Real Contents and Channels of Open Innovation
6.3 Open Innovation of SMEs in Medical Instruments and Intelligent Robot Industries
91
through monitoring of foreign original patents. Further, this company is trying to understand the trends of market change and technologies through participation in academic societies (display and solar cell-related societies).
This company took the opportunity to advance into the solar energy industry by acquiring information and ideas from customer companies. OT supplied doping equipment to a company, and when OT saw the company apply the equipment to single crystal solar cells, it saw the chance to improve its technical capability related to solar cells in the process of connection with the company. In other words, this company accumulated technologies in the process of coping with customers’
requirements and requests while producing customized products, and this allowed it to develop new products, a typical example of which is advancement into the solar cell industry.
We can summarize the real channels of open innovation by fuel cell SMEs. Most of all were the key open innovation channel (Table 6.1).
6.3 Open Innovation of SMEs in Medical Instruments
working for smartphone S/W industries targeting major domestic mobile phone enterprises. OGV is a company that the CEO and other major staff established by spinning out an existing company, and it is making efforts for various inside-out open innovation based on existing accumulated technologies as well as existing smartphone S/W technologies. In particular, in order to develop IT medical-related new products that applied and developed existing smartphone wireless control tech- nologies, OGV is making efforts for various open innovation activities, not depend- ing only on inside technical capabilities. First, this company is continuously securing information related to new technologies and knowledge through personal networks of its internal core researchers with research teams of their alma mater universities.
Examples include cooperative tasks with domestic major mobile phone enterprises and cooperative research with regional and domestic major universities related with national research tasks of medical IT. In order to apply existing wireless control technologies to the IT-medical area, this company is conducting various cooperative activities such as establishing networks with domestic universities, customer com- panies, and relevant researchers to secure additional technical capabilities necessary for inside-out open innovation, and not just settling for internal technologies. Also, this company established another inside-out open innovation strategy of developing wireless control-applied S/W related to smartphones and is conducting various activities.
In a case analysis of this company, it was confirmed that the success of open innovation to apply its technologies to the IT-medical area is significantly associ- ated with the level of open innovation with industries. Particularly in the case of IT-medical industries, which are newly emerging, it is considered necessary to arrange an opportunity for universities, companies, and relevant industries to practi- cally grow at the same time through a broadscale extension of large-scale open-type original research programs focused on universities.
6.3.2 Contents and Channels of Open Innovation by DTS
Second, in the case of DTS, which is a firm in the IT-medical device parts industry, the direction and contents of nonuser inside-out open innovation of this industry can be examined. As in the research of Hippel (2005), medical devices make up a rep- resentative area where various innovations occur through user innovation (in this case, by doctors). Most medical device user innovation by doctors does not just remain at user innovation but is also connected to the producer and further to open innovation. In the case of DTS, the CEO and executive director of the company are professional managers who worked for major domestic medical device companies for a long time, and the director of the research center and relevant professionals were scouted from implant-related companies at the time of company establishment or after the establishment. Despite this composition of manpower, the business staff of this company is frequently receiving user innovation requests from doctors and connecting them to the development of new products, and they are also systemati- cally collecting user innovation requests suggested from doctors participating in
93
implant seminars, which they are using as sources for product innovation. Examples include drills that do not touch nerve cells and an innovated product that can adjust denture angles.
This company is systematically collecting user innovation ideas from doctors but also has a system of verifying in advance the merchandising of innovation ideas according to market prediction and the management strategy of company directors.
DTS is, in fact, exposing its limitations of not conducting lively user-based open innovation because innovation ideas of users sometimes are not sufficiently con- nected to the innovation of new products through the process of prior verification of the management. DTS is indirectly actualizing user innovation such as utilizing doctors as a consultation group but has a limitation in user-based open innovation of the implant itself. This company is trying to obtain new knowledge and technolo- gies from outside through various seminars and meetings by opening its seminar rooms, which is considered as a result of the CEO’s judgment and volition that user innovation and aggressive acquisition of external ideas occupy an important place in the innovation of industries.
But this company is actively making efforts to advance into new areas such as medical devices of new areas, medical devices for operation, and new devices for the dental area, through purchase of technologies from relevant industries, estab- lishment of spin-off companies through joint investment with external research institutes, and through M&A with external industries. In other words, this company is actively making efforts for open innovation by way of technology licensing, joint investment, and spin-off.
6.3.3 Contents and Channels of Open Innovation by YJM
Third, through a case analysis of YJM, the limitations and possibility of open inno- vation of new growth engine industries with important customers were identified.
YJM is a spin-off company from Yujin Robot with industrial robot technology in 2002. Yujin Robot, YJM’s parent company, was established in March 1988 as a company specializing in intelligent service robots (nursing and support robots for the elderly, patients, and the disabled, family robots, communication robots, clean- ing robots, service robots), with capital of KRW 8.247 billion and about 100 employees, and its major products are cleaning robots, ubiquitous home robots, entertainment robots, and toys. YJM was established with the initial technical back- ground of Yujin Robot and is mainly engaged in the steel milling area by targeting a niche market among industrial robots. This company presents a representative case of accumulating technologies mainly in the process of coping with require- ments and expectations from an important customer, POSCO. In the first stage, it dealt with a simple order production, but as this company settled technical problems of POSCO and as its technologies were accumulated, their relationship developed to the stage of joint research. Further, this company shows a considerable effect of technology accumulation by independently applying for 50% of the patents
6.3 Open Innovation of SMEs in Medical Instruments and Intelligent Robot Industries
established in the process of its relationship with POSCO and jointly applying for the remaining patents with POSCO.
As for the process of technology accumulation, POSCO tried to solve some problems of the products that it had been developing for a few years with trial and error in its research center by placing orders with YJM, which successfully settled the problems and made a partnership with POSCO. Currently, this company has reached the stage where it can discuss ideas with POSCO face to face, and this company is developing products when it receives organized requirements from POSCO. In addition, this company is trying to acquire various knowledge and tech- nologies from outside through national research projects, about per year, and mak- ing efforts for acquisition of various knowledge and technologies through joint research development with DMI, Kyungpook National University, and Yeungnam University in the region. This company is also obtaining various knowledge and technologies in the robot area through online information and user communities, and it is systematically grasping the worldwide robot-related technical trends through participation of its researchers in academic societies and conferences.
SMEs in medical instruments and robot industries carried out open innovation intensively in such channels as research projects with university and national labs rather than user firms in the supply chain, as seen in Table 6.2.
Table 6.2 Real channels and contents of open innovation by SMEs in medical instrument and robot industries
Company Relevant channels of open innovation
OGV OGV is a company that the CEO and other major staff established by spinning out an existing company
Cooperative tasks with domestic major mobile phone enterprises and cooperative research with regional and domestic major universities
Conducting various cooperative activities such as establishing networks with domestic universities, customer companies, and relevant researchers to secure additional technical capabilities
DTS The CEO and executive director of the company are professional managers who worked for major domestic medical device companies for a long time
Utilizing doctors as a consultation group
New knowledge and technologies from outside through various seminars and meetings by opening its seminar rooms
Technology licensing, joint investment , and spin-offs
YJM Accumulated its technologies mainly in the process of coping with requirements and expectations from an important customer, POSCO
Trying to acquire various knowledge and technologies from outside through national research projects
Making efforts for acquisition of various knowledge and technologies through joint research development with DMI, Kyungpook National University, and Yeungnam University in the region
Obtaining various knowledge and technologies of the robot area through online information and user communities
Source: Yun and Mohan (2012) revised
95