Identification of High Potential Application Fields for RUAG Space Austria’s Production Processes

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

About RUAG Space Austria

At the beginning of the semester, the group of students was introduced with RUAG Space Austria (RSA), one of the largest European supplier for space components and a leader in several fields in the space industry. The firm is based in Vienna (AUT) and their competencies and technologies evolve around the transport of satellites and rockets on earth, structural components, their launch into space, electronics that go inside and insulation materials for the protection of the objects against extreme temperatures outside of the atmosphere.

Problem Statement and Project Goal

RSA found themselves in an increasingly competitive environment with global reach. Especially in areas where cost is a significant factor, and high-end customization is not the most crucial ability, RSA had a hard time competing with undercutting producers from Asia. These circumstances affected the economic performance of RSA, which lead the company to look for alternative application fields for their capabilities.

The focus of this project was to unlock the potential for resources that are already within the firm. To be more specific, new application fields for RSA's production processes and know-how should be found to support RSA in this critical situation and strengthen their competitive positioning.

The Systematic Approach

The project objectives were reached by using the Technological Competence Leveraging framework. This systematic framework comprises three different phases. During the first phase, RSA’s production processes were analyzed and mapped to identify their benefits. In the second phase, the defined benefits were used to design a creativity contest, which was posted into 25 heterogeneously composed online communities. Additionally, 20+ expert interviews as well as an internal group brainstorming was conducted. In the last phase, a comprehensive market-study was carried out for the three most attractive application fields to provide further insights and recommendations on a possible entry.

Application Fields

This approach generated a list of 34 application field ideas. This list was narrowed down to the nine most relevant application fields by analyzing strategic fit and benefit relevance. Out of this list, RSA then chose the three most attractive application fields. Consequently, the comprehensive market study delivered information on the current trends, relevant market indicators (market composition, growth rate, matureness, etc.) and existing market participants.

Cooperation Partner

• RUAG Space Austria
  Stachegasse 16, 1120 Vienna
  Austria
  www.ruag.com/en/space

Contact Person

• Lisa Mayr
  lisa.mayr@ruag.com

Student Team

• Maximilian Kojalek
  Fabian Bogg
  Martin Búza
  Adrian Kilzer
  Kristiyan Delchev
  Joshua Carlito Rohrböck

Project Manager

• Sophie Quach 

• Linn Kretzschmar