QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE & CLUSTER COMPETITIVENESS ULRICH HARMES-LIEDTKE
Jul 22, 2015
17 TH TCI GLOBAL CONFERENCE | CREATING SHARED VALUE THROUGH CLUSTERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
WHAT IS MEANT BYQUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE (QI)?
CLARIFYING TERMINOLOGY
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NationalQuality Infrastructure
A national system of organizations and services to
assure quality and assess conformity
in international trade It’s not about
the quality of infrastructure
17 TH TCI GLOBAL CONFERENCE | CREATING SHARED VALUE THROUGH CLUSTERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
HOW QI RELATES TO CLUSTERSAND VICE VERSA?
SENSE MAKING
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Cluster success depends on linkages
Cluster Greenbook 2.0 highlights the importance of bridging between
• Firms and
•Government
• Research organizations
• Education organizations and
• Capital providers
Firms
Research organisations
Education organisations
Government
Capital providers
INTERNAL INNOVATION GAPS1. Research gap - barring interaction
between firms and research organizations
2. Education gap - barring interaction between firms and education organizations
3. Capital gap - barring interaction between firms and education organizations
4. Government gap - barring interaction between firms and public bodies
5. Firm-to-firm gap barring interaction among firms in the cluster
EXTERNAL INNOVATION GAPS
6. Cross-cluster gap barring interaction with firms in other clusters/technologies
7. Global market gap barring interaction with global markets and value chains
Four of seven gaps
are related to QI!
GAPS OF INNOVATION IN CLUSTERS.
Source: SÖLVELL, Ö. & WILLIAMS, M. 2013. Building the Cluster Commons (Cluster Orangebook).
Research nexus – Joint research can improve productivity and enable radical innovations (i.e. Industry 4.0)
Government nexus – Can make technical regulations and inspection more business friendly and public investment in QI respond better to cluster needs
Global nexus: Using QI services help cluster firms to comply with buyer requirements and get access to global markets
Mutual benefit of closing the
gap
Since both operate on different levels, there are few natural
points of contact:
o Territorial/ Local: Clusters with localized services of national QI
reduce transaction costs, get services tailored to their specific needs
and closeness of scientific institutions can stimulate innovation
o National: QI gets better informed about industry needs, can adapt
their service development to cluster needs and claim its contribution
to territorial competitiveness
Facilitation can help to overcome communication failure
MUTUAL COOPERATION BENEFITS FOR CLUSTERS AND QI
17 TH TCI GLOBAL CONFERENCE | CREATING SHARED VALUE THROUGH CLUSTERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
PRACTICAL COOPERATION BETWEEN CLUSTERS AND QI
THE CALIDENA APPROACH
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CALIDENA APPROACH
CALIDAD (Spanish word for “Quality” (Infrastructure)
+ CADENA (Spanish word for “Chain” and synonymous for Value Chain)
_____________________________________
= CALIDENA
Methodology of the Technical Cooperation of the German Metrology Institute
• Promotes practical activities to
strengthen quality services for a value
chain in order to increase
competitiveness
• Based on a rapid participatory
assessment of a value chain
• Focus on quality of the processes and
products in each link
• Addresses potentials and weaknesses
METHODOLOGICAL
APPROACH
DIALOGUE TERRITORIALIZED VALUE CHAINS AND QI
Clusterperspective=Territorialperspective
Value-chain perspective =Functional Perspective
Functional focus of action plans
Interaction between companies Specialisation between
companiesLearning by interacting
Upgrading by interactingand specialising
Territorialfocus ofaction plans
Costa Rica - Shrimps Cluster
2007 European Union closed borders to shrimp from Costa Rica, because of deficiencies in handling and control of residues in processing plants.
25 producers affected who provided direct employment to 1,800 people and indirect employment to another 23,000 in transportation, veterinary services, airlines, etc.PTB supported collaboration between Food Safety Authority (SENASA) and Fish Exporters Chamber in the establishment of a National Quality SystemSuccess in record time: European Union reopened market already in 2008.
Europe oblige “third countries” to guarantee equivalent control system
Sacha Inchi - San Martin RegionNative fruit form the Amazonia rain forest with a cluster in Peru’s San Martin Region.
Access to European and US market restricted for novel food
Producer need to show scientific evidence that fruit and its derivates are not harmful to health
PTB supported with CALIDENA the elaboration of national standards and research to comply with novel food requirement. Recently producers of archived the access to most demanding markets National QI bodies learnt about local needs and provided more territorialized services
1. Selection of the right chain in an appropriate moment
2. Identification of motivated stakeholders to improve and change
3. Diversity and representativeness of different stakeholder groups
4. Presence of the buyers perspective
5. Active involvement of National QI and conformity assessment bodies
6. Professional facilitation in preparation, workshop and follow
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF CALIDENA
CONCLUSIONS
QI services are a blind spot of cluster promotion
This kind of collaboration does not develop always by itself
CALIDENA responds to need for facilitation and methodologies
Experience shows mutual benefits Clusters and QI
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