MATChE Webinar Series #4: Product & Service Innovation
This Webinar Episode
In this webinar you will learn about readiness of ‘Product & Service Innovation’, which measures the capabilities necessary to develop new solutions (incl. products and services) that are suitable in a Circular Economy context. The webinar took place Jan 27, 15:00 - 15:30 and is presented by Professor Tim C. McAloone.
Q&A from the webinar
Can CE be really implemented with a top-down management approach? What if an enthusiast designer is blocked by their managers and how to empower designers to go beyond design briefs?
- Our webinar about Organisational Readiness for circular economy is extremely relevant in terms of how to start organising the way in which we support the processes and what investments from a resource perspective are we putting into this.
- The circular economy focus is really bringing a lot of openness, opportunities and innovation culture to the whole field of sustainability and that allows for people in the whole organization to come along and give it a go.
Design for sharing is extremely low readiness. Why so?
- What we see is that companies that make these sharing systems like e-scooters and car sharing, are actually putting out those new business models without redesigning the products for this use case. If you look at the overall lifetime of the popular e-scooters, some say the lifetime is only 2-3 weeks. If we can design the products better for their new context, they could last longer which would be a win-win situation both for the environment and the profitability of those companies.
What is the big difference between sharing economy and product/service system? If any?
- The sharing economy is one type of a Product/Service System and we have a whole range of other Product/Service Systems.
Any ability to improve circularity of hearing aid batteries?
- Yes, definitely. Many companies are looking into the use of rechargeable batteries, which can really enhance the overall circularity and sustainability of the hearing aids.
About MATChE
Having a sense of the current situation and defining where to start, is the first step in any transition. But how can you know where your opportunities for circular economy lie and how ready you are to act on them? The MATChE Readiness Assessment is a free online tool, that allows you and your colleagues to assess your company’s readiness for circular economy, understand your strengths and opportunities, and define the right area of the company to focus your transition on first. Behind the assessment and process for increasing company readiness for circular economy is the MATChE methodology. The methodology builds on research and scientific studies done at the Technical University of Denmark, considers 8 dimensions of business operations that is critical to consider, for transitioning to a circular business. The multi-dimensional approach is needed, as circular economy is a wide ranging topic, that can include all areas of your company.
