Innovation Research Interchange

How will regulations around PFAS and other ESG issues impact you?

Facilitator: Laura Buen Abad, Sonoco

Speakers: Michael Davin, National Association of Manufacturers

In this insightful episode, Laura Buen Abad, the technology and marketing lead at Sonoco, engages in a compelling discussion with Mike Davin from the National Association of Manufacturers. They delve into the intricate landscape of PFAS regulations, recent developments, and their implications for various industries.

Mike Davin provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rules, including the drinking water standards and Superfund designations for PFAS chemicals. He highlights the extensive impact these regulations could have on multiple sectors, from manufacturing to waste management, and emphasizes the importance of compliance and reporting.

The conversation also explores potential shifts in regulatory approaches under different political administrations, the challenges posed by a patchwork of state and international regulations, and strategies for companies to mitigate legal risks in an increasingly litigious environment.

This episode is a must-listen for industry professionals seeking to understand and navigate the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding PFAS and other environmental issues.

Sustainability and the Innovation Pipeline at Honeywell

Facilitator: Portia Yarborough, Michelman

Speaker: Gavin Towler, Honeywell

Join Gavin Towler, Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technology and Chief Sustainability Officer at Honeywell, and Portia Yarborough, Chief Science and Sustainability Officer at Michelman, for an insightful discussion on the intersection of science, sustainability, and innovation. In this keynote session, they explore the challenges and opportunities in advancing sustainability in the corporate world.

Portia shares her experiences at Michelman, a company specializing in water-based coatings, emphasizing the importance of peer-to-peer interactions and thought-sharing within the sustainability community. Gavin delves into Honeywell's ambitious goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, and discusses the critical role of lifecycle analysis and co-innovation in developing sustainable technologies.

The session covers a range of topics, from the impact of Scope 3 emissions on product development to the potential of AI in enhancing sustainability efforts. Gavin also highlights the importance of resilient microgrids, the evolving regulatory landscape, and the global push towards a hydrogen economy. This conversation provides valuable insights for technology leaders and innovators committed to driving sustainable change.

Increasing Speed and Agility through Digitalization and AI

Facilitator: Jerry Grunewald, INVISTA

Panelists: Alyssa Mueller, Hess, and Alberto Ferrari, RTX 

Jerry Grunewald from INVISTA kicks off the conference by discussing the importance of knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer interaction at IRI events. He introduces his colleagues Alyssa and Alberto, who delve into the transformative power of digitization and AI in their respective industries.

Alyssa from Hess talks about her role in digital enablement and architecture, focusing on modernizing IT and fostering an innovation culture. She shares insights on how Hess leverages AI for reservoir characterization, significantly reducing simulation times from 11 hours to 40 seconds, thus optimizing their development plans.

Alberto from RTX discusses the challenges and strategies of scaling digital transformation in a large aerospace and defense company. He highlights successes in using digital twins and AI to enhance product lifecycle management and improve manufacturing processes.

Key Topics:

• Strategies for implementing digitization and AI
• Overcoming pilot purgatory and scaling innovations
• The importance of change management and stakeholder engagement
• Future technologies like quantum computing and AI-driven optimization

Join Alyssa and Alberto as they share their journeys, successes, and the ongoing challenges in transforming their industries through digital innovation.

Quantifying and Generating Value through R&D and Innovation at Lubrizol

Facilitator: Lee Green, IRI

Panelist: Julie Edgar, The Lubrizol Corporation

In this episode, we welcome Julie Edgar, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Lubrizol, and Lee Green, Assistant Vice President of Research and Strategy at IRI, to the stage. Julie shares her journey from a coal-mining town in Wales to leading technological innovations at Lubrizol. She discusses the company's rich history, starting from a garage in Cleveland to becoming a global leader in chemical solutions.

Julie delves into the organizational changes at Lubrizol, emphasizing the creation of a dedicated corporate technology function and a corporate innovation team. She explains how Lubrizol has leveraged its diverse chemistry platforms to drive innovation and sustainability. Julie also highlights the importance of agility in the innovation process and the company's commitment to human health and environmental impacts.

Julie addresses the challenges of balancing long-term research with immediate business needs, sharing insights on the criteria used to evaluate and advance projects. The episode concludes with a discussion on sustainability, focusing on how Lubrizol is working to reduce its carbon footprint and develop sustainable solutions.

Join us for an insightful conversation on how Lubrizol is navigating the complexities of innovation and sustainability in the chemical industry.

Integrating Sustainability Goals into Innovation with Henkel and AZEK

Facilitator: Nancy Mancilla, Environ

Panelists: Joel Schall, Henkel, and Dan Boss, The AZEK Company

The panel will explore the intersection of sustainability and innovation processes, shedding light on how organizations integrate sustainability goals into their product development strategies. Panelists will delve into the intricacies of incorporating sustainability criteria into StageGate and other innovation processes, ensuring that organizational sustainability goals are woven into the fabric of innovation. The discussion will highlight the pivotal role of customer insights derived from sustainable preferences, emphasizing the importance of aligning products with the evolving market landscape.

Sustainability Regulations: EU Deep Dive

In this enlightening episode, we delve into a deep-dive conversation with Aaron Szabo, Senior Director at Faegre Drinker. Harnessing his over a decade experience dealing with environmental, energy, and manufacturing issues, this podcast episode gives us illuminating insights into environmental and energy regulations and their impact. Zabo masterfully delves into the challenges of compliance and risk management strategies, offering invaluable guidance for businesses facing these issues.

Progressing further, the episode explores EU regulations, focusing on the intricacies of the Chemicals Agency and Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). This episode further discusses the workings of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and its implications. Thus, this podcast serves as an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding more about environmental and energy regulations, compliance, and strategic decision-making.

Cutting through the complexities of global supply chains, the podcast explores how the processes that create simple products require coordination across several countries. It considers the associated carbon emissions during manufacturing and shipping, and the challenges of proving these emissions for compliance with proposed EU regulations. Furthermore, it explores the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), its implementation, and impacts on developing effective supply chain and manufacturing strategies.

The episode also explores the growing pressure to understand and adhere to downstream and upstream customer demands amidst the diversifying trade regulations across Europe and the US. The session shares insights from experts like Tim Turner on how a fluctuating regulatory landscape impacts businesses. A significant feature is the discussion around the hope of convergence of these regulations for a streamlined global trade system.

Overall, this episode is a must-listen for those interested in global trade, aiming to understand the labyrinth of environmental regulations across borders, and looking to the future of compliance in major sectors.

How Caterpillar's Trailblazing Approach Revolutionized Knowledge Management and Transfer

This report sheds light on the significance of knowledge management and transfer in innovation and research development, focusing on Caterpillar Inc.'s exceptional practice of these critical business functions. Modern enterprises grapple with the challenge of retaining valuable knowledge in the face of increasing staff turnover and retirement – this is where effective knowledge management and transfer come in.

The best practices discussed in this report illustrate how to capture, manage, and transfer knowledge efficiently across different industries. Caterpillar's knowledge management and transfer processes, considered best-in-class, showcase comprehensive strategies, well-organized infrastructure, and the use of advanced technology. This approach has ingrained values of knowledge sharing and data accessibility, pivotal facets of an enterprise's capabilities and growth.

Key points covered include the crucial role of technology in simplifying knowledge management, the significance of strong leadership in prioritizing these processes, the importance of fostering human interaction for knowledge sharing, the impactful use of mentoring for tacit knowledge transfer, and the need for continuous modification and metrics for strategy evaluation.

Additionally, the report delves into the distinction between knowledge management and knowledge transfer, citing knowledge management as the systematic management of collective knowledge– while knowledge transfer emphasizes moving that knowledge from one source to another. Caterpillar's successful approach showcases the paramount importance of both concepts working harmoniously for efficient information retention and usage.

Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 100 company, stands as a pioneering example in the realm of knowledge management and transfer. Their approach ensures the smooth, efficient flow of information across global departments while preserving the company's long-standing heritage and knowledge base. Their processes and techniques provide a roadmap for companies seeking to learn from the best in the business.

Enabling Data-driven Decision-making

Digitalization and AI Thought Leader Interview with Thomas Thurston, Chief Technologist, Ducera Partners and Greg Hannon, former CTO, W.L. Gore

Listen as Thomas Thurston, chief technologist at Ducera Partners, and Greg Hannon, former chief technology officer at W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., delve into the development of a tool that brings increased clarity to innovation portfolio decisions. They cover industry applications, the process of creating such a tool, and the transformative role of AI in shaping the future of innovation. Gain valuable perspectives on leveraging data for informed decision-making in your organization.

How Milliken eliminated PFAS from its operations with Jeff Strahan, Director of Research Compliance and Sustainability

In the latest installment of IRI's Sustainability Thought Leader series, we chat with Jeff Strahan, the Director of Research Compliance and Sustainability at Milliken and Company. Strahan provides an intriguing insight into his personal journey in sustainability, the difficulties and opportunities in dealing with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and Milliken's assertive approach to sustainable development.

Strahan shares his experience of discovering potential challenges PFAS could pose for Milliken in 2019 and the steps he took to understand the problem at its core. He tackles the regulatory obstacles posed by PFAS and how Milliken responded by integrating customer demands with the company's values.

We gain insight into how he managed to align the company leadership with the necessary changes, highlighting the role of effective communication and understanding regulatory demands. Strahan also underscores the importance of proactive supply chain management amidst changing regulations.

In a deeper dive into the implications of PFAS omission in the textile industry, Strahan discusses the technical difficulties, varying impacts of PFAS replacements, and the role of fluorine as a water-repellent agent. He also tells the story of Milliken's massive R&D efforts in an attempt to eliminate PFAS usage.

Despite noteworthy strides in PFAS replacement, the episode explores prevalent industry challenges, like developing a textile that can repel oil while meeting exacting textile standards. The episode also sheds light on the various analytical techniques used in PFAS detection and their respective limitations.

Wrapping up the episode, Strahan discusses the business strategies Milliken had to adopt to cope with the decision to sever relationships with customers still using PFAS. The episode offers invaluable learning about Milliken's dedication to sustainability and presents an insightful roadmap for businesses setting forth on similar paths.

The Challenge of Horizon 2: Implications for effective opportunity development

Discover the intricacies of Horizon 2 (H2) opportunity management and learn how to effectively build an organizational culture that embraces innovation. This white paper, "The Challenge of Horizon 2, Implications for Effective Opportunity Development," by Scott Matthews and Stephanie Hartwig, provides insights into the successful implementation of a governance framework for H2.

Exploring the complexity of H2 opportunity development, the paper presents best practices on fostering an entrepreneurial culture that embraces risk-taking and encourages cross-divisional collaboration. The importance of leadership buy-in and continuous improvement are underscored, demonstrating their vital role in H2 execution.

Dive into the research-backed methodologies and an extensive literature review that supports the creation of a dedicated H2 Opportunity Governance Framework. Learn about the crucial elements of the Three Horizons model and why Horizon 2 holds a unique position in opportunity development. Understand the need for a governance body to manage H2 opportunities effectively, create brand extension, and diversify revenue streams.

The exhaustive case study featured in this white paper provides practical applications of the Opportunity Governance Framework. Follow along to discover the ways a global manufacturing company successfully tackled their H2 challenges using a structured choice architecture.

The paper concludes with a deep dive on managing various H2 opportunity types, stressing the need for differentiated governance structures to handle the distinct nature of each opportunity. Learn how to exploit and explore opportunities, use a concept card, and manage transitions effectively. Managers will find the final focus areas especially indispensable in improving their approach to H2.

This study serves as a comprehensive blueprint for practitioners who want to successfully develop H2 opportunities. With its detailed guide, it offers practical approaches that are sure to yield great decision satisfaction and create next-generation core business products.