Everybody knows that research and development is at the heart of a successful organisation. That is certainly true of Focus, which is one of the reasons that we are the proud sponsors of the 2018 Flexo Tech International Print and Innovations Awards.
However, other than the fact that we all call it by the same term - R&D - there is a plethora of possibilities regarding how individual companies construct their strategy. Here’s an insight into how we are doing it, with four of the ways that we’ve made R&D a central element of our organisational culture.
Innovation
Innovation is a powerful differentiator. Evidence from UNESCO shows that innovative organisations drive the markets, and this is certainly important in printing. As the global economy starts to recover, competition is tightening for our clients, and this means that everyone is having to think creatively in order to stay ahead of the game.
By placing innovation at the heart of our organisational philosophy, we are able to offer ever increasing possibilities for those who rely on our products. Focusing upon helping our clients to increase their productivity, our innovation has led to dramatic developments in digital technology, versatility, and speed.
People
In order to innovate, we invest in our people. Recognised as being one of the four key strategic levers of innovation, our teams include people from a wide range of speciality fields. Our engineers, technicians, and workforce have expertise in IT, production, electrical design, mechanical design, and customer service. Innovation means empowering these teams to develop their unique knowledge into creative output.
This allows us to operate our in-house design and manufacturing service, where our specialists put their minds together to develop custom solutions for individual problems. This customer-driven approach can have a beneficial effect for all our clients. For instance, it’s how we came up with our low volume/high volume technology, which is now standard.
Strategy
R&D is a central component of our overall business strategy. What this means is that rather than waiting for a problem to develop, we adopt a forward thinking approach and drive development. From a practical perspective, this gives us greater product differentiation, which is a competitive advantage. However, it also means that we are able to push the boundaries of the industry.
We know that our clients come to us so that they can increase their productivity, so our teams are challenged with keeping this agenda at the heart of their design goals. Recently, we’ve been innovating in the field of user interface though servo technology, making the flexographic process more accessible so that it is easier to use. Semi Rotary drive systems for low cost finishing applications, Digital printing systems for both packaging & textiles will feature in 2019 , Low temperature LED UV drying are other exciting areas of development, which is taking Focus into sixth gear for the new year.
Culture
Perhaps most importantly, Focus has a culture of innovation for over 30 years. This means that we recognise that our employees have valuable talents and insight that we harness to drive our entire organisation. After all, nobody knows Print & Converting quite like our designers, and by adopting a mantra of ‘nothing is impossible’ we have made thinking outside the box the norm.
We’ve all seen the figures, but at Focus it’s about more that simply gaining those growth percentages. It’s about a deep commitment to being the best, and giving our clients the opportunity to transform their productivity through our innovations.
Solutions For A Changing Market
For a company with almost 40 years of history, it might be easy to assume that we’ve already got our market squared. However, here at Focus we take a very different approach. The organisational arena is more competitive now than we’ve ever seen it, and that means that our clients have constantly evolving needs. By understanding the future as an innovative space, we are committed to staying one step ahead by driving change.
