Ecor Research was selected by its customer Tetra Pak to speak about innovation at the traditional Supplier Forum in Sweden. In addition to suppliers of components and modules, the event was also attended by all the R&D partners in the multinational’s supply chain.
The Forum opened with the messages from Dennis Jönsson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Grosse, Executive Vice President, and Jan Provoost, Vice President Development DSO Packaging Material.
Three fishbowls, i.e., conversations on specific topics then followed: quality, partnership and innovation. The panel of each round table included three selected partners and two Tetra Pak executives: Ecor Research was called to discuss the topic of innovation.
The talk was delivered by Fabrizio Casadei, Ecor Research General Manager, who began by underlining the value of a strategic partnership with customers to innovate. Ecor Research invests in the growth of technical and scientific expertise in the field of advanced materials, Surface Engineering, Reliability Engineering and the simulation of processes; at the same time, Tetra Pak has planned major projects in these areas, supporting the work also with technical staff.
“Reaching a level of excellence in these fields is only possible through the availability of specific services, investments and especially of people,” explained Casadei. «The two companies can chart out a roadmap for several projects on packaging machines that pursue, at the same time, their respective business missions and the peculiar features of their markets”.
Casadei highlighted that the transfer of technology is essential to foster innovation:
“Working for high-tech industries like aerospace allows Ecor Research to share advanced technologies and methodologies and top-level transversal competencies,” continued Casadei. “For instance, we are studying a new method of non-destructive testing taken from the aeronautical industry to increase the safety of some critical components that come into contact with products”.
The technical and scientific collaboration network with Universities and Research Centers falls within this framework. Lastly, Casadei spoke of Reliability Engineering, which together with Surface Engineering, is one of the company’s industrial research sectors.
“World leading companies in the field of automated machines and the B2B world in general are focussing a significant part of their strategy on curbing operating costs and on the improved management of after-sales services”, explained the General Manager. “Ecor Research has invested in the design, construction and operation of machines for functional testing with the objective of improving the reliability of the machines for an in-depth study of the useful life of the systems”.
After the three fishbowls, three workshops dedicated to Quality, Cost, and Innovation were held and these allowed us to share analyses, objectives and proposals for improvement. As a result of these discussions, Tetra Pak then set some concrete targets for improvement.
@EcorIntern