Analysis of Innovation Concepts in Slovenian Manufacturing Companies

Competitive advantages of manufacturing companies are not Only generated by R&D based product innovations, hut also by technical and non-technical process innovations aiming to modernise manufacturing processes. This paper presents the use of selected innovation concepts in Slovenian manufacturing companies. Later we analyse the relationship of the use of selected technical and organisational innovation concepts and companies' performance indicators. The results show that R&D expenses and innovation concepts are not always correlated and that there is a difference in utilising innovation concepts between low, medium and high-tech industries. The data were obtained with The European Manufacturing Survey (EMS) that was conducted in 2009 within nine European countries. For the purpose of this paper the data of Slovenian manufacturing companies have been used. (C) 2010 Journal of Mechanical Engineering. All rights reserved.