BASF is accelerating and focusing its R&D activities, according to Dr Martin Brudermüller, vice chairman of the board of executive directors and chief technology officer of the company.
‘Even though BASF’s research is already very successful with an output of about €10 billion sales from innovative products, the company needs to adapt its established approaches to changing conditions,’ said Brudermüller.
‘Our R&D success factors are creativity, efficiency and integration. Fostering creativity and creating the conditions necessary to achieve it are among the company’s most important tasks,’ he added. Creative and efficient work is also supported by integration, Brudermüller explained. ‘To do this, we need to intelligently combine the competencies of our global Research and Development Verbund while also taking advantage of our external networks.’
In 2015, BASF’s research pipeline encompassed around 3,000 projects and spending on research and development rose to €1,953 million (2014: €1,884 million). The operating divisions were responsible for 79% of these R&D expenditures, while the remaining 21% was allocated to cross-divisional corporate research focusing on long-term topics of strategic importance to the BASF Group.
In the same year, around 10,000 employees were working in R&D worldwide.
This story is reprinted from material from BASF, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
