Innovation

Innovation is one of Finmeccanica’s core values and lies at the heart of all its activities. Group-wide, more than 35,000 people are employed in R&D, design and engineering activities, and typically 12% of revenues are reinvested in the pursuit of innovation. It is the driving force for growth and determines Finmeccanica’s strategic orientation.

The group recognises that it is only through constant innovation that it can stay competitive in the markets in which it operates. Accordingly, Finmeccanica nurtures new talent, focuses strongly on improving the skills of existing employees and has also developed a network of knowledge exchanges.

Finmeccanica invests in the region of €2 billion per year in research and technology, approximately 240 million of which is within the UK. Our investments are targeted in areas that will underpin our ability to deliver solutions to our customers.

In the UK. we have relationships with 27 academic institutions, many of which could be considered as enduring partnerships. Our activity in this area ranges from sponsoring PHDs and Chairs all the way through to joint research projects in specific markets/technology domains.

MindSh@re accelerates innovation and growth

MindSh@re is a highly innovative initiative that links up Finmeccanica’s best technical resources in a network of communities that work right across the organisation and act as multipliers of ideas, products and talent.

The key objective is to support the business growth of group companies through more efficient and effective use of resources. Other objectives include:

  • Identifying potential synergies between group companies through an overall vision
  • Asserting a clear position of leadership in the global research community
  • Making better strategic decisions based on an in-depth knowledge of the group’s strengths
  • Ensuring that diversification and technological expertise are competitive advantages
  • Promoting corporate projects that operate across the organisation

There are currently seven Mindsh@re technology communities in the areas of: radar; homeland security; software and capability maturity model integration; materials; training simulation; design and development, and logistics and services.

Finmeccanica’s Innovation Awards

Finmeccanica hosts an annual Innovation Award competition that celebrates the wide range of inventive ideas to come from across the group. It helps reveal new technical innovations and raise group-wide awareness of them. The awards therefore also encourage improved co-operation between teams working in similar technological fields, wherever they are based in the international Finmeccanica Group.

A total of more than 3,000 high quality, innovative projects have been submitted to the programme, involving around 10,000 people across numerous project teams. In addition to internal entrants, Finmeccanica recognises the importance of innovation throughout its business and also presents an award for the Best Supplier.

  “The 3,500 scientists, engineers and technicians across Finmeccanica in the UK exemplify our commitment to research, development and manufacture both to meet UK indigenous needs and contribute significantly to economic growth through exports from the UK. We understand the definitive role that science and engineering must play in providing a safe and secure environment for UK citizens, in delivering a sustainable
energy policy, improving transport infrastructure, and in enabling effective and equitable healthcare. We also know that solutions to these problems developed in the UK will be the framework by which other developing nations will look to and work with the UK.

To optimise the effectiveness of our science and engineering skills is of course in the best interest of our shareholders. However, this is not the only motivation, as our young scientists and engineers have developed in an age of open communications and are very socially aware of the impact of their work. It is a primary driver in their motivation and enthusiasm, which is evident in the work they do developing the wider skills in their respective regions through local universities, schools and apprenticeships schemes. In summary, as the profile of science is being elevated in the media, we believe we are in the right place at the right time and we look forward to playing our part.”
Vic Leverett Business Development Director, Finmeccanica UK

  

Intrinsically innovative

The group-wide commitment to innovation has enabled our employees to develop the ground-breaking technologies on which Finmeccanica built its reputation, and we are culturally geared to the relentless pursuit of improvement and exceeding customer expectations.

Working in partnership with our customers, we continually innovate to develop solutions to address their challenges, often within rapid timescales. Recent examples include the development of new helicopter blade designs, new composite materials in the civil aerospace sector, and continual innovation around sensing and information management systems.

Finmeccanica, working with selected academic and SME partners, rapidly designed, demonstrated and automated an integrated system which won the UK Ministry of Defence’s Grand Challenge. The solution, which consisted of unmanned ground and air vehicles, as well as the sensing and processing systems, delivered consistent high performance and is now being developed further in readiness for operational deployment.