How to Facilitate Innovation within the Supply Chain of a large manufacturing firm : A Case study at Sandvik Machining Solutions

Background: The Supply Chain department at the division Sandvik Machining Solutions within Sandvik AB have found a need of introducing a process for managing innovation within the organization in order to gain competitive advantages and to stay on the leading edge in their field. Research Questions: 1. How can a generic model for managing innovation within the supply chain look like? 2. How can an innovation process be configured and managed in order to create and manage new ideas in the supply chain? Methodology: An exploratory case study approach to answer the research questions has been conducted in order to develop a model for innovation management within a supply chain of large manufacturing firm. The data collection methods have been interviews and from internal documentation. The interviews have been conducted with managers at Sandvik Machining Solutions within the SCM department, R&D department (innovation manager) and sales departments. The amount of correspondents has been no more than the amount 10 because of the empirical evidence it will result in otherwise and the time limit of this research. The fact that this is a case study, based on a single company, our findings will not be completely generalizable to other populations, but it can be generalizable to some extent if applied to similar companies and situations. To increase the validity of this research, the model could have been tested and evaluated. Findings and Results: The results showed that there is a need of becoming more innovative within the supply chain. Moreover, to get inputs through-out the organization we have also received significant information regarding e.g. the supply chain strategies, innovation and customer needs. These inputs have been analyzed in order to develop an innovation management process that will fit a supply chain department. The model also provides a structured approach to create and manage new ideas in within the Supply Chain