3 (CEFIC 1999). In 1994, Western Europe, including the
Nordic countries, produced 27 % of global paper and board production (269 million
tons). North America accounted for 37 % and Asia for 26 %. Of global virgin pulp
production (171 million tons), Western Europe produced 20 %, in the area of
mechanical pulps 34 % (CEPI 1999a). In Europe, Germany together with Finland,
Sweden and France are the main producers of paper and board (figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5:
Geographic breakdown of the EU paper and board production in
1994
FIN
16%
SWED
14%
F
13%
D
20%
OTHER
4%
NL AUS
4% 5%
I
10%
E
5%
UK
9%
Source: European Commission 1997
Sweden and Finland produced in 1994 about 65 % of all pulp in the European
Union, reflecting the distribution of the European forests.
Industry Structure
Similar to virtual all other industry sectors, companies in the pulp and paper
industry tend to mergers and acquisitions, leading to an increasing market
concentration. According to CEPI (1999b), the twenty largest European companies
owned about 55 % of regional paper making capacity in 1994, compared with more
than 60 % in North America. The rate of concentration varies widely from one
sector to another, however. In Scandinavia new big conglomerates emerged after
Sweden and Finland joined the European Union. In 1994 64 of the 150 leading
companies in the world were located in the EU, 21 of them in the Nordic countries.
3 Note: These figures include the pulp, paper and paper products industry.
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In recent years the concentration process was going on without intermission,
permanently reshaping the industry's structure. For example the Swedish SCA
acquired a 60 % stake in PWA, Repola from Finland merged with Kymmene and
Enso-Gutzeit with Veitsluoto (European Commission 1997).
International Orientation
Although the paper industry's production exceeded demand by 7 % in 1995, trade
reaches a high proportion of overall production. Before the Nordic states joined the
EU, Europe ran a substantial trade deficit. Now in the paper and board sector, the
EU can record a trade balance surplus, whereas in the pulp sector it runs a deficit,
approximately compensating each other to an equilibrium in the trade balance
(figure 4.6).
Figure 4.6:
Foreign trade of the EU in the pulp and paper sector 1985 –
1995
20000
15000
million ECU
10000
5000
0
-5000
Exports
Imports
Trade balance
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
-15000
1985
-10000
Year
Source: European Commission 1997
The United States are the main host country for paper exports. Pulp is imported
primarily from Canada and the United States.
Trends and Perspectives
Between 1980 and 1993 average annual growth rate of the paper industry was 3.3 %
for Western Europe. Corresponding figures for North America and Japan were
2.4 % and 3.4 %, respectively (CEPI 1999b). This growth is well above that of GDP
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in this period. The future long term growth rate is expected to be somewhat lower,
although in 1994 growth in the European industry was as high as 8.2 % (CEPI
1999a). This rapid expansion resulted from a strong increase in demand, which is in
general correlated to the overall economic cycle.
The European paper industry has to meet competition from at least three different
directions (CEPI 1999a):
•
Electronic media challenge the printing and writing paper industry,
•
The packaging industry meets competition from alternative packaging materials,
•
The whole industry is under pressure from low cost producing, raw material rich
areas like East Asia and, from time to time, depending on currency exchange
rates, from North America.
As the pulp and paper industry is comparatively cyclical, the companies were
forced to restructure during the weak economic climate at the beginning of the 90s.
They tried to increase volume of sales and productivity by concentrating on core
competencies, afterwards on mergers and acquisitions. By extending operation to
European levels, the industry tried to realise economies of scale. As recycling
becomes more and more important, locations near large metropolitan areas are
preferred for production to reduce transportation costs. These transformations were
linked with extensive job losses. From 1984 to 1995 18.5 % of all jobs were lost.
This trend is expected to continue in the nearer future, though not to that extent
(European Commission 1997).
After these restructuring processes, which are to some degree still going on, the
European paper industry is considered to be competitive, e. g. in labour
productivity. Due to the fast changing market conditions, investments were
concentrated on the introduction of flexible production technologies instead on
extensions of production capacity. Investment activities of the European paper
industry focus on two areas at the moment (European Commission 1997): On the
one hand, ecological investments in order to reduce harmful emissions and waste
water and on the other hand investments in recycling processes. According to CEPI
(1999a), in order to retain its market position, the pulp and paper industry has to
concentrate on:
•
Higher value products,
•
Cost effective and environmentally acceptable production (efficient and
sustainable use of raw materials and innovative technologies),
•
An increase in the knowledge base, where R&D as well as training of the skills
at all levels.
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Innovation and Biotechnology
The pulp and paper industry traditionally belongs to the low-tech industries with
low R&D intensity. Pulp, paper and printing is ranked among the four most lowtech of 22 industries based on average R&D intensities in the OECD area
(Laestadius 1998). The commitment to R&D differs however widely from country
to country. As can be seen in table 4.9, Sweden, Finland and Japan deviate from the
rest of the world.
Similar to the food industry, the pulp and paper business can be regarded as a
carrier industry, importing new technologies originating in other sectors and using
them in developing of new products.
In order to defend its market position, the paper companies need to raise level of
R&D significantly. As most knowledge is imported from other sectors, it is crucial
for the companies to establish effective information channels with its external
suppliers of technologies, equipment and materials (EIMS 1996b).
Table 4.9:
R&D intensity for pulp, paper and printing (business expenditure
on R&D / production in percentages)
Canada
Finland
France
Japan
United Kingdom
Sweden
Germany
USA
OECD-12
1973
1992
0.3
0.4
0.2
0.4
0.2
0.5
0.1
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.8
0.1
0.3
0.1
0.8
0.1
0.5
0.3
Increase (+) or
decrease (-)
=
+
+
=
+
=
Source: Laestadius 1998
Biotechnical processes that perhaps can be used in the pulp and paper industry are
for example (Barker et al. 1997, Hüsing et al. 1998, Bajpai et al. 1999):
•
Biopulping: enhances the mechanical wood disruption, lignin can be removed
more easily in cooking, and energy can be saved to a significant extent (Messner
und Srebotnik 1994, Scott et al. 1998a, b).
•
Biobleaching: The so-called laccase-mediator system, allowing to oxidatively
degrade lignin, could become interesting for delignification and bleaching.
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•
Enzymatic pitch removal: already in large scale use in Japan.
•
Enzymatic waste paper preparation and modification: Two approaches are
pursued (enzymatic improvement of dewatering properties and enzymatic
deinking).
In the pulp and paper industry, the used technologies have a long history. The basic
processes are pretty the same since their introduction at the end of the 19th and in
the first half of the 20th century. Improvements were and are still made of course,
but often by simply adding ever more process steps, resulting in an increasing
complexity of the production system. Radical new technologies often do not fit in
the current technological regime, explaining to some extent the reluctant use of
biotechnical processes in the paper industry. As most innovations are imported from
other sectors, the way in which these sectors, especially the chemical industry, take
up biotechnology could become a factor in the adoption process (Tils 1997). It has
been argued that another hindrance for the use of biotechnical processes could be
regulation. At the moment, environmental regulation is focused on recycling
technology. If it were possible that the environmental burden of the paper
production process becomes smaller than that of recycling by adopting
biotechnology regulation could become a barrier, hampering the introduction of
new technologies (e. g. biotechnology) (Tils 1997).
Environment
The main environmental problems arising for the pulp and paper industry are the
increasing consumption of paper, emissions of pollutants and waste water.
Moreover, the industrial branch is criticised for the exploitation of forest resources
in a way not compatible with sustainability. This led to the adoption of extensive
forest regeneration programmes (CEPI 1998b). Moreover the recycling of used
paper was increased (table 4.10).
Table 4.10:
Paper collected
in 1000 tons
Recovery rate4
Recovery rate of used paper in Western Europe 1991 to 1997
1991
23,606
1992
24,913
1993
26,531
1994
29,390
1995
30,791
1996
32,224
1997
34,437
39.3
40.0
42.1
43.5
46.3
48.7
48.9
in %
Source: CEPI 1998a
4 Ratio between recovered paper collection and total paper and board consumption.
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With a recovery rate of 48.9 % in 1997, Europe was well ahead of the world
average (37 %), ranking among the leading developed countries like USA, Canada
(both 45 %) and Japan (53.1 %).
The pulp and paper industry furthermore claims to have made substantial progress
in the consumption of water. According to CEPI (1998b), the amount of water
needed to manufacture a ton of chemical pulp has fallen by 75 % in the last
20 years. About 95 % of the water used during the pulp and papermaking process is
nowadays purified and returned to the waterways. Consumption of elemental
chlorine in the paper industry was reduced from some 340,000 metric tonnes in
1990 to about 30,000 in 1996. Discharges of organo-chlorine compounds was
reduced by more than 90 %.
Investments in improved environmental control represents about 20 % of the costs
for a new mill. In the last ten years, the European pulp and paper industry has
invested between 6 and 8 billion ECU in environmental improvements (CEPI
1998b). Measures integrated into the production process are applied increasingly.
The era of end-of-pipe palliatives is regarded more and more as gone in the paper
industry (Landis Gabel et al. 1996).
Landis Gabel et al. (1996) identified the following technologies which could reduce
the environmental impacts of pulp production:
•
Genetically engineered low-lignin tree species, reducing the need for active
pulping chemicals,
•
Enzyme bleaching systems,
•
Co-generation systems for energy recovery from organic wastes.
As already mentioned above, concentration on recycling may in the long term prove
to be short-sighted, as new biotechnical processes reduce the environmental impacts
on pulp and paper production. Policies to promote recycling should therefore not
mandate secondary fibre components uniformly across all paper grades (Landis
Gabel et al. 1996).
4.4
Textile industry
Production processes of the textile industry range from fibre preparation, knitting,
weaving and spinning to finishing of textiles. As well as in the other industries
analysed before the intermediate goods are sold to other sectors, whereas the
finished products are destined for both industrial or private customers. The main
sectors receiving products from the textile sector are the clothing industry, car
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manufacturers, the furniture industry, the construction industry and service sectors
like hotel and retail industry.
With sales of 91.7 billion ECU in 1996 the textile industry ranked 15th within the
European manufacturing sector. About 950,000 people were employed in the textile
companies in 1996, creating a gross added value of 34.1 billion ECU or 2.6 % of
the added value in the European manufacturing industry (CEFIC 1999). The
European textiles production exceeded that of the United States and of Japan (all
calculated in ECU) by 40 % and 67 %, respectively. Corresponding figures for
apparent consumption are 25 % and 60 % (European Commission 1997). Within
Europe, the leading countries are Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom
(figure 4.7). These countries account for about 78 % of added value generated in the
EU.
Figure 4.7:
Geographic breakdown of the European textile industry (share
of added value) in 1994
UK
15%
E
7%
B
5%
P
4%
F
16%
OTHER
6%
D
22%
I
25%
Source: European Commission 1997
Industry Structure
Rate of concentration is relatively low in the textile industry. Of the approximately
60,000 companies in 1994, 75 % had less than 20 employees. These small firms
accounted for 19 % of employment and 15 % of sales. Compared with the
corresponding figures of 1992 (table 4.11), however, concentration has increased
significantly.
The ten leading companies accounted for 11 % of all sales of the EU textile
industry, whereby the top five companies alone created 7.7 % of the overall sales.
The leading firms are located in the UK, France, Germany and Italy (table 4.12).
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Although Italy is the leading European country in textiles, only one Italian firm
appears in the top ten list, indicating that concentration is lower in Italy than in
other countries. Mölnlycke from Sweden ranks third since the Nordic States joined
the EU in 1995.
Table 4.11:
Number of
employees
<20
20-99
>100
Number of companies in the EU textile industry by employment
size-class in 1992
Number of
companies
83,274
7,513
2,356
Percentage of all
companies
89.4
8.1
2.5
Percentage of
employment
24.2
23.4
52.4
Percentage of
sales
25.6
23.6
50.8
Source: European Commission 1997
Table 4.12:
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Top textile companies in the EU 1994
Company
Coats Viyella
Chargeurs
DMC-Dollfus-Mieg & Cie
DLW
Akzo Nobel Faser
Scapa Group
Bremer Woll-Kämmerei
Dawson International
Pfersee-Kolbermoor
Zucchi Vincenzo
Country
UK
France
France
Germany
Germany
UK
Germany
UK
Germany
Italy
Sales in million ECU
2,818
1,494
1,212
794
756
571
458
429
308
308
Source: European Commission 1997
International Orientation
Since 1985 both exports and imports have grown continuously, but as the increase
in exports (42 %) lagged behind that of imports (77 %), the trade balance was
running a higher deficit from year to year. Since 1992 this trend reversed to some
degree and the deficit began to fall slightly (figure 4.8). The main reason for the
deficits are imports of basic materials like wool, cotton and silk, while the EU has a
surplus in the area of textile products. Most exports go to the United States,
Switzerland, Poland, Japan, Tunisia and Morocco. Most imports come from China,
Turkey, India and the USA. Both exports and imports were transacted to about
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60 % with only ten countries in 1994 (European Commission 1997). In 1995, the
main exporting countries in Europe were Germany with a share of 9 % of world
exports and Italy with a share of 8 %. Although its share has fallen from 11 % in
1980, Germany was still the worldwide leading exporting nation in the textile
industry, slightly ahead of China (Cahill and Ducatel 1997).
Figure 4.8:
Foreign trade in the textile industry from 1985 to 1995
25000
million ECU
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
-5000
1985
Exports
Imports
1990
1991
Trade balance
1992
1993
1994
1995
Year
Source: European Commission 1997
Trends and Perspectives
In the last decade the European textile industry has undergone a dramatic
restructuring process. Consumption of textiles has stagnated due to a decreasing
share of textiles in private expenditure (which is in fact typical for a mature and
saturated market), strong competition by foreign producers and a weak economic
climate. Reacting to the demand, production fell since 1990 with an average annual
rate of 2.3 % (European Commission 1997). Hand in hand with the restructuring
processes employment shrunk significantly. Between 1985 and 1995 more than
500,000 jobs were lost. In 1992 and 1993 alone, more than 6 % of the jobs were cut.
The main reason for the adverse developments is the increased competition from
low-wage countries, which are pushing into the markets aggressively with cheap
products. According to Cahill and Ducatel (1997), the European producers are
facing one major disadvantage: labour costs. Wages in the clothing industry are
between ten and fifty times higher than that in some emerging markets like China,
India and Pakistan. Even when compared to relatively developed nations in Eastern
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Europe, South East Asia and America, labour costs in Europe are quite high
(table 4.13).
Table 4.13:
Germany
France
Italy
Poland
Bulgaria
Japan
China
India
Thailand
USA
Hourly wage costs (wages + social contributions) in the clothing
industry in US$
1991
14.81
12.41
13.50
0.42
0.25
7.44
0.24
0.25
0.59
6.77
1993
17.22
14.84
12.31
0.44
0.26
10.64
0.25
0.27
0.71
8.13
Change in %
16.2
19.5
-8.8
4.7
4.0
43.0
4.1
8.0
20.3
20.0
Source: Cahill and Ducatel 1997
In the commodity production area Europe may retain some residual manufacturing
capacity, but the scope for growth is negligible due to the uncompetitive high
labour costs. As the wage differences will not change substantially in the near
future, Europe's textile industry has to specialise on areas where other issues than
wages are more important such as (Cahill and Ducatel 1997):
•
Textiles and clothings which meet specialised requirements, either where new
high technology materials are used or where the final product has to meet high
levels of technical performance, e. g. high performance products for use in
certain leisure activities, the automobile industry and the hospitality trade,
•
High skill/technology processes, where handling the materials or the final
assembly requires special technologies, environments or skills,
•
Customisation and service: satisfying differentiated consumer tastes and fashion
awareness, where the variability of specifications combined with exact
requirements favour production locations with high quality and technical mastery
near final demand.
One of the most important specialist markets can be seen in the area of so-called
technical textiles, used as intermediates in sectors like transportation, geotextiles,
technical garments, health care and construction. In 1993 this market had a volume
of some 30 billion ECU, making it worth pursuing, whereas it cannot be regarded as
saviour to all European textile producers (Cahill and Ducatel 1997).
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Innovation and Biotechnology
The textile industry can be regarded as a low-tech industry with only small
expenditure for R&D (374 million ECU or 0.21 % of production in 19945). After
years of continuous growth, investments were reduced between 1990 and 1993 by
about 6 % per annum. In 1994, investments were expanded by 6 %, but
development varied widely among the member states of the EU (European
Commission 1997).
Despite the lower investments and decreasing employment, productivity of labour
could be raised by more than 40 % in constant prices between 1985 and 1994. Still
more important for competitiveness are permanent exploration of new markets,
improvement of product quality and development of new products to meet specific
needs of customers.
Application of biotechnical processes is low in the textile industry, but the influence
of biotechnology is growing. Use of biotechnical processes is already or in the near
future possible in the following areas (Hüsing et al. 1998):
•
Prewashing: enzymatic processes are developed for simultaneous cotton
prewashing and desizing.
•
Silk treatment: natural fibrin is removed from the silk fibres with the help of
proteases.
•
Desizing: desizing of starch sizes by amylases.
•
Bleaching: biobleaching with the laccase-mediator system.
•
Enzymatic removal of bleaching agent residues.
•
Dyeing: use of enzymatically modified fibres and substitution of chemical dyes
with biosynthetic dyes and pigments.
•
Biostoning: pumice stones are replaced by cellulases.
•
Felt-free wool: use of lipoprotein lipases is tested.
•
Structural modifications of wool.
•
Biopolishing: application of cellulases for the processing of cotton fabrics and
viscose.
Based on a survey among small and medium- sized companies in four European
regions, also Walker et al. (1998b) come to the conclusion that the level of
5 Altogether for Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain,
Sweden and the United Kingdom (OECD 1996).
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biotechnical application is low. Main reasons for this are a lack of expertise and to
some degree insufficient recognition of the importance of biotechnology to the
future development of the textile industry. Other obstacles to a broader use of
biotechnical processes are (Hüsing et al. 1998):
•
Requirements for large and expensive serial trials in order to scale up the process
from laboratory to practical scale,
•
Long pay-off periods of investments in R&D, which are often beyond the
planning horizons of the companies,
•
Some new biotechnical processes cannot be integrated in existing processes and
would therefore require a change in the complete production process,
•
Possible loss of production and/or quality while transforming the production
processes.
All these obstacles have to be appreciated against the background of a difficult
economic situation for the textile industry. Many companies find it very difficult to
invest large sums in the development and application of new production processes
while severe competition endangers their existence.
Environment
The textile industry is an industrial branch with high energy and resources
consumption. In order to finish 1 kg of textiles (including washing, dyeing,
bleaching and material improvements by finishing) 15 to 20 kWh of energy and 80
to 100 litres of water are consumed (Staeck 1993). The largest loads are emitted via
the waste water stream since most textile processes are based on wet chemistry. The
waste water from textile finishing companies is characterised by a large variety of
pollutants ranging from inorganic and organic compounds, tensides, dispersing aids
to complexing substances. As reaction to the increasing regulation of emissions and
waste both on a national and European level the textile industry more and more
realises voluntary ecological audit systems with the goal of reducing the
environmental impacts of production below the mandatory limits (European
Commission 1997).
In future, environmental improvements, especially reduced consumption of water,
chemicals and energy are expected from the application of new biotechnical
processes in areas like bleaching and dyeing as mentioned in the preceding section.
During the last decade however, the environment in Europe seems to have profited
most from the overall reduction in level of production and the relocation of
production facilities to low-wage countries, primarily in Asia.
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33
Analysis of case studies
The following analysis is based on six case studies of companies which have –
more or less successfully (see below) – introduced biocatalytic approaches into their
production processes. To investigate successful cases and to identify success factors
is a more recent approach which has not yet been used very often – in literature,
studies on hindering factors predominate.
As it was outlined in chapter 3.2, the cases were selected in such a way that they
covered a large number of variables (e. g. industrial sector, size of company,
country, experience with biotechnology etc.). This made it possible to investigated a
rather broad spectrum of influencing factors with a limited number of case studies.
The disadvantage, however, is that the individual cases are not representative of
e. g. an industrial sector so that results and conclusions cannot simply be
generalised. In order to make generalisations possible to a certain extent, the
findings from the case studies were compared to the scientific literature in order to
distinguish special from general findings.
5.1
Comparative description of the case studies
Table 5.1 gives an overview of the six case studies performed. Four of the six
companies investigated have their headquarters in Germany, one company is
located in the Netherlands, and one company is in Austria. The bias towards
Germany is due to the fact that companies in other countries (e. g. UK, Denmark)
which were also contacted as case study candidates, refrained from participation (cf.
chapter 3.2). It is remarkable that neither the performed case studies nor the list of
case study candidates from which they were chosen comprised companies from
Southern Europe. Due to the lack of coverage of Southern European countries in
this study, it should be carefully checked within other work packages of the overall
project "Biotechnology and the Greening of Industry" whether the derived findings
and recommendations also hold true for the south of Europe.
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2
Industrial sector
Chemical industry
NL Chemical industry
D
Food industry,
engineering
4
D
Textile industry
5
D
6
A
Chemical industry
(pulp and paper
industry)
Pulp and paper
industry
Large multinational
Joint venture of two
large multinationals
Two large multinational companies,
one SME7*
SME
x
x
x*
x
Development and introduction of an enzymatic degumming step
in physical seed oil refining
x
Adoption of enzymatic desizing and enzymatic textile finishing
(biopolishing, biostoning) by the company
x
x
6 D: Germany, NL: The Netherlands, A: Austria
7* The SME involved in the innovation process refrained from participating in the case study.
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Substitution of the chemical synthesis of a vitamin by a
fermentative process
Substitution of chemical synthesis steps by enzymatic steps in
the synthesis of an antibiotic
x
Research daughter of
a large multinational
SME
Innovation project
Development of an enzymatic pulp bleaching process
Development of a biotechnical pulping process using white-rot
fungi
35
3
Size of company
Enzyme
user and
producer
D
Enzyme know-how
within company
Enzyme
user
Country6
1
Overview of the six case studies performed
Enzyme
producer
Case study no.
Table 5.1:
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Three companies belong to the chemical industry, but one of them (case no. 5)
develops a process for the pulp and paper industry. One company belongs to the
food sector, one to the textile industry and one to the pulp and paper industry. This
coverage of the industrial sectors by case studies reflects that at present most
biotechnical processes with a greening effect are performed within the chemical
industry. It also reflects the fact that innovations in the food, textile and pulp and
paper sector often have not been generated in the respective sector itself, but are
generated in "supply sectors" such as the chemical industry or
engineering/machinery companies (e. g. case 3, 5).
All in all, nine companies were involved in the six case studies. Five of them are
large multinational companies, three are small and medium-sized companies, and
one company is a (small to medium-sized) research daughter of a large
multinational. Two companies are enzyme producers, five are enzyme users only,
and two are enzyme user and producer. In two cases (no. 2 and 3), an enzyme user
and an enzyme producer explicitly joined forces in order to carry out the innovation
project. In case 4, the textile company was more loosely connected to an enzyme
producer; the enzyme producer was more a supplier than an equal partner in the
project. In case 6, a university institute was chosen as a partner with competencies
in biotechnology.
All innovation projects aimed at replacing a conventional process or conventional
process steps by biotechnical processes or process steps. Two of the six projects
(cases no. 1 and 6) relate to fermentation processes, the other cases involve the
introduction of enzymatic steps into the production process. All cases investigated
have a significant greening effect which is described in more detail in chapter 5.3.
The innovation projects covered in the case studies cover a broad spectrum, from
ambitious and complex projects where a novel process was developed from scratch
(e. g. case 2) or from developing a licensed principle into a viable marketable
process (case 5) which both required a substantial amount of basic R&D, to projects
which comprise the adaptation of – in principle established bio-processes – to the
requirements and special needs of the company (e. g. case 4). The duration of the
projects ranges from 2 years up to 10-15 years, with R&D capacities involved of
only very few man-years up to dozens or even a hundred of man-years.
All investigated six cases are clear process innovations, with four cases (cases 1, 3,
4 and 5) comprising also aspects of product innovation. In case 1, the product, a
vitamin, had already been produced by chemical synthesis and marketed before the
fermentative process was introduced. However, as the fermentative process yielded
a less pure product than the chemical synthesis, the product was better suited for the
animal feed sector than for the food or pharmaceutical sector, and the additional
adoption of the fermentative process enabled the company to gain substantial
market shares in the animal feed market.
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In case 3, the physical oil refining process innovation required also an enzyme
which was not available in sufficient amounts and at cost-efficient prices at the
beginning of the innovation project. Therefore, an enzyme (= product) innovation
formed a significant milestone in the overall process innovation8.
The situation is similar in case 5: in order to develop a new process for pulp
bleaching, two innovative products, an enzyme and a chemical redox mediator, are
required. Both product and process innovation are carried out within the same
company.
In case 4, an innovative process has been introduced into the textile company which
makes it possible to achieve unique textile finishing effects which can only be
realised with the enzymatic, but not with conventional chemical processes.
Therefore, textiles can be produced with the new process which have unique
properties and thus, also represent a certain product innovation.
5.2
Comparison of the companies' background, their
situation at the beginning of the project, and the strategic
aspects of the innovation projects
In the following section, the companies' background and their situation at the
beginning of the innovation project will be outlined. It will be analysed how the
project fits into the company strategy, what the expectations were, what the
outcomes of the projects were and what the future prospects are.
In case 1, the market for the respective vitamin was expected to grow. Therefore, it
was decided to expand the available production capacities (a purely chemical
process) in order to secure a substantial share of the growing vitamin market.
However, as the company is a traditional chemical company, it was very
controversially discussed whether a biotechnological process should be preferred
over a chemical one. Moreover, the company lacked experience and expertise with
biotechnology as the vitamin process was the very first fermentative process
developed and operated in the company. Finally, it was decided in favour of the
biotechnical project because the chemical technology was perceived as mature
whereas the fermentation technology seemed to offer further potentials.
Biotechnological know-how was built up in-house, and the fermentative process
could successfully be developed. A production plant was built (in addition to the
existing chemical plant) and both plants were operated in parallel for several years.
8 However, the original project partner did not succeed in providing this enzyme, and the
innovation was at last carried out by a competitor.
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Meanwhile, the fermentative process has completely substituted the chemical
process. The company has achieved its expected market goals. Moreover, the
division in which the vitamin innovation took place is considered as one of the most
promising growth sectors within the company. As biotechnology contributes
substantially to progress in this sector, the former resistance towards non-chemical
processes begins to erode, and the company has now explicitly committed itself to
exploiting the potentials of biotechnology in R&D.
In case 2, the company had a good market position with its chemically produced
antibiotic. However, it faced growing competition from companies in newly
industrialising countries, such as India or China, which had recently adopted the
conventional, mature chemical production technology. The company wanted to
defend its leading position in an attractively large, growing market and wanted to
achieve this goal by making use of innovative, leading-edge technology which gave
them a competitive advantage. In contrast to the chemical company in case 1, this
chemical company had been monitoring the emerging technology of enzymes in
organic synthesis for some time, and was eager to adopt this innovative tool.
However, the company had only profound experience in the manufacturing of
intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry but lacked the required
biotechnological know-how. This know-how was incorporated by forming a joint
venture with another company with core competencies in microbiology, genetics,
biochemistry and fermentation. In the following years, the chemical synthesis of the
antibiotic was replaced by an improved synthetic process which involved several
enzymatic steps. The company has achieved its market goals. The new process was
so cost-effective that even falling prices of the antibiotic could be compensated.
Meanwhile, the combination of biotechnology, bio- and chemocatalysis,
fermentation and chemistry has become a core competence of the life science sector
of the company which is expected to expand. Moreover, the mother companies
which formed the antibiotics joint venture have now merged so that the joint
venture can be seen as smoothing the way for the recent merger.
In case 3, a general trend towards physical instead of chemical refining of seed oil
could be observed. The engineering company already had competencies in
degumming techniques required for the physical refining. It was therefore a logical
consequence for the company to aim at designing a superior degumming process in
terms of cost and efficiency. It belongs to its core competencies (and is a
competitive advantage over other engineering companies) that the company
develops new technologies itself. It also had previous experience with
biotechnological processes and had good cooperations with an enzyme producing
company which agreed to develop the enzyme required for the degumming process.
As the enzyme company had difficulties in developing the enzyme, it took nine
years until a pilot plant could be operated at the involved food company. Although
the process was technically mature, it took another two years until the cost targets
could be met and the process proved successful both in terms of technology, quality
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and costs. The new degumming process has now also been implemented in several
other seed oil companies in other countries.
The textile finisher in case 4 is a rather innovative company in comparison to other
finishers. However, the company also suffered heavily from the worsening
economic situation of the European textile industry (see chapter 4.4). On the one
hand, the company reacted as many others with a retrenchment programme, which
e. g. comprised the shift of part of its production to a low-wage-country. On the
other hand, it reacted rather exceptional by investing relatively large sums into
innovative production technology in order to stay competitive in the long run. The
strategic goal was to broaden the product base, to increase flexibility to changing
market needs, to increase the share of high-tech finishing and the share of higher
prices goods where quality is more important than price, and to offer goods and
services which are not easy to imitate by competitors. Although the technical goals,
the implementation of several enzymatic textile finishing processes in the company,
were successfully met as scheduled after two years, the company has not reached its
economic goals yet. Nevertheless, it plans to keep to its strategy, and it has already
started a new biotechnical research project in order to broaden its product base
further and gain more flexibility.
The company in case 5 was granted the exclusive license to develop the enzymatic
pulp bleaching process to market maturity because both biotechnology and
chemistry are its core competencies. The lack of expertise in pulp production within
the company was compensated by building strategic cooperations with pulp
producers and by gradually building up in-house expertise also in this field. The
main driving force for the company to develop the process is the exceptionally large
market potential of the process. This justifies the relatively large investments in
R&D of this process and may also explain why the project has not been abandoned
although the required time to market turned out to be much longer than anticipated.
Moreover, the project fits perfectly into the company's business strategy as it
requires core competencies of the company both in biotechnology and chemistry
which also puts the company at an advantage over competitors who only have
expertise in one of both fields. During the innovation project, technical trends in
pulp bleaching changed and required a considerable strategic adjustment of the
innovation project which led to a substantial prolongation of the time required for
developing the process to market maturity. At the time when the case studies were
performed, a large-scale trial in an industrial production plant was being prepared.
At the beginning of the 1990s, when the innovation project was started, the SME in
case 6 had been a rather progressive company: It had been a leader in environmental
protection, and R&D played a relatively important role. The main emphasis of its
R&D – chlorine-free bleach, modern bleaching sequences and biological
wastewater processing plants evidence the particular importance of the fields of
environmental protection and biotechnology within the enterprise. By employing
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research staff trained in biotechnology, by establishing cooperations with a
university institute specialised in wood biotechnology, and by joining a US-based
consortium on biopulping, the company managed to do internationally competitive
research on the biopulping process. However, the company is also a typical
example of the economic trends in the European pulp and paper industry in the
1990s: an increasing market concentration, the need to restructure by increasing
volumes of sales and productivity by concentrating on core competencies,
afterwards by mergers and acquisitions (see chapter 4.3). Due to economic
problems, the company in case 6 was subsequently taken over by two larger pulp
and paper companies. By concentrating on its competence of high-quality woodfree papers it realised economies of scale. Its staff was reduced. Despite competitive
results in the biopulping project, the research project was abandoned at the
laboratory stage due to economic difficulties of the company and due to the fact that
the responsibility for R&D has been transferred to the mother company outside
Europe during the restructuring process. As a consequence, the biopulping process
has successfully been developed to industrial scale in the USA, but has not yet been
introduced in Europe.
5.3
Role of greening in the innovation process
All cases investigated have a significant greening effect: In the cases 1 and 2, the
number of synthesis steps can be substantially reduced which is linked to a
significant reduction of the amount of waste or side-products. Moreover,
ecologically harmful substrates and processing aids can be replaced by less toxic
substances to a large extent. A substantial reduction of the waste stream by a factor
of 8 to 10 and savings in toxic processing aids were also the effects in case 3. In
case 4, the environmental benefit is a substantial reduction of pumice stone sludge,
and a significantly lower water and energy consumption. Moreover, production
losses by damage of machines and fabric are also considerably reduced (Kothuis
and Schelleman 1996). In case 5, the quantity of bleaching agent (chlorine or
chlorine dioxide) required in pulp production can be significantly reduced. In
addition, the enzymatic process fits well into paper mill concepts with a closecircuit water cycle, thus minimising the environmental impact even further. In
case 6, environmental advantages of the bioprocess lie in savings in term of raw
materials, chemicals used as processing aids, and energy, as well as in a lower
wastewater toxicity (Messner und Srebotnik 1994).
The ecological effects of biotechnological processes as compared to conventional
chemical processes (such as mild conditions (pH, temperature, pressure), aqueous
media, high selectivity and specificity, less toxic and recalcitrant chemicals,
biodegradable waste) were qualitatively known to the management staff at the time
when the decision whether to start the project was made. The ecological benefits
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definitely played a certain role in this decision-making: they were relevant in the
sense that the new process should be less harmful to the environment than the
conventional process. The innovation projects had not been pursued it the bioprocess had been environmentally problematic. On the other hand, the
environmental benefits alone were not sufficient to give the bio-process a clear
competitive advantage over other, competing options. This may also be due to the
fact that none of the companies had difficulties to comply with environmental
standards at the time of decision-making so that there was no immediate need for
the company to improve its environmental performance. This is also in line with
findings from a study on the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods in
companies. In none of the cases was response to regulation a driving force for the
use of LCA (Verschoor and Reijnders 1999).
As outlined in chapter 5.2, strategic aspects such as gaining or maintaining
flexibility in reacting to changes in the market or as maintaining a long-term
economic advantage proved to be more important in the decision-making than
environmental aspects alone. However, being among the leaders in environmental
technologies may also contribute to a company's flexibility: as the company
prospectively anticipates future developments in environmental protection and
standards, it has a larger time frame and can select a suitable situation in which to
react to these requirements than companies who only become active "in the last
minute" when they cannot keep up their polluting production processes any longer.
Case 5 is a very good example that the environmental friendliness of a bio-process
in most cases is not an absolute value as such, but is considered as an "added value"
to a product (or process) which is at least equal or superior to conventional
processes: In case 5 environmental concerns over the emission of large amounts of
toxic chlorine compounds during pulp bleaching triggered the development of
bleaching processes with less toxic oxidants than chlorine at the beginning of the
1990s. These environmental concerns can be considered as a prerequisite that a
market for the process in case 5 has developed at all9. In case 5, the significance of
these environmental benefits has, however, declined over the years: In the pulp and
paper industry, the elementary chlorine free (ECF) bleaching process now seems to
be preferred over totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching processes – although the
latter are technically feasible and environmentally more desirable. The company in
case 5 has reacted to this development in the pulp and paper industry and now
develops its bio-process for the ECF process instead of the TCF process, as it
originally planned. This example shows that the resulting process is a compromise
between costs, quality and environmental protection. This is also illustrated by
case 3, where the engineering company explicitly stated: "You can't sell a process
(or product) on its environmental friendliness alone".
9 This applies, to a certain extent, also to case 3.
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The relatively low importance of environmental aspects in the decisions may also
be due to the fact that in case 1, 2 and 3, the ecofriendly production of the product
(feed additive, antibiotic, oil) does not play a role in purchase decisions of these
products. As the companies pointed out the ecofriendly production cannot be used
in advertising campaigns for the product. The case may be different for paper
(case 5 and 6) because eco-paper is a separate market segment. However, the bioprocesses investigated in case 5 and 6 have not yet reached the market so that this
assumption cannot be tested. In the textile sector, there is also a small segment of
eco-textiles. However, no information is available whether the company in case 4
explicitly serves this market segment. Although the environmental protection is not
a promotion aspect for the product in case 1, the company performed a life cycle
analysis (LCA) of the bio-process in order to quantitate the environmental benefits.
The results of this LCA were used for company-related, not product-related public
relations in order to improve the overall image of the company, especially to
improve relations with neighbours who had complained about emissions from the
chemical plant.
Five of the six case studies performed in this study were cases in which bioprocesses were newly developed and required relatively intensive R&D efforts.
However, in case 4, already existing processes with known environmental benefits
were newly introduced into the company and only had to be adapted to the
company's special situation. This latter case may represent a type of innovation
where the greening effect of the bio-process may in general play a larger role than it
did in case 4, especially as it may be suitable for companies which actively search
for means to improve the ecological or economic performance of their company. In
these cases, it would certainly support the broader adoption of bio-processes if the
following prerequisites were fulfilled:
•
Implementation of an environmental management system and environamental
performance indicators in the company, so that the company is informed in detail
about its environmental performance and its environmental strengths and
weaknesses (Thoresen 1999).
•
Benchmarking the environmental performance of the own company with the
performance of similar companies, in order to identify one's own relative
strengths and weaknesses and to define feasible targets.
•
Application-oriented information of benefits and costs of the bio-process, so that
the company can decide whether switching to the bio-process would be
beneficial and cost-efficient for the company or not.
•
Support in practical implementation of the new bio-process.
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
5.4
44
Challenges and hindrances encountered during the
innovation projects in the case studies
All companies investigated experienced an individual mixture of different
challenges and hindrances during their innovation project. The challenges
encountered are listed in tables 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4. A summary is given in table 5.5.
As can easily be seen from table 5.5, all cases investigated had some challenges and
hindrances in common. These are
•
Technical problems in combination with lack of skills and expertise. In all the
cases investigated, scientific-technical problems arose during the innovation
project which were difficult to solve. These were sometimes, but not always,
biotechnical problems. In all the cases investigated, the involved companies at
least in part lacked the required skills and expertise to prevent these scientifictechnical problems or to solve them very quickly. In none of the cases, however,
led this partial lack of expertise to a failure of the project, because all companies
managed to overcome these problems and to compensate expertise deficits,
mainly due to cooperations. Remarkably, in about half of the cases investigated,
the companies did not have any experience with biotechnology or only had a
rather limited know-how which would not have been sufficient to carry out the
project. This lack of biotechnology expertise was compensated by strategic
alliances and cooperations in the field of biotechnology, or by explicitly
acquiring the know-how via hiring of experienced staff or "learning by doing".
•
Benefits difficult to assess, uncertain, long pay-off period. In all cases
investigated, the companies had difficulties in assessing the comparative
advantages of the biotechnological process with sufficient certainty. Therefore,
there were phases in all cases in which controversial discussions were led
whether to pursue the innovative project further or whether to return to
established solutions. In these situations, the established solutions could always
be backed with "hard facts" and extrapolations from previous experiences while
for the new biotechnological process such convincing data were missing in most
cases. Solutions to this controversy lay in providing these facts also for the bioprocess which required hard work of the R&D department or in using the
management's hierarchical power to pursue the project further.
Several factors contributed to the difficulties in assessing the comparative
advantages of the bioprocess: Some of the projects were long-running, strategic
projects (e. g. case 1, 2 and 5) which required foresight of future market
developments and of future progress in competing technologies. For these type
of developments only plausible assumptions can be made, but they cannot been
predicted or foreseen with certainty – and an erroneous assessment e. g. strongly
influenced the project in case 5. Another factor is a certain unfamiliarity with
biotechnology: case 1 illustrates that e. g. for chemical processes sophisticated
analytical tools and profound experience exist which e. g. help in assessing the
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Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
45
economic performance of the process and provide technical data for scale-up –
comparable analytical tools for biotechnology were missing. A missing
information base (lack of information for choosing the optimal enzyme for the
process) was also pointed out in case 2. Moreover, in several cases, the pay-off
period for the newly established process was much longer than anticipated (e. g.
case 3 and 4), although the reasons for this could not be fully elucidated. In both
cases, the project would have been abandoned and one would have returned to
established solutions if the management had not used their hierarchical power to
promote the project further.
•
Alterations of existing structures, equipment, facilities. An aspect which often
leads to controversies in innovation projects is the alteration of existing
structures, routines and facilities (Kostka and Hassan 1997). On the one hand,
this has a technical and cost component: the bioprocess often requires another
production plant design than the conventional process, cannot easily be
integrated into existing production plants or does not fit into the existing network
of processes which use side-products of other processes as substrates, and
provide educts for other processes. These problems were encountered e. g in
case 1, where a totally new plant for the fermentative process had to be built and
where new ways for treatment and disposal of the fermentation sludge had to be
developed, or in case 4, where a totally new machine was bought. Using this new
equipment always requires a change in the work routines of the staff and most
likely also in their qualification which can lead to controversies, as illustrated by
cases 1 and 4.
On the other hand, the alterations in existing structures also refer to
organisational changes which, as a consequence, lead to altered allocation of
resources, career opportunities and career disadvantages of staff, altered
reputation of departments and individuals in the company etc. In case 2, a joint
venture between two companies was formed in order to realise the innovation
project which – all in all – seems to have had an overall positive effect since the
two parent companies have now fully merged. In case 1, the innovation project,
however, meant the introduction of a new "culture" and "way of thinking" into
the chemists-dominated company which gave rise to envy, scepticism and lack
of trust. It took many years and the implementation of a successful process to
establish biotechnology as a valuable contribution to the company's know-how
and portfolio.
•
No need for action because compliance with environmental standards. None of
the companies investigated had an immediate pressure to improve the
environmental performance of its production processes. All companies could
comply with current environmental standards with their established production
technology. Therefore, a strong incentive from the environmental and legal point
of view to start and pursue the project was missing. With the aim to promote the
further use of production-integrated environmental prevention through
biotechnology, this can be considered as a certain drawback.
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44
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
Table 5.2:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during the innovation projects of case 1 and case 2
Hindrance
Lack of awareness
PIEP not known
Case 1
does not apply; PIEP not relevant at time of
decision-making
biotechnology unfamiliar, does not work played important role in the decision-making
staff lacks qualification, time, infor- decision-makers were chemists by training and had
mation
prejudices towards biotechnology
no need for action because compliance applies; economic and strategic, not ecological
with environmental standards
reasons for the decision
insufficient data on environmental not relevant at time of decision-making; in later
performance of company
stages LCA was performed for PR reasons
Perception of cost/benefit ratio as negative
low innovativeness, low R&D intensity does not apply; however reluctance to take up
biotechnology in chemistry-based company
unfamiliar with biotechnology
applies; project was the very first fermentative
process in the company
difficult economic situation
does not apply
lack of skills and expertise
lack of qualified/motivated staff
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
Case 2
does not apply; PIEP not relevant at time of
decision-making
does not apply
does not apply; staff had monitored development
closely, was eager to use it in own company
applies; economic and strategic, not ecological
reasons for the decision
not relevant at the time of decision-making
does not apply
partly applies; joint venture in order to explicitly
integrate bt know-how and to exploit synergies
partly applies; market position was perceived as
endangered, if no precautionary measures were
taken; difficult to finance required R&D from
product sales when antibiotic prices fell
applies; biotechnology know-how was built up in- partly applies; company was one of the first players
house de novo; some gaps were filled by in this emerging discipline, built up unique knowcooperations
how in-house; some gaps were filled with
cooperations
partly applies; reluctance to take up or support does not apply
biotechnology; project team itself was however very
motivated
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
45
Table 5.2 continued
Hindrance
Case 1
alteration of existing structure, equip- applies; biotechnology meant new culture in
ment, facilities
chemical-based company; biotechnology was a
competitor in company-internal allocation of
resources; a new plant for the fermentative process
had to be built; bioprocess did not fit into the
"Verbund"-structure of the production site
benefits difficult to assess, uncertain, applies; lack of sufficient experience and analytical
long pay-off period
tools to evaluate bioprocess vs. established chemical
process
prefer established solutions
applies; indicator: chemical and fermentative plant
operated for 6 years in parallel as trust in bioprocess
was lacking
Impaired ability to fight off adverse events and to develop viable solution
scientific-technical problems
scientific-technical problems arose; e. g. design of a
reliable, cost-efficient process, development of
treatment and disposal routes for the fermentation
sludge
lack of expertise to overcome technical if applicable, had no negative influence on the
difficulties
outcome; cooperations were sought
lack of money, time, skills
if applicable, had no negative influence on the
outcome
lack of support
applies; introduction of bioprocess was a very
controversial issue within the chemical company
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
Case 2
applies; project required the formation of a joint
venture; has now resulted in a merger of the parent
companies
applies; especially decline in product price put
additional pressure and new R&D targets on the
project
does not apply
scientific-technical problems arose; e. g. finding the
right enzyme, its proper formulation, design of a
reproducible, cost-efficient process
if applicable, had no negative influence on the
outcome; cooperations were sought
if applicable, had no negative influence on the
outcome
does not apply
46
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
Table 5.3:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during the innovation projects of case 3 and case 4
Hindrance
Lack of awareness
PIEP not known
Case 3
does not apply; PIEP not relevant at time of
decision-making
biotechnology unfamiliar, does not work
partly applies; enzymatic desizing as a standard
process had already been used for years; a
biochemist was hired in order to bring the
biotechnology know-how into the company
staff lacks qualification, time, information does not apply
does not apply
no need for action because compliance applies; economic and strategic, not ecological applies; economic and strategic, not ecological
with environmental standards
reasons for the decision
reasons for the decision
not relevant at the time of decision-making
insufficient data on environmental per- not relevant at the time of decision-making
formance of company
Perception of cost/benefit ratio as negative
low innovativeness, low R&D intensity
does not apply
does not apply; 10 % of staff engaged in applied
R&D; company is said to be more innovative than
competitors
unfamiliar with biotechnology
does not apply for engineering and enzyme partly applies; although a specialist was hired, tacit
company, applies for food company
knowledge had to be built up
difficult economic situation
does not apply
fully applies; the company had to move part of the
production to low-wage-country and started a
retrenchment programme; sales significantly
decreased
lack of skills and expertise
partly applies; project team was designed an a way partly applies
to exploit synergies between the partners; however,
one partner turned out to lack required skills
lack of qualified/motivated staff
does not apply
does not apply
alteration of existing structure, equip- only applies in parts; project partners knew each applies; a new machine was bought in connection
ment, facilities
other from previous projects; bioprocess required with the innovation project which bound the
new plant which could be integrated into existing majority of resources and R&D budget
plant design and equipment
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
does not apply; PIEP not relevant at time of
decision-making
does not apply; engineering and enzyme producing
company had profound experience
Case 4
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
47
Table 5.3 continued
Hindrance
Case 3
benefits difficult to assess, uncertain, partly applies; risks and costs could be assessed
long pay-off period
rather easily and were perceived to be low; however,
development time turned out to be much longer than
estimated
prefer established solutions
partly applies; as process was not cost-efficient for
two years, returning to the conventional degumming
process was under serious consideration in the food
company
Impaired ability to fight off adverse events and to develop viable solution
scientific-technical problems
scientific-technical problems arose, especially in
finding a cost-efficient way to produce the required
enzyme and to reach the pre-set cost targets for the
degumming process
lack of expertise to overcome technical unclear whether applicable. As the enzyme company
difficulties
which did not succeed in finding a cost-efficient way
for producing the required enzyme did not
participate in the case study the reasons for the
failure could not be elucidated
lack of money, time, skills
if applicable, could be overcome
lack of support
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
only applies to the phase when the pilot plant did not
meet the cost targets. It was a controversial issue
within the food company whether more resources
should be devoted to the then unsuccessful project or
whether the project should be stopped at all
Case 4
applies; production rates and sales estimates for the
new machine turned out to be too optimistic; sales
targets have not been met
applies in part; staff opposed the purchase of the new
machine because they feared serious harm to the
liquidity of the company
scientific-technical problems arose; especially when
experienced staff left the company
became relevant when experienced staff left the
company. However, remaining staff was able to
solve the problems; the project could successfully be
completed
Lack of money was a reason for opposition of staff
against the project. Opposition was in part overcome
by financing staff through a special grant and by
hierarchical power
only applies to part of the staff who had preferred a
financially less risky strategy; management always
supported the project even against opposition and
results that stayed behind the expectations
48
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
Table 5.4:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during the innovation projects of case 5 and case 6
Hindrance
Lack of awareness
PIEP not known
Case 5
does not apply; potential of the biobleaching process
for PIEP was a major determinant in the decisionmaking
biotechnology unfamiliar, does not work does not apply; company has profound in-house
know-how in biotechnology
staff lacks qualification, time, infor- does not apply
mation
no need for action because compliance partly applies; ecological reasons played a
with environmental standards
significant role in decision-making
insufficient data on environmental per- not relevant at the time of decision-making
formance of company
Perception of cost/benefit ratio as negative
low innovativeness, low R&D intensity does not apply; company itself is completely
devoted to R&D
unfamiliar with biotechnology
does not apply; company has profound in-house
know-how in biotechnology
Case 6
does not apply; company was considered to be a
leader in environmental protection, even received an
award for its overall environmental activities
partly applies; company had, however, experience
with biological waste water treatment
does not apply; responsible staff, although chemists
by training, were very interested in biotechnology
applies; however, company was considered to be a
leader in environmental technologies
not relevant at the time of decision-making
does not apply; R&D was important within the
company and was well-equipped
partly applies; know-how was made available
through cooperations and participation in a research
network (consortium)
difficult economic situation
does not apply
fully applies; finally led to restructuring of the
company and termination of the innovation project
lack of skills and expertise
partly applies; missing know-how in pulp production partly applies; missing expertise was acquired
was acquired via cooperations and gradually also through cooperations and participation in relevant
built up in-house
networks
lack of qualified/motivated staff
does not apply
does not apply
alteration of existing structure, equip- does not apply; process under development can be unclear whether relevant
ment, facilities
combined with all bleaching methods and pulping
methods
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Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
49
Table 5.4 continued
Hindrance
Case 5
Case 6
benefits difficult to assess, uncertain, long applies; difficulties arose especially from applies because bioprocess in an infant stage has to
pay-off period
erroneous estimations of future development of be assessed vs. a mature established technology
(competing) bleaching methods
prefer established solutions
does not apply
partly applies; a process engineering company
required for technical realisation of the project after
the laboratory phase was very sceptical about the
feasibility of a bio-process
Impaired ability to fight off adverse events and to develop viable solution
scientific-technical problems
scientific-technical problems arose, especially in scientific-technical problems arose, especially in the
developing a technology for the toxic by-product- pre-sterilisation of wood chips
free production of the mediator, in overcoming
plant capacity bottlenecks for mediator production
for large-scale trials, and in the need to
strategically readjust the technical and cost targets
for the project due to erroneous strategic
assessment of competing technologies
lack of expertise to overcome technical if applicable, had no negative influence on the if applicable, had no negative influence on the
difficulties
outcome; cooperations were sought
outcome; cooperations were sought
lack of money, time, skills
if applicable, had no negative influence on the was a decisive factor for discontinuing the project, as
outcome
the company had to be sold to other companies with
different strategic foci
lack of support
does not apply; large market potential of the does not apply for the start of the project and the
process under development justifies the devotion laboratory phase; fully applies for the technical
of large sums, resources and time into the project
realisation (no support from engineering company),
and the time after the sale of the company
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50
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
Table 5.5:
Overview of difficulties and hindering factors during the innovation projects in the six case studies
Hindrance
Case 1
Lack of awareness
• PIEP not known
• biotechnology unfamiliar, does not work
• staff lacks qualification, time, information
• no need for action because compliance with environmental standards
• insufficient data on environmental performance of company
Perception of cost/benefit ratio as negative
• low innovativeness, low R&D intensity
• unfamiliar with biotechnology
• difficult economic situation
• lack of skills and expertise
• lack of qualified/motivated staff
• alteration of existing structure, equipment, facilities
• benefits difficult to assess, uncertain, long pay-off period
• prefer established solutions
Impaired ability to fight off adverse events and to develop viable solution
• scientific-technical problems
• lack of expertise to overcome technical difficulties
• lack of money, time, skills
• lack of support
–:
+:
0:
?:
PIEP:
not relevant, does not apply, is no hindrance
relevant, applies, is a hindrance
partly relevant, partly applies, is a hindrance in certain aspects, in others not
not known, information not available
production integrated environmental protection
Institute for Prospective Technlogical Studies
Case 2
Case 3
Case 4
Case 5
Case 6
–
+
+
+
–
–
–
–
+
–
–
–
–
+
–
–
0
–
+
–
–
–
–
0
–
–
0
–
+
–
–
+
–
+
0
+
+
+
–
0
0
0
–
+
+
–
–
–
–
0
–
0
+
0
–
0
+
0
–
0
+
0
–
–
–
0
–
–
+
–
–
0
+
0
–
?
+
0
+
–
–
+
+
–
–
–
+
?
–
–
+
0
+
–/+
+
–
–
–
+
–
+
–/+
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
5.5
51
Supporting factors identified in the case studies
Table 5.4 does not only give an overview of the challenges and hindrances
encountered during the investigated innovation processes, but also gives an
indication what supporting factors and successful schemes for managing complex
innovation processes are:
Innovativeness
A common characteristic in all case studies is that the companies are all (relatively)
innovative as compared to other companies in their industrial sector. This is
reflected by the fact that they all anticipate the future needs and requirements
prospectively (e. g. market developments, consumer preferences, environmental
regulations), that they aim at gaining (or maintaining) flexibility and at gaining a
long-term economic advantage. In case 1, biotechnology, which has now advanced
to a key technology in the pharmaceutical, agrobusiness and also fine chemicals
sector of the company, was for the first time introduced into the chemical-based
company and also enabled the company to enter a new market (feed additives). In
case 2, synergies between the antibiotics section of company 1 and the
biotechnology section of company 2 were exploited in a joint-venture, and these
synergies now form core competencies of the recently merged parent companies. In
case 3, the innovation project meant a logical follow-up activity of previous projects
which made use of unique know-how within the engineering company and also
opened new market opportunities for this company. In case 4, the explicit aim was
to broaden the product range of the company and to gain more flexibility in
response to quickly changing customers' needs. In case 5, the innovation project
made use of the unique know-how of the company and is intended to open an
extraordinary large market for the company. In case 6, the innovation project was a
logical follow-up activity of previous projects in the field of biotechnology and
environmentally friendly technologies in the pulp and paper industry. Therefore, all
innovation projects investigated follow the pattern of a company strategy which
sees the biotechnology project with an environmental benefit as a means to widen
the competencies of the company strategically as a response to the anticipated
future requirements.
Assessment of the benefit/cost ratio
Table 5.4 also shows that in all cases investigated the assessment of the cost/benefit
ratio of the project is not clearly in favour of the innovation project – in every
company there are serious hindrances or costs which could have prevented other
companies from pursuing such a project. The success factor may be, however, that
in cases of uncertainty and risk, the companies investigated tend to decide in favour
of the innovative project instead of preferring established solutions. This behaviour
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52
is supported by the fact that they do not view the project simply as a means to
reduce costs or increase productivity, but take a wider perspective of the benefits
(see above). Open-minded staff may also be regarded as a supporting factor.
Moreover, the companies investigated are also characterised by their systematic and
iterative assessment of the benefits versus the costs, and their ability to adjust the
project according to the results of this repeated assessment.
Skills and expertise
Skills, expertise and previous experience with biotechnology certainly is helpful.
The case studies show, however, that this is not a strict prerequisite for starting the
project and for its successful completion. What seems to be more important is a
general "innovativeness", an open-mindedness of the management staff towards
new ideas and new technologies, and also the ability to recognise and compensate
any lack of skills and expertise. This compensation is realised in the form of
participation in appropriate networks, of cooperations and strategic alliances, and
the timely acquisition of qualified staff, know-how and expertise. In case 1,
cooperations were built throughout the world to contribute to the vitamin project; in
case 2, a joint-venture was formed and cooperations mainly with university
institutes were sought. In case 3, the project team was designed in a way that each
partner contributed complementary know-how and skills and the "cultural fit" had
been tested in previous projects. In case 4, an enzyme expert was hired (what is
rather unusual for a SME in the textile sector) and, as such a specialist was not
easily financed by the company, a special grant which covered part of the personnel
costs, was acquired. In case 5, in order to compensate for certain in-house deficits in
pulping technology the company employed consultants, engaged in cooperations
and actively built up a network of possible customers which are interested to
implement the process under development. In case 6, the company took actively
part in an international research consortium which provided important information
and also made a benchmarking of the own research progress with internationally
leading groups possible. Moreover, the company intensively cooperated with a
university institute specialised in this field. Therefore, the active engagement in a
network of appropriate partners seems to be a success factor common to all
companies investigated.
Scientific-technical know-how is certainly a key requirement for successful
projects, but not sufficient – additional skills are required. The successful
companies investigated had all implemented a stringent project management which
included an iterative critical assessment of the work progress, which made money,
time, and skills available if milestones were met (and denied these resources if
milestones were not met), but which also included constant support and a reliable
commitment of the management for the project. The importance of support by the
top management for the success of environmental improvement acitivities has also
been pointed out by Thoresen (1999). This support and commitment also helped to
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Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
53
overcome difficult phases in the projects. This aspect, however, implies that the
company also must have the ability to fight off adverse events, such as
unanticipated market changes (e. g. case 2: falling product prices which set new
cost targets for the new process, case 5: trend towards cheaper competing
technologies which again set new cost targets for the new process), technical
problems (e. g. problems with achieving cost targets (case 3), reproducibility of the
process (case 1), waste disposal (case 1), unanticipated presence of toxic sideproducts (case 5)), internal controversies about the continuation of the project
(case 1, 3, 4, 6) or a difficult financial situation of the company (case 4 and 6).
Cases 4 and 6 are also examples for the importance of the ability to "survive"
difficult phases in the innovation project: both companies had impaired abilities to
fight off adverse effects due to their financial situation; and their innovation projects
did not meet all pre-set targets or were terminated at all.
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54
Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
6.
55
Summary
In this study, six case studies were performed in companies which had implemented
biotechnical processes for production-integrated environmental protection (PIEP).
To investigate successful cases and to identify success factors is a more recent
analytical approach complementary to the still predominating studies on hindering
factors. In the success approach, it is analysed empirically to which extent
favourable conditions (absence of hindrances) explain the successful
implementation, and which factors have led to overcoming hindrances which are
also present in successful cases (Ostertag et al. 1998, Conrad 1996).
The six cases covered the industrial sectors chemical industry, textile industry, food
industry and pulp and paper industry, and comprised large multinational companies
as well as SMEs. Moreover, the companies investigated were enzyme users only,
enzyme producers only, and also enzyme users and producers. With respect to the
geographical location of the companies, a bias towards Germany has to be noted
(4 of 6 cases investigated). Due to the lack of coverage of southern European
countries in this study, the findings and derived recommendations will hold true for
North to Central European countries. Whether they also apply to southern European
countries which were not included in this study cannot be answered on the basis of
this project.
All innovation projects aimed at replacing a conventional process or conventional
process steps by biotechnical ones which had a substantial greening effect. With
respect to the "ambitiousness", the innovation projects covered a broad spectrum,
from complex projects lasting a decade or more from the first idea until its market
introduction, to the adaptation of already established processes to the special
situation of the company.
6.1
Requirements, prerequisites
From the analysis of the six case studies and information from the literature it can
be concluded that the following requirements must be fulfilled for the introduction
of biotechnical processes for production-integrated environmental protection into
companies (Hüsing et al. 1998):
•
Awareness. Decisions about the start of PIEP innovation projects are usually
made by high-level management staff. This staff must be aware of the
possibilities of production-integrated environmental protection, and must be
informed that biotechnology may be a technical option within the concept of
production-integrated environmental protection.
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Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
56
•
Perception of benefit/cost ratio as positive. An innovation project will most
likely only be started and continued if the expected or realised benefits outweigh
the costs. Costs do not only mean direct costs for equipment or R&D
expenditures, but also indirect costs such as transaction costs (e. g. for
cooperations, for learning and acquisition of know-how, organisational change in
the company induced by the innovation project etc.).
•
Skills, expertise. The successful introduction of biotechnical productionintegrated environmental protection requires know-how in different fields:
Expertise in environmental management of the company, expertise in
biotechnology, expertise in the relevant production process, and expertise in the
relevant markets, customer needs and preferences, product characteristics etc.
Moreover, the ability to manage complex innovation processes is also required if
the project is a complex and ambitious one.
•
Ability to fight off adverse events. The progress and success of an innovation
project is inevitably threatened by adverse events, such as scientific-technical
problems, difficulties in project management, lacking resources for the
innovation project, lack of support for the innovation project, critical economic
situation of the company, altered market situation etc. Therefore, the ability to
prevent, manage and "survive" such difficult phases is of importance for the
successful completion of an innovation project.
•
Competitive solution which meets targets. Finally, the company must be able to
generate a viable, competitive solution which is satisfactory with respect to costs,
quality and environmental protection.
6.2
Hindering and supporting factors
In the following paragraphs, hindering and supporting factors will be summarised,
as they can be derived from the case studies and the literature. As biotechnical
solutions for production-integrated environmental protection are not yet widely
distributed (OECD 1998), there must be several hindrances which hamper the
implementation of these innovative technologies. First of all, it must be noted that
this is also a characteristic of production-integrated environmental protection as a
whole, not only for the biotechnical options within this concept, because
approximately 80 % of environmental expenditures are still invested in additional,
end-of-pipe environmental technologies.
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57
Awareness – Hindrances
It has to be noted that the concept of production-integrated environmental
protection is not yet widely known. Environmental protection is still often linked to
add-on, end-of-pipe technologies. This is especially true for environmental
biotechnology – very often, only end-of-pipe processes such as biological waste
water treatment, biological exhaust gases clean-up or bioremediation of
contaminated sites are summarised under this term while the potential of
biotechnology for prevention of environmental pollution is only rarely recognised.
From this, it can be concluded that companies in the chemical, textile, food and
pulp and paper sector which could in principle make use of (biotechnical) PIEP do
not do so because their high-level staff simply is not aware of this option.
Moreover, biotechnology is often perceived as an "immature technology which does
not work". This may partly be due to the fact that PIEP and biotechnology were not
part of their vocational training. Moreover, in their demanding every-day work they
often lack the time to inform themselves about these options. This is also due to the
fact that practically oriented, concise information especially compiled for and
targeted at this target group can only rarely be found10. Moreover, structural factors
such as the prevalence of small and medium-sized companies, a low research
intensity, a difficult economic situation and a conservative-traditional attitude (as
outlined in chapter 4) are further hindrances to a proactive, innovation-oriented
information management within the companies.
Another reason for a certain lack of awareness is that many companies can comply
with the present environmental standards – not least because they have invested
substantial sums into end-of-pipe environmental technologies during the last years.
Therefore, an immediate need for action to improve the environmental performance
of the company is often lacking. Nevertheless, there may be "weak spots" in the
company where improvement would be advisable both from an ecological and
economic point of view. However, this requires sufficiently detailed data on the
environmental performance of the company (environmental performance
indicators), and also the possibility to benchmark the performance of one's own
company against the company's environmental policy and against the performance
of similar companies.
These data, however, are often lacking which is mainly due to the fact that
environmental management systems, such as the ISO 14000 series or others, have
10 Good examples are the "Biotechnology means Business" and BIO-WISE initiatives of the British
Department of Trade and Industry. They comprise a package of measures (e. g. written material,
road shows, helpline) designed to improve UK competitiveness by raising the awareness of the
commercial potential of biotechnology for UK user industries and stimulating its take up by them
(http://www.dti.gov.uk/biowise/).
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not yet been implemented. Especially the chemical industry and the automobile
industry have been most active in developing and implementing such systems,
while other industrial sectors, such as the food industry, are still lagging behind
(Boudouropoulos and Arvanitoyannis 1999).
Moreover, the international scientific community has not yet agreed upon a general
set of essential environmental end effects that may be used to define the priorities
for environmental improvement action on the local, regional or global scale.
Furthermore, the proposal for a new, international standard for environmental
performance evaluation (ISO TC 207/SC) does not express any clear directions in
this respect (Thoresen 1999).
6.2.2
Awareness – supporting factors
A common characteristic of the companies in the six case studies investigated was
that a key element of their corporate strategy is innovativeness. This means that the
companies have implemented mechanisms which enable them to prospectively
anticipate future trends, needs and requirements in different fields, such as markets,
technologies, environmental regulations, consumer preferences etc. As a result of
this anticipation, they widen their competencies strategically in order to gain
flexibility in response to changes in "the outside world" and to aim at long-term
economic advantages. Companies which are at the forefront of environmental
innovations deny that "they act 'green' out of environmental conviction". Their
overall strategy is being innovative, and this strategy also extends to the
environmental sector (Dresel 1997). "Greening" in terms of compliance with
environmental standards and cost reduction is not seen as a target as such, but as an
integral part of a more comprehensive strategy. That general aims of the company
strategy can be achieved by environmental innovations is illustrated by the list of
improvements companies have achieved which had implemented environmental
management systems (Boudouropoulos and Arvanitoyannis 1999):
•
Environmental liability (ensure that environmental issues are considered
strategically, rather than as a one-off special exercise),
•
Reduced operating costs (through prevention and waste reduction),
•
Management of change in supply (checking if certain supplies will be available
in the near term and in the long term),
•
Increased productivity,
•
Improved financial performance,
•
Maintenance of consistent compliance with legislative and regulatory
requirements,
•
Declining paperwork,
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•
Waste reduction,
•
Improved community and customer relations (public image),
•
Employee motivation ("feel-good factor", and increased motivation suggesting
improvements and cost savings),
•
Improved environmental performance,
•
Potential impact on world trade (need for uniform standards, WTO).
Such an innovation-oriented company strategy is closely linked to open-minded
staff – also a common characteristic of the successful companies investigated in the
six case studies. This open-mindedness enabled the top management to decide in
favour of the biotechnical PIEP project despite the fact that they were often
unfamiliar with biotechnology by training. They managed to compensate this
unfamiliarity, e. g. by actively building relevant information channels, employing
consultants, building cooperations etc.
6.2.3
Assessing the benefit/cost ratio – Hindrances
An assessment of the benefit/cost ratio of a certain innovation project will take
place before the start of the project when it must be decided whether to engage in
the project at all. Moreover, it is an integral part of project management that this
assessment should regularly be repeated at certain milestones.
Even if the top management staff is aware of biotechnical PIEP options, they often
prefer established solutions because they assess the benefit/cost ratio as negative
before the start of the project. Moreover, during the project, they often tend to give
up the project at an early stage in favour of established options if difficulties arise.
This behaviour can often be found in companies or industrial sectors with a low
innovativeness in general, with a low R&D intensity, and with a prevailing
conservative-traditional attitude. Especially the food-, textiles- and pulp and paper
industry have these characteristics (chapter 4). Moreover, the economic situation of
the company may be difficult: declining market shares, sales, turnover and profit
margins make it difficult to devote substantial resources to innovation projects of
often uncertain outcome, especially if economic benefits from the innovation can
only be expected in time scales which are larger than the planning horizon of the
company.
For the application of biotechnical processes in production integrated environmental
protection, extensive expertise in biotechnology and enzyme technology is required
as well as in production integrated environmental protection, in market structures,
market requirements and customers' needs. This comprehensive know-how is most
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likely present in the chemical industry, but is the exception in companies or
research institutes of the other industrial branches investigated.
As biotechnology is very research intensive it is difficult for the food-, pulp and
paper- and textile industry with low research intensities to build up own
biotechnical expertise. Moreover, small and medium-sized companies prevail, and
in these types of enterprises environmental management is often in an infant stage
so that production integrated processes in general are difficult to implement
(Boudouropoulos and Arvanitoyannis 1999).
The above mentioned problems sum up for the implementation of biotechnical
processes in production integrated environmental protection. Although this knowhow can in principle be made available via cooperations and participation in
appropriate networks, it increases the costs of the innovation. Small and mediumsized companies, a low research intensity, a difficult economic situation and a
conservative-traditional attitude are structural and economic hindrances.
Production-integrated environmental protection innovations often require an
alteration of existing structures, routines and facilities (Kostka and Hassan 1997,
Thoresen 1999). On the one hand, this has a technical and cost component: the
bioprocess often requires another production plant design than the conventional
process, cannot easily be integrated into existing production plants or does not fit
into the existing network of processes which use side-products of other processes as
substrates, and provide educts for other processes. On the other hand, the alterations
of existing structures also refer to organisational changes which, as a consequence,
lead to altered work routines, altered allocation of resources, career opportunities
and career disadvantages of staff, altered reputation of departments and individuals
in the company etc. These aspects often lead to controversies in innovation projects
(Kostka and Hassan 1997), make the company-internal decision-making a very
complex process which requires a thorough planning and management and support
by top management (Thoresen 1999).
While the cost side of an innovation project can often be assessed with a certain
confidence, it seems to be much more difficult to assess the benefits of the project,
especially if the company feels unfamiliar with the required technologies and skills.
While uncertainty is inevitable in long and complex innovations which require a
larger amount of R&D, the situation could be better for established biotechnical
PIEP processes which "only" have to be implemented in the company and adapted
to its special situation. However, companies stress that practical support,
appropriate tools and easy-to-use instruments are missing which allow the company
a reliable assessment whether the biotechnical process will be useful and costefficient for them (Hüsing et al. 1998). These tools are, however, often available for
competing, established technologies which are then preferred over biotechnical ones
(Kostka und Hassan 1997). Although life cycle methods might in principle be
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helpful in this respect, they are only in infrequent use in industry, are often
perceived as too complicated by companies so that not "full LCAs" but simplified
or modified versions are applied, and substantial difficulties are encountered in
gathering valid data (Verschoor and Reijnders 1999).
6.2.4
Assessing the benefit/cost ratio – Supporting factors
As was outlined in chapter 5.4 and table 5.4, the above-mentioned hindrances also
apply to successful companies to a certain extent. However, their overall assessment
of the benefit/cost ratio of the innovation project is positive. This is primarily due to
the fact that the companies view the innovation project in a wider strategic context
and do not only focus on cost reduction and pollution prevention targets. As they
take a wider scope of relevant benefits into account the weighing of pros and cons
often comes to a different result than in companies with a narrower focus.
Taking a broader perspective of benefits into consideration also enables the
successful companies to support the project further even if difficult phases are
encountered from time to time. It must, however, be mentioned that PIEP
innovations are initially often rather costly and have relatively long pay-off times.
This is often due to the fact that alterations in structures, facilities and routines are
required. Therefore, companies with a larger flexibility in their allocation of
resources are certainly more likely to carry out such an innovation.
A key characteristic of successful companies also seems to be that they try to reduce
the inevitable uncertainties and risks associated with the innovation by certain
measures. Among them are a stringent project management which requires a
systematic critical reassessment of achievements, costs and benefits at certain
milestones. Depending on the result of this assessment, money, time and skills are
made available if the milestones are met. If required, the project is readjusted in
order to reach its targets. This also includes that unsuccessful projects which cannot
reach their targets are stopped and are not pursued any further.
Another decisive factor of successful companies is that they critically assess which
skills and expertise are required for the project, which part of the know-how is
available or can be generated in-house, and which know-how has to be acquired.
For the acquisition of know-how, the appropriate options are chosen; e. g.
participation in appropriate networks, different forms of cooperation, and also
different forms of acquisition of qualified staff. Choosing from these different
options enables the company to compensate for know-how deficits which may be
present.
These supporting factors also strengthen the company's ability to fight off adverse
events and to develop a viable solution.
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63
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7.
Conclusions for policy purposes
In general, supporting schemes for the broader use of biotechnology in productionintegrated environmental protection (PIEP) can be part of biotechnology
programmes, of environmental programmes or of general innovation/industrial
innovativeness programmes (see figure 7.1). The programme chosen will determine
the focus of the supporting scheme for the broader use of biotechnology in PIEP: in
a biotechnology programme, the focus will be on biotechnology with the aim of
PIEP; in environmental programmes, the most important aim will be PIEP, e. g. by
means of biotechnology; and in general innovation programmes the main focus will
be improvement of industrial innovativeness by means of advanced technology
(biotechnology) and PIEP. It is recommended that any supporting scheme for the
broader use of biotechnology in PIEP – independent of its "location" in a certain
programme – should comprise elements of all three areas (biotechnology, PIEP,
innovativeness) in order to avoid that e. g. on the one hand biotechnology is funded
"for the sake of biotechnology", or that, on the other hand, biotechnology is unduly
put at a disadvantage.
Figure 7.1:
Supporting schemes for the broader use of biotechnology in
production-integrated environmental protection (PIEP) are
located at the interface of biotechnology programmes, of
environmental programmes and of general industrial
innovativeness programmes
Biotechnology
Environment
Industrial
innovativeness
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Conclusions for policy purposes, derived from the analysis of hindering and
supporting factors for the introduction of biotechnical PIEP into companies, can be
grouped into four areas. These areas are
•
Enlarging the knowledge base and technology development,
•
Raising awareness and motivation of high-level staff,
•
Improving qualification and motivation of scientific-technical staff,
•
Increasing the transparency of the benefit/cost ratio, reduction of transaction
costs.
There is certainly need to further enlarge the scientific-technical knowledge base
for biotechnical production-integrated environmental protection, and to publicly
support appropriate R&D projects and R&D programmes. Although it is beyond the
scope of this report to provide a detailed description of the research needs several
recommendations for the design of possible R&D programmes can be given:
•
Since the comprehensive expertise required for the development and
implementation of biotechnical preventive techniques as a rule does not exist in
single companies or research institutions, supporting measures should strengthen
existing alliances of different experts, complement gaps in expertise by adding
new partners to the project consortium or should initiate such consortia for the
first time.
•
Due to the difficult economic situation especially of the textile and food industry
it is often difficult for the companies to allocate considerable own resources for
research projects. This should be taken into account when the conditions for the
financing modes of the support programme are defined. In addition, companies
wish a less bureaucratic, simple application procedure for publicly funded
projects in which the decision whether a proposal will be funded is made in a
short time.
•
As will be pointed out in more detail below, there is a need for developing or
providing practically oriented aids and instruments for assessment (e. g. life
cycle analysis) for biotechnical preventive techniques, and test them for their
usefulness in companies. They should be complemented by measures which
improve the internal environmental management in the companies. Such
modules could be integral parts of funded projects or separate projects.
Moreover, in order to enhance the intended demonstration purpose of the
research projects they should be flanked by measures which increase the
publicity and reduce existing prejudices against biotechnical procedures (e. g.
courses, brochures, practical demonstrations, model companies).
A significant hindrance to the full exploitation of the potential of biotechnology for
production-integrated environmental protection is a lack of awareness in the
companies. In order to improve this situation, measures are required which are
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especially targeted at relevant decision-makers in companies, such as CEOs, the
executive board or high-level management staff and which meet their ways of
assimilating information and their information needs. Relevant information must be
concise, easy to understand and to remember, objective and from reliable sources. It
must be easily applicable to one's own company or process, and must give concrete
figures which economic and ecological benefits can be expected. Moreover,
widening the focus of possible benefits beyond simple economic and ecological
advantages can be helpful in order to gain support in the company. In addition,
information from peers is most often perceived as especially helpful, motivating
and reliable by high-level staff. It often provides the possibility to compare the own
company with similar companies, and to obtain first-hand information on practical
experience with the implementation in other companies. Appropriate measures for
this kind of information, qualification and motivation of high-level staff are
•
Lectures at conferences, seminars, meetings of industrial associations,
•
Half-day seminars and workshops,
•
Attractive social evening events with a keynote lecture on this topic, with the
opportunity for networking,
•
Information brochures especially tailored for the needs of the target group,
•
Excursions to model companies, video films about positive examples.
All measures should emphasise the feasibility, efficiency and profitability of the
innovation, should give supportive information for the decision-making process,
and peers should provide practical experience with the implementation.
Once the innovation project is to be planned in detail and to be implemented, it is
necessary to improve the qualification and motivation of the scientific-technical
staff who will be directly concerned with the development and implementation of
the new process. Appropriate measures are
•
Conferences, workshops, courses and seminars,
•
Networks, such as e. g. COST actions,
•
Tools for a better assessment of the technical performance of biotechnical
processes (in comparison to conventional processes),
•
Tools for the further integration of environmental aspects into R&D
management.
In contrast to the measures for high-level management staff, these measures
targeted at scientists, engineers and technicians must focus on technical information
and practical skills. An important aspect is to include cross-discipline skills, e. g.
biotechnology for textile engineers, or textile processing for natural scientists.
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In addition to the above mentioned measures to raise awareness and motivation and
to improve qualification, measures are required which support companies in
recognising the full benefits of the new process and at the same time in reducing
their transaction costs. Appropriate measures are
•
Supporting the introduction of environmental management systems (e. g. such as
certification according to the ISO 13000 series) into companies, especially in the
food and textile sector,
•
Giving companies the opportunity to benchmark their own economic and
environmental performance with that of similar companies,
•
Giving companies the opportunity to learn from positive examples (e. g. by
workshops, seminars, networks, excursions, lectures from colleagues),
•
Develop and provide practically oriented tools for a quick and simple assessment
whether a given biotechnical PIEP process will be beneficial for a company,
•
Develop and provide model calculations or calculation software for pay-off
periods which take into account several variables,
•
Develop and provide tools for a better integration of environmental aspects into
R&D management.
While the above mentioned policy measures apply to the field of biotechnology for
PIEP as a whole, individual measures seem to be of different importance depending
on the overall aim of support schemes and the target group of the policy measure.
Two trajectories can be followed in pursuing the overall aim of a broader use of
biotechnology for PIEP:
(1)
the development of new biotechnological processes for PIEP,
(2)
the implementation and broad diffusion of already existing biotechnological
processes for PIEP.
The relevant players are different in these two trajectories: in trajectory (1), the
main players will be companies and research institutions which can act as
"providers of biotechnology PIEP solutions". They are most likely enzyme
companies, biotechnology companies, companies from the equipment sector,
academia and research institutes, and R&D consortia with an appropriate knowhow. In trajectory (2), the main players are companies which are "(potential) users
of biotechnology PIEP solutions". They can most likely be found among SMEs and
in the food and beverages industry, the textile industry and pulp and paper industry,
but are not restricted to these groups and sectors. Another type of players are
"intermediate companies" which can be both providers and users of biotechnology
PIEP solutions, and which therefore fall into both categories mentioned above.
The relevance of the above mentioned policy measures is different for the two
trajectories and the involved players, respectively (table 7.1). For trajectory (1) with
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the aim to develop and implement new biotechnological processes for PIEP,
measures are most important which serve the following purposes:
•
Raising awareness of the top management in provider and intermediate
companies as well as research institutes that developing and providing
biotechnology PIEP solutions for user companies may offer interesting market
opportunities for the providers,
•
Developing and providing tools how the PIEP idea can be more efficiently,
consistently and routinely be implemented into the R&D management of the
providers,
•
Improving the knowledge base through joint R&D projects and through support
of appropriate networks,
•
Supporting the qualification of scientific-technical staff.
For trajectory (2) with the aim to implement already existing biotechnological
processes for PIEP and to achieve a broader diffusion in user companies, measures
are most important which serve the following purposes:
•
Raising awareness of the top management in user and intermediate companies
that PIEP solutions in general may offer interesting economic as well as
ecological opportunities for them,
•
Raising awareness of the top management in user and intermediate companies
that biotechnology can be a feasible solution within the PIEP concept,
•
Supporting awareness of PIEP by the broader implementation of environmental
management systems in user companies, by the development and
implementation of environmental performance indicators and by benchmarking
the economic and ecological performance of a given company with comparable
companies,
•
Providing targeted information and appropriate, easy-to-use analytical tools for
the assessment whether a given biotechnology PIEP solution may be beneficial
for a company,
•
Supporting the qualification of scientific-technical staff.
These measures can partially be provided by "provider companies" or "intermediate
companies" with a commercial interest in a certain process, but can partially also be
integral parts of publicly funded supporting schemes. Table 7.1 summarizes the
most appropriate policy measures for the two trajectories.
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Introduction of Process-integrated Biocatalysts in Companies
Table 7.1:
Policy measures for a) development of new biotechnology processes for PIEP and b) further diffusion of existing
biotechnology processes for PIEP
Awareness and
motivation of
high-level staff
Research and
technology
development
Policy measures
R&D programmes, R&D projects with appropriate application procedures and funding
modes
Formation and support of alliances and networks
Demonstration projects
Increase publicity through courses, brochures, practical demonstrations, model companies
Development of practically oriented tools and instruments for assessment of bioprocesses
Development and implementation of environmental performance indicators
Interdisciplinary lectures at conferences, seminars, meetings
Half-day seminars and workshops
Attractive social evening events (keynote lecture, networking, positive examples)
Especially tailored information brochures, excursions to model companies
Further integration of environmental aspects into R&D management
Environmental management, environmental performance indicators, benchmarking
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Aim of policy measure
Diffusion of
Development of
existing
new processes
processes
xx
x
xx
x
x
x
x
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
x
x
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
x
xx
70
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Table 7.1 continued
increase transparency of
benefits,
reduce transaction costs
Qualification
of scientifictechn. staff
Policy measures
Conferences, workshops, courses and seminars
Networks (e. g. COST actions)
Tools for assessment of technical performance of bioprocess in comparison to
conventional process
Tools for further integration of environmental aspects into R&D management
Support of implementation of environmental management systems
Development and implementation of environmental performance indicators,
benchmarking
Learn from positive examples
Development and providing of practically oriented model calculations for pay-off periods
depending on several variables
Practically oriented tools for quick and simple assessment of benefits of a given
bioprocess for a certain company
Support of interdisciplinary information and knowledge transfer, formation of appropriate
networks
Tools for better integration of environmental aspects into R&D management
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Aim of policy measure
Development of
Diffusion of
new processes
existing
processes
xx
xx
xx
x
xx
xx
xx
x
x
xx
x
xx
x
xx
x
xx
x
xx
xx
xx
xx
x
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8.
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Annex
Guidance for performing case studies interviews
1.
Information about the interviewee(s)
•
Name
•
Position/function in the company
•
Role/function in the case investigated
2.
Information about the company
•
Age
•
Size (e. g. number of employees, turnover, sales)
•
Business units, products
•
Market position
•
Importance of R&D for the company
•
Importance of environmental protection for the company
•
Importance of biotechnology for the company
•
In which respect is the company typical/representative/not typical for its
economic sector?
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The innovation process ("case")
3.1
Situation of the company before/at the beginning of the
innovation process
•
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Description of the situation of the company out of which the innovation grew
(e. g):
− When?
− Who suggested the idea?
− Based on which information/knowledge? What was known at that time, what
was uncertain/unknown?
−
−
−
−
−
−
−
−
3.2
How important was the innovation process considered? Why? Were there
explicit supporters and opponents of the innovations process?
How did the innovation project fit into the company strategy?
How was the company’s expertise assessed? Where did you perceive deficits?
How was the feasibility, the required competences and resources, the
potentials and difficulties of the idea assessed in more detail at the beginning
of the innovation process? with which results? Did you use special analytical
instruments? Which ones? Was this usual for your company?
How novel/ambitious was the innovation a) for your company, b) for your
industrial sector?
Which reasons/expectations were the deciding factors for initiating the
project? What was the role of environmental protection, of biotechnology in
this decision?
Which resources (personnel, budget, competences) were allocated to the
project? In comparison to other projects/to the actually required resources:
was this sufficient?
Were milestones and go/no-go criteria defined? Which ones? How were they
controlled?
How did the innovation project proceed after its successful
start?
•
When was the innovation process carried out?
•
Who was involved in the innovation process?
•
What are the technical features of the innovative process/product?
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•
What is the environmental benefit of the innovative process?
•
Which knowledge, skills, know-how (scientific, engineering, marketing,
environment, innovation management) were required to carry out the innovation
process? Differentiate with respect to certain phases of the innovation process!
How was this expertise made available? Did you have to (partially) acquire this
expertise externally? What were your experiences relative to your expectations?
•
What were extraordinary challenges? How did you cope with them?
•
Were the initial assessments with respect to competences, scientific-technical
challenges, the required resources, the expectations of the company, the market
situation and the competitors, the relevant frame conditions correct? Which
assessments had to be corrected over time, and why?
•
Which role did external research institutions/cooperation partners play in the
different phases of R&D and market introduction?
•
How did you find appropriate cooperation partners? How did you gain access to
the relevant networks?
•
Which forms of cooperation were chosen? Why? What were your experiences?
•
How do you assess the cooperation? In which respect did your company
benefit/not benefit from this cooperation? What could have been improved?
•
Have there been critical stages for the project? How were they overcome?
3.3
Outcome of the innovation process for the company
•
What was the outcome of the innovation process for your company, relative to
initial expectations?
•
In which way do you use the new process/product at present? Do you plan any
changes? If yes, which ones?
•
What does the new process/product mean for your company with respect to
sales, market and competetive position, compliance with regulatory
requirements, fulfilling of customers‘ needs, your technological competences,
environmental protection, production costs, qualification and motivation of
employees, participation of your company in relevant networks, your company’s
image, others?
•
Did you achieve your initial goals? Which were achieved, which were not
achieved, which goals were abandoned or considered less important, which new
goals emerged or were rated higher in the course of the innovation process?
Why?
•
What have you/has your company learnt from this innovation process? What are
the consequences for future actions with respect to future innovations,
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innovations in biotechnology, innovations in process-integrated environmental
protection?
4.
Relevant frame conditions, supporting and hindering
factors
•
What were important supporting factors which definitely promoted the
innovation process? Which of them were located in your company, which were
external factors?
•
Which of these supporting factors do you consider essential/indispensable?
•
Which factors hindered the innovation process? Which of them were company
internal, which were external factors?
•
How can these hindrances be avoided/reduced?
5.
What is specific, what can be generalised?
•
Which of the supporting and hindering factors are specific
− for your company?
− for your industrial sector?
− for your type of company?
− for this case?
− for innovations in biotechnology in general?
− for innovations in production-integrated environmental protection?
•
Which factors can be generalised for
− other companies in your industrial sector,
−
other industrial sectors,
− other types of companies,
− innovations in general?
6.
•
Recommendations
Should the introduction of process-integrated biocatalysts into companies be
supported? Why (not)?
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•
What are appropriate instruments to support the introduction of processintegrated biocatalysts into companies?
•
How could such a support programme look like from which your
company/companies from your industrial sector could benefit?
•
What should be the role of the EU, what the role of national agencies?
7.
Important aspects, not yet discussed?
•
Which aspects do you feel important which have not yet been discussed?
•
Which aspects would you like to emphasise again?
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