Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:09:16.653Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Machine tools: the remaking of a traditional sectoral innovation system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Jürgen Wengel  and
Philip Shapira
Edited by
Franco Malerba
Jürgen Wengel
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer-Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung (ISI), Institute for Systems and Innovation Research), Karlsruhe
Philip Shapira
Affiliation:
School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Franco Malerba
Affiliation:
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan
Get access

Summary

Introduction

This chapter examines the remaking of innovation processes and boundaries in a traditional sector – the machine tool industry within the mechanical engineering segment of the economy. In the machine tool industry we observe both incremental and fundamental changes in recent years in the organization, scope and form of innovation. These offer useful insights into the driving factors of the development and disaggregation of sectoral systems of innovation. They also demonstrate the value of the concept of an SSI, complementing such parallel concepts as national systems of innovation and the idea of technological trajectories. At the same time, we argue that there is differentiation within and between SSIs that is context-sensitive, not only to broader national and international trends but also to the particular strategic orientations of constituent enterprises and regional technological infrastructures.

Our focus is the machine tool industry – a long-established sector in the regional industrial clusters of most advanced economies. We examine:

  • The influence of the regional innovation system elements through reference to existing studies highlighting the regional aspects.

  • The impact of the national innovation systems via comparison between countries for the same sector (Germany, Italy, the United States and Japan).

  • Technological specificities by including an analysis of several characteristic technological developments in the sector.

We use these analyses to advance three principal hypotheses about sectoral innovation systems in machine tools.

  1. The sectoral boundaries of the innovation system in machine tools have significantly shifted in recent years, in response to competitive and technological changes. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Sectoral Systems of Innovation
Concepts, Issues and Analyses of Six Major Sectors in Europe
 , pp. 243 - 286
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cooke, P., and K. Morgan (1998), The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions, and Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Demuß, L. (2000), Technologische Veränderungen beim Übergang vom konventionellen Antriebsstrang zur mobilen Brennstoffzelle, in J. Wengel and E. Schirrmeister (eds.), Innovationsprozeß vom Verbrennungsmotor zur Brennstoffzelle: Chancen und Risiken für die baden-württembergische Industrie, Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe, 111–176
Eggers, T., W. Wallmeier and G. Lay (eds.) (2000), Innovationen in der Produktion 1999: Dokumentation der Umfrage des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe
Felder, J., G. Licht, B. Koebel and A. Spielkamp (1997), Manufacture of Machinery and of Electrical Machinery, European Innovation Monitoring System publication no. 49, European Commission, Brussels (EG-EIMS, 85 S, NR – EIMS Project no. 94/109)
Finegold, D., K. W. Brendley, R. Lempert, D. Henry, P. Cannon, B. Boultinghouse and M. Nelson (1994), The Decline of the U.S. Machine Tool Industry and Prospects for Its Sustainable Recovery, two vols., Critical Technologies Institute, Washington, DC (MR-497/1 & MR-479/2)
Fleischer, M. (1997), The Inefficiency Trap: Strategy Failure in the German Machine Tool Industry, Edition Sigma, Berlin
Forrant, R. (1997), Good Jobs and the Cutting Edge: The U.S. Machine Tool Industry and Sustainable Prosperity, Working Paper no. 199, University of Regional Economic and Social Development, and Center for Industrial Competitiveness. University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Forrant, R. (1999), personal communication, December 21
Friedman, D. (1988), The Misunderstood Miracle: Political Change and Industrial Development in Japan, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Grassi, M., and , R. Pagni (1999), Sistemi produttivi localizzati e imprese leader, Economia e Politica Industriale, 103, 241–272Google Scholar
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H., and B. Seitz (1999), Innovationsprozesse im Maschinenbau, Working Paper no. 4/1999, Lehrstuhls Technik und Gesellschaft, Dortmund
Holland, M. (1989), When the Machine Stopped: A Cautionary Tale from Industrial America, Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Kalkowski, P. (1997), Innovationsstrategien des deutschen Maschinenbaus, VDI-Z Integrierte Produktion, 139, 7/8, 26–30Google Scholar
Kalkowski, P., O. Mickler and F. Manske (1995), Technologiestandort Deutschland. Produktinnovation im Maschinenbaus: traditionelle Stärken – neue Herausforderung, Edition Sigma, Berlin
Kokoschka, H.-U. (2001), German Machine Tool Industry in 2000, Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbauer, Frankfurt
Kriegbaum, H., A. Uhlig and H.-G. Vieweg (1997), The EU Mechanical Engineering Industry: Monitoring the Evolution in Competitiveness, Ifo-Studien zur Industriewirtschaft no. 54, Ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Munich
Lippert, I. (1999), Zwischen Pfadabhängigkeit und radikalem Wandel: Neuordnung von Prozeßketten im internationalen Maschinenbau, Edition Sigma, Berlin
Marscheider-Weidemann, F., W. Mannsbart and E. Schirrmeister (2000), Einflußfaktoren und Szenarien der Diffusion, in J. Wengel and E. Schirrmeister (eds.), Innovationsprozeß vom Verbrennungsmotor zur Brennstoffzelle: Chancen und Risiken für die baden-württembergische Industrie, Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe, 49–72
Piore, M., and C. Sable (1984), The Second Industrial Divide, Basic Books, New York
Reger, G., and H. Kungl (1993), Research and Technology Management in Enterprises: Issues for Community Policy – Case Study on the Mechanical Engineering Sector, Strategic Analysis in Science and Technology, European Commission, Brussels (CGNA 15428 ENC – SAST Project no. 8)
Rolfo, S. (1998), L'industria italiana della meccanica strumentale di fronte alla globalizzazione: opportunità e limiti, L'Industria, 19, 4, 881–894Google Scholar
Rullani, E. (1997), L'evoluzione dei distretti industriali: un percorso di decostruzione e internazionalizzazione, in R. Varaldo and L. Ferrucci (eds.), Il Distretto Industriale tra Logiche di Impresa e Logiche di Sistema, Angeli, Milan, 54–85
Segre, G. (2000), Multinational Firms in Italy: Trends in the Manufacturing Sector, Working Paper no. 13/2000, Istituto di Ricerca sull'Impresa e lo Sviluppo – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Ceris-CNR), Turin
Statistisches Bundesamt (1999), Betriebe, Beschäftigte und Umsatz des Verarbeitenden Gewarbes sowie des Bergbaus und der Gewinnung von Steinen und Erden nach Beschäftigtengrö Benklassen, Series 4.1.2, Wiesbaden
Wengel, J., G. Lay and C. Dreher (1995), Evaluation of the indirect-specific promotion of manufacturing technology, in G. Becher and S. Kuhlmann (eds.), Evaluation of Technology Policy Programmes in Germany, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 81–99CrossRef
Wengel, J., and E. Schirrmeister (eds.) (2000), Innovationsprozeß vom Verbrennungsmotor zur Brennstoffzelle: Chancen und Risiken für die baden-württembergische Industrie, Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×