Abstract :
Complex product systems (CoPS) are of critical importance to the modern economy and the industrial future of the UK and Europe. CoPS are customised, high value, capital goods, products, systems and networks, usually produced as one-off projects or in small batches. Examples include telecommunications exchanges, flight simulators, aircraft engines, offshore oil equipment, intelligent buildings, and business networks. There are many other CoPS in operation in almost all manufacturing and service sectors. The process of innovation in CoPS is, however, fundamentally different from that observed in mass-produced goods and services, and how firms manage innovation is poorly understood. Working in partnership with three large internationally respected firms in a range of CoPS industries, the project, conducted jointly by the Centre for Research in Innovation Management (CENTRIM) at Brighton University and the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University, aimed at identifying `hot spots´ (problem areas) in managing innovation which was experienced by firms. We began the process of assessing existing tools and techniques used for understanding and managing the processes by which CoPS are designed, developed, produced and put into operation and in developing several new techniques
