Innovation ISO represents 9% of MZF4’s revenues

ISO innovation already represents 9% of the total turnover of the first certified company in Latin America

The ISO for innovation is already starting to show its first results. MZF4, the first certified company in Latin America, has just announced that only the products created in the last year, from the implementation of ISO 56002, already represent 9% of its total turnover.

The project, which began to be developed still in draft version in mid-2018, earned the certification in the same week that the standard was officially published, in July 2019. Alexandre Pierro, who is a founding partner of PALAS, an innovation and management consultancy, and one of the Brazilians who participated in the ISO 56002 formatting process, was responsible for the implementation. “MZF4 agreed to participate in a pilot project, which is still in the development phase, and in a few months it has already achieved remarkable results”, he highlights.

Besides the great financial impact, the company claims other gains. “We receive frequent approaches from different sectors motivated by the certification. We have also recorded savings in the areas of operation, support, and even lower interest rates in financial institutions,” rejoices MZF4’s CMO, Fabrício Saad. Although it has not yet been measured, the company also reports a great improvement in its brand value, since it became internationally recognized by ISO 56002. “The certification has differentiated us in the market and sparked the interest of the entire industry in Brazil and even abroad.”

Another significant gain was in the organizational climate and in the exchange with the market. “The employees are much more engaged and motivated to innovate in their daily routine. This has generated an increase in revenues with new projects in many different areas, including brand new research in the 3D printing sector and in intelligent medical sutures, in partnership with universities and other institutions. The pride of belonging is getting stronger every day! Most of these innovations come from the Eureka! project, which rewards the authors of the best ideas.

And the benefits are just beginning. MZF4 intends to invest in new markets, research, use of new materials, and new technologies. For Pierro, the certification was only the first step. “The greatest benefit of ISO 55002 is to create a culture of innovation capable of placing the company at another level of development. Through well-defined and executed processes, companies of all sizes and segments can collect very satisfactory results,” concludes PALAS’ founding partner.

What is ISO?

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1947 to help rebuild businesses devastated by the Second World War. In 2008, ISO established an international study group, ISO TC-279, to map the best innovation practices of all 164 member countries, and in 2019 published ISO 56002, innovation management.

ISO 56002: the management of innovation

ISO 56002 argues that an innovation can be a product, service, process, model, method, or the combination of any of these. This standard is based on eight pillars:

1. Process approach
2. Leadership with a focus on the future
3. Insight management
4. Strategic direction
5. Resilience and adaptability
6. Value generation
7. Adaptive culture
8. Managing uncertainty

However, the concept of innovation is characterized by novelty and value. This means that ideas without the manifestation of value are not innovations, but inventions. ISO 56002 can be implemented in companies of all sizes and segments. It can be implemented in a single department or in the company as a whole. There are also cases of implementation in several units at the same time, even in different countries, in the case of multinationals.

The first step is to perform an assessment, which evaluates how well a company is in accordance with the pillars of the standard. After this, the implementation process begins, which takes six to eight months. The period will depend on the level of complexity and maturity of the company in relation to the theme. When the management system is ready, a certifier performs the certification audit, which, if approved, issues the ISO 56002 compliance certificate.

Published on Palas website on July 16th, 2020:
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