Enterprise Ireland conference aims to show how innovation can benefit indigenous companies, writes Gabrielle Monaghan

John Donnolly believes every problem is an opportunity for innovation. The general manager of Largo Foods, makers of Tayto and Hunky Dory crisps, discovered this when one of the company's packaging machines became obsolete. Instead of replacing the machine, Largo Foods invested in a new packaging system to boost productivity and meet increased demand from supermarkets for multipacked snacks.

"The multiples were becoming more dominant and [ we] were selling more multipacks, so the challenge of the machine that needed to be replaced led us to initiate a whole strategic review of multipacking," says Donnolly from the company's plant in Gweedore, Co Donegal. "The multipack packaging system had enhanced features that were unique to our system. This was process innovation rather than product innovation - we just changed how we made the product."

Largo Foods will be one of the Irish companies used as a case study in Enterprise Ireland's first conference on innovation next month. The manufacturer's experience will be presented as an illustration of how innovation can benefit indigenous companies. At least 250 people are expected to attend the Innovation Forum and Showcase, which takes place on September 6th and 7th in Dublin Castle.

The audience will comprise entrepreneurs, senior managers, executives, technical experts from small and medium-sized Irish companies and representatives from multinationals seeking new ways to innovate. Also attending will be academics examining the role of research and innovation in society.

According to Enterprise Ireland, the conference aims to explore the nature of innovation and to show companies how it can be exploited to achieve greater commercial success. The event will help executives improve their knowledge of international best practice, enable them to speak to domestic and international companies that have succeeded in the area, and learn how to apply new knowledge to their own organisation.

Irish manufacturers are increasingly focusing on innovation as a means of ensuring future growth amid rising competition from low-cost economies in eastern Europe and Asia. At the same time, the Government is spending €3.8 billion on its strategy for science, technology and innovation in a bid to create an enterprise culture based on innovation in the private sector and to expand Ireland's research base in third-level institutions. Total investment in research and development (R&D) in Ireland last year rose 7.3 per cent, boosted in the most part by increased R&D in the higher education sector, according to State agency Forfás.

"Enterprise Ireland has been helping companies use innovation effectively for years, and we have a whole bunch of services for companies and universities," says Jim Cuddy, manager of the technology transfer department at Enterprise Ireland. "We thought a conference such as this would bring everything together under one flag."

Cuddy's department runs TechSearch, an Enterprise Ireland service that helps companies locate and buy technologies from other firms or from research centres. Acquiring technology by licensing has a lower risk than conducting R&D, which can require considerable investment before generating any return, the State-sponsored body says.

Developing new products can be risky because they do not always succeed in the market. By acquiring technology developed externally, companies can gain access to products and technology already proven in other markets.

The Enterprise Ireland department operates a website to assist companies in their search for technology solutions by providing an explanatory guide to acquiring new technologies, case studies, and an online application form.

"It was not until recently that multinationals began to use external sources to find new products or technologies, as they were developing everything themselves," Cuddy says.

"Now multinationals are realising that there is more technology out there than they can develop. Procter & Gamble, for example, has a target of acquiring 50 per cent of its new products from external sources by 2007. Our job is to get the message out that there are other ways for companies to get products."

The first day of the conference will bring together a panel of leading international experts to give an overview of the top practices in innovation management. For instance, Prof Keith Goffin from the Cranfield School of Management will present the steps executive managers should take to create a culture in which all employees strive to innovate.

Nabil Sakkab, senior vice-president of corporate R&D at Procter & Gamble and a co-inventor of several patents in toothpaste preparations, will outline the company's new business model.

The second day of the conference will focus on four Irish industry sectors, namely food, IT, engineering and life sciences, and illustrate how companies in these sectors have benefited from innovation. In the session on the engineering sector, Monaghan forklift group Combilift will show how it developed a product for the world stage.

The company, founded in 1998 by entrepreneurs Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett, is now the the global leader in the long-load handling market.

Although complex in design, the idea for the Combilift was simple. At the time, there were two types of forklift truck - a standard forklift for lifting palettes and a sideloader for lifting longer items, such as timber. This meant any business that needed to do both had to buy two machines. McVicar's idea was to combine the two functions in one forklift.

Galway-based company Zerusa will also be used as a case study to highlight how innovation can be applied on a practical level. Located at NUI Galway's Business Innovation Centre, it designs, develops and markets minimally invasive medical devices that diagnose and treat vascular disease. Its guardian haemostasis valve, which significantly reduces the amount of blood in the surgical field during operations, won marketing clearance from the US Food & Drug Administration last December.

"The guardian came about from having discussions with the medical devices industry and with physicians," says chief executive Gerard Brett. "We wanted to see if there was an opportunity for a new product. The design and development of the device was driven by the company, with a lot of input from cardiologists.

"The conference will give us a chance to share some of our learning. . . We've made mistakes ourselves and we're willing to learn from them. If a company is looking to grow its value, knowledge-based innovation is a great route."

Irish companies often struggle to increase annual revenue over two key sales marks - €20 million and €100 million - according to Enterprise Ireland's Cuddy. One of the most effective ways to boost sales above those barriers is through innovation, he says.

For more information on the Innovation Forum & Showcase 2006, see: www.enterprise-ireland.com/innovation