RT journal article
T1 Standardizing Innovation Management: An Opportunity for SMEs in the Aerospace Industry
A1 Cerezo Narváez, Alberto
A1 García Jurado, Daniel
A1 González Cruz, María Carmen
A1 Pastor Fernández, Andrés
A1 Otero Mateo, Manuel
A1 Ballesteros Pérez, Pablo
A2 Ingeniería Mecánica y Diseño Industrial
K1 research
K1 development and innovation (R+D+i)
K1 innovation
K1 management system
K1 Industry 4.0
K1 aerospace industry
K1 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
K1 industrial processes
K1 metrology
AB In a globalized marketplace, the competition in the aerospace industry has increasedsignificantly. Producers can choose between many suppliers. These suppliers have to complywith more requirements and technical specifications, as well as take on greater responsibilities thatoriginally fell on producers. In this context, business opportunities for small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) are limited, but still suppliers must try to leverage the maximum strategicadvantage of the few that present. Adopting research, development and innovation (R+D+i) practiceshas proven to bring great benefits to companies and allows them to gain significant competitiveadvantages. However, the process of designing, implementing and testing R+D+i-related processesis not straightforward, nor it has been addressed in the recent research on SMEs. In this paper, a casestudy of a Spanish innovative small company providing industrial metrology and quality servicesis analyzed. Thanks to an internal decision-making process, an R+D+i management system basedon the UNE 166.002:2014 standard is eventually adopted. A pilot project is closely followed up totest the robustness of the system implementation. The R+D+i management system has allowedthe company to streamline its innovation activities, establish objectives to better allocate essentialresources, organize high performing innovation units within the organization structure, increase theclients’ confidence, improve the company’s competitiveness, carry out technological surveillance,and get more patented technology, among many others. Adoption steps taken by this SME aregeneralizable to other SMEs from other industries and show how an R+D+i management system canbe chosen, designed, implemented and tested in the context of Industry 4.0 (I4.0).
PB MDPI
SN 2227-9717
YR 2019
FD 2019-05
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/21519
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/21519
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026