EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Additive Steel Company, a spinoff of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, faces the challenge to identify a market position that ensures that the use of their innovation brings competitive advantage over competitors and ensures the long-term existence of the young venture. The diverse opportunities that exist for the positioning must carefully be measured so that no sub-optimal decisions are made, and the growth of the venture is ensured.

Goal

Our project goal was the identification of novel and viable application fields as well as industries where the technology could be applied and generate an advantage over the currently established technological solution.  The identified application fields should subsequently act as a guiding line, showing what potential addressable markets are, how economically valuable they are, as well as to decide which strategies are necessary for the positioning in these markets. Concluding all found results should be presented to the Additive Steel Company and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Methodology

Consisting of the Technology Competence Leveraging (TCL) method and its individual steps which were supplemented with the use of creative techniques, pyramiding, a survey, interviews with (19) experts from target or analogous markets and extensive market research of secondary market data. Allowing for the identification of application fields where the technology creates a major improvement over existing standards.

Results

The extensive research has resulted in the finding of four viable and novel application fields that are hosted in diverse markets that offer different value positions to their customers. In addition, the results lead to the conclusion that closely related analogous markets can be targeted soon and ensure a growth aspect to the company. Nonetheless the competitive structure in the targeted markets cannot be ignored and must be closely monitored as resistance against the new player could arise and eventually affect the venture negatively. Additionally, the market entry and positioning in the market must be carefully planned as the established competitive environment might, at first, not be interested in the use of an innovative technology. Therefore, the positioning in the supply chain is advised, so that large players in the market are made aware of the innovation in a steady process, and the acceptance as well as the success of the venture is ensured.

Cooperation Partner

• Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
  Hansastraße 27c, 80686, Munich
  Germany
  www.fraunhofer.de

Contact Person

• Ettemeyer Florian
  florian.ettemeyer@igcv.fraunhofer.de

• Günther Daniel
  Daniel.guenther@igcv.fraunhofer.de

Student Team

• Ziad Abdelaty

• Mete Gürün

• Henry Klenk

• Val Vovk Petrowski

• Maximilian Trentini

• Tim Wäfler

Project Manager

• Linn Kretzschmar, MSc

• Sophie Quach, MA