This is the case of a mature, well-established SME which started as a corporate spin-off over 40 years ago. After going through several rounds of reorganization and change of ownership, the firm was taken over by three entrepreneurial brothers in 1987. They helped to transform the company from a consultancy selling hours to the customer into a research-based company with a portfolio of advanced products. A publicly funded innovation project, including collaboration with two universities, was a first step in this transformation. The company has since participated in many follow-up projects, and today it is natural to have strong and long- lasting collaboration links to different universities. The company has twice spun-off new firms to further develop and sell the products resulting from their projects.
Open innovation for SME's
