The kick-off in March 2015 signaled the official green light for the first collaborative project between Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation IAO and SIRIM, the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia. In the upcoming months, the two research organizations will work together to support small and medium-sized enterprises with innovation and technology management.
For more than 40 years, SIRIM has helped companies in Malaysia with research, technology development and quality optimization, and it is an important certification institute with comprehensive industry expertise. One of SIRIM’s most important activities is to boost productivity within SMEs. The cooperation with Fraunhofer IAO is expected to provide new momentum.
First collaborative project scheduled to start soon
Dr. Mohamad Jamil Bin Sulaiman, SIRIM’s Vice President of the Research and Technology Innovation Division, was received in Stuttgart on March 19 together with his project team. They were greeted by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Verl, Fraunhofer Executive Vice President Technology Marketing and Business Models, Monika Braun, responsible for the Southeast Asia region at Fraunhofer, Prof. Dr. Anette Weisbecker, Fraunhofer IAO’s deputy director, and the IAO project team.
“The project to foster Malaysian SMEs is the first important step in our cooperation with SIRIM, in that we can contribute our special expertise in the areas of innovation and technology management,” says Prof. Dr. Anette Weisbecker. “We’re looking forward to working together over the next few months and the possibility to take part in further joint initiatives in applied research.”
In the coming weeks, the Fraunhofer IAO project team will start working on location with SIRIM and the Malaysian SMEs. In addition to a survey on the state of innovation management at the companies, there are also plans for technology audits and innovation workshops. Fraunhofer IAO will also advise SIRIM colleagues about the qualification of innovation centers based on the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s successful model.
Contact
Liza Wohlfart
R&D Management
Fraunhofer IAO
Phone +49 711 970-5310
liza.wohlfart(at)iao.fraunhofer.de
