Département R&D
Innovation at Sioen Industries is not limited to a few white coated boffins somewhere in an ivory tower developing new products one after another.
Company DNA
At Sioen, everyone is supposed to contribute to innovation. Every worker and employee is a valuable element in our growth. Our hunger for more and better is large and is present at every level. In our company, we have an open-door policy without much hierarchical stages. We communicate directly and to the point. All this leads to quick decisions and solutions, and a nose for opportunities.
Structure en toile d'araignée
We are constantly looking for new products that meet the requirements of both existing and potential customers.
In addition, we focus on developing our technologies. We always want to be better, faster, more reliable and cost efficient. We go looking for new or alternative raw materials. Innovative ingredients or a combination of intelligent materials in turn provide new products, greater efficiency and better results. We collect and analyse our target markets and competitors, and undertake operational research in order to optimally allocate resources.
In each of the production facilities we have specialists working on their particular fields, with thorough mastery of their particular discipline. In this way we have researchers and developers at all levels of our vertical integration, with a group of interdisciplinary staff in the Central R&D centre ensuring that all specialists work together and accelerating the development process.
The structure of our R&D department is like a spider’s web: centrally managed and fully interconnected.
107 people are involved in R&D and testing. Direct expenditure on R&D and testing amounted in 2012 to EUR 5.7 million (=1.8% of turnover), related to continuing operations, including production time and related costs. All our research and development centers are equipped with state of the art equipment.
Facts and figures 2014
In 2014, 129 FTE’s were involved in the R&D department. Sioen Industries invested EUR 6 million in innovation. This is 1.8% of turnover. Compared to last year, this is a status quo. Approximately 25% of sold products are new products. Those are products less than 3 years old. It is our intention to maintain these figures for at least the next few years, and even to annually increase them.