Adopting a scalable innovation program to increase ROI by 820%
Explore how Siemens Energy implemented a structured innovation process across 50+ locations worldwide, achieving an impressive ROI of 820%.
Impact with rready
2.8 million financial benefit
realised in revenue and cost savings
12 patents filed
following the completion of the innovation program
1900+ community of innovators
sharing their experience, knowledge and learnings
The challenge
Finding an open and inclusive innovation process
With Siemens Energy’s complex global structure, finding a fitting innovation program is not a straightforward process. Michael Camison Pancorbo, Director at Siemens Energy notes that “People know what the word innovation means but they don’t have a methodology”. Recognizing this, the company's strategy department acknowledged the necessity of adjustments to provide a more organized approach to innovation, ensuring Siemens Energy could effectively keep up with the rapid pace of change.
Encouraging company-wide innovation with limited resources
Given the size of the company and the numerous locations across the globe, implementing an innovation program that is scalable and produces results is a challenge – particularly when resources in the form of (wo-)manpower are limited. Committed to be a future-ready company, Siemens Energy’s strategy department, however, established the need for a more structured approach to innovation that would also be more accessible for all employees.
The overall needs included:
→ A framework to foster innovation and encourage streamlined, early-stage ideation for business growth.
→ An open and inclusive approach for all employees worldwide to foster an innovation culture and mindset
The solution
A structured program to foster innovation and encourage early-stage ideation
Siemens Energy launched the in-house intrapreneurship program by rready to empower employees as innovators through a gamified, hands-on approach. Participants follow a step-by-step process across three stages to validate, explore, and implement their ideas.
The first stage, the idea validation phase, offers access to innovation experts and the KICKBOOK - a guide for idea validation. A pitch at the end of this phase determines advancement to the next phase where ideas are piloted. Successful pilot projects then receive funding and are moved to the implementation stage.
Using digital tools to scale an innovation program with limited resources
Initially piloted in the US and Canada, the program was later expanded globally to over 50 locations via individual campaigns and regional launches. To scale effectively, the team mapped the journey early, identified requirements and bottlenecks, and created a reproducible strategy.
Although the core team that implemented the program was small, over 150 volunteers helped implement the program globally. This decentralized model gave regional teams ownership, supported by the core team. Additionally, the core team used digital tools to scale the program efficiently.
INNOVATION PLATFORM
The Innovation Platform is the central, customizable operating system of the innovation program at Siemens Energy, used by both Innovators and Program Leads. The innovators can submit and manage their ideas on the platform, as well as gain access to additional resources. The Program Leads gain visible insights into the program and a comprehensive overview of the progress made.
At Siemens Energy, the platform was introduced with a customized landing page, which was quickly scaled to include further information relating to the inhouse innovation program, and was made available on a global scale.
COLLABORATION
Releasing an innovation program on a global scale also required the core team at Siemens Energy to implement certain processes in terms of meetings and collaboration. Beyond this, it was also important to use various digital tools to ensure effective collaboration with people who were not part of the program, in the form of updates and announcements.
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
To guarantee the seamless operation of the innovation program, the core team had to introduce specific measures to ensure the effective and efficient management of the program.