Strategic R&D focus

Future-oriented Management of R&D, Sales and Marketing

Initial Situation and Project Objectives

New market players and products, manifold requirements and uncertainty about future developments result in a high degree of complexity and dynamism in the automotive market. In a constantly and dynamically changing environment, Henkel as a supplier of adhesives for the industry contribute their share towards their clients’ success.This is why it is imperative to develop an understanding of the trends evolving in the automotive industry and within our own organization. An essential success factor here is a uniform basis for joint decisions.The project was aimed at focusing the organization on future-oriented subjects by prioritizing fields ofinnovation, at aligning research & development, sales and marketing on the basis of common goals and at optimizing the deployment of resources.

Systematic Deriving of Innovations

Integrated planning of market and technology activities

Guidelines for the budgeting process and resource planning

Tasks of UNITY

A procedure for focusing and harmonizing innovation activities was developed to meet existing challenges in the automotive market. The first step in the process involved identifying and prioritizing fields of innovation. These fields were to be used for external communication and as a frame-work for internal activities. UNITY was assigned the following tasks:

  • Identify the relevant network partners, customers and experts
  • Create a comprehensive roadmap
  • Focus on the R&D pipeline
  • Optimize the deployment of resources
  • Derive operational objectives

“Identifying future-oriented fields of innovation and their related focuses as well as harmonizing internal processes and resources represent an essential building block for our future success. With UNITY as our partner we can considerably strengthen the common denominator interlinking research & development, sales and marketing. This approach will enable us to better master the challenges that the future brings – together with our customers and for their benefit.”

Rajat Agarwal

Innovation Management

Henkel Adhesive Technologies

Your Contacts

Dr. Michael Herbst

Partner, Business Area Team Lead

Cologne, Germany
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Dr. Dominik Fischer

Head of Strategy & Innovation

Paderborn, Germany
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