The added promotion of invention activity was one of Kemira’s R&D organizations foremost objectives in 2007. Stimulated by the invention competition, the success in this endeavor exceeded the expectations: over three times more invention notifications were submitted than during the previous year.
The main objective of the competition was to increase the number of inventions and to attract new people to become involved in innovation activity. According to Hannu Toivonen, Executive Vice President of Research & Technology, the number of notifications was partly explained by the fact that inventors from abroad participated in great numbers. “In Finland, our Employee Invention Act requires that employees submit notifications on inventions. There is no such law in the United States and outside the Nordic countries the practice is highly variable. The competition enabled this matter to be placed in the limelight with the result that people outside Finland also eagerly participated,” Hannu tells us. It has also been possible to develop the scope and functioning of the R&D network: Indeed, inventions were submitted from a total of 9 countries.
Kemira’s BAs have already now issued plenty of patenting permits for the inventions, which is a good indication of the quality of the presented inventions. Toivonen points out that in this case the increase in numbers was also a guarantee of good quality, and continues: “The BAs now need to assess which invention can be expected to yield the best economic return. The expectations are high and significant innovations may be submitted as time goes on.” The real value of inventions will, of course, only become clear from the coming years’ financial figures. Some inventions can lead to new sales volumes or savings within a short period of time, but usually several months of further development are required.
The recipient(s) of an invention prize worth € 100,000 will be chosen later in the spring after the BAs have assessed all the proposals. The relatively most active BA and SBU will also be rewarded in the spring.
The development and commercializing of the new inventions will be followed closely. Surely, innovation and resourcefulness in Kemira will be encouraged in the future too.