Abstract :
Product and process technologies are evolving at an ever-faster pace, and today\´s manufacturers are forced to develop almost continuous streams of innovation. Realizing that it is almost impossible to forecast where the next "big thing" will come from, many manufacturers have turned to their supply base as a source of innovation and new ideas. Intel Corporation believes that the answer to this dilemma is to mix the best attributes of each R&D strategy - that is, to capture the benefits of supplier involvement without tethering your company to them forever. The company also advises other manufacturers to design an organization that navigates through the marketplace with the nimbleness of a fruit fly, but that also lumbers like a Tyrannosaurus Rex from one technology to the next with long-term supplier intact. The result is an entirely new species of supplier relationships in manufacturing innovation, called the flyosaurus.
