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Seven large companies in the east Netherlands have formed an industrial partnership with the aim of accelerating technological innovation of new high-tech materials, products and systems and introducing these to international markets. This collaboration is being promoted by the recently established AMMON foundation (Advanced Materials Manufacturing Oost-Nederland [East Netherlands]).
AMMON had its beginning in 2010 when market research on east Netherlands industry lead several leading Dutch companies to initiate an innovation and business development collaboration. This cooperative effort continued for several years, and now Bronkhorst High-Tech, Pentair X-Flow, Reef, Sensata Technologies, TenCate, TKH Group and Wavin have agreed to formalize their partnership by forming the AMMON foundation.
The executive board of the foundation and the industrial board will be chaired by Geert Braaksma, vice president Sensors Europe at Sensata Technologies. The industrial board of AMMON consists of six directors of large companies in east Netherlands, who jointly make decisions on selecting and prioritizing innovation projects supported by AMMON.
Technological innovation
The east Netherlands has a rich industrial past and has evolved into a top region for technology and industry. Manufacturing is a major driver of the Dutch economy and the region has one of the highest concentrations of high-tech companies in the Netherlands.
Many of these companies are making the transition from product to system innovation in order to assure their future earning power. This transition requires focused collaboration among companies on system development, implementation and joint marketing. AMMON was founded to help companies meet these demands.
A business plan
New product and market collaborations are initiated by the AMMON partners on the basis of detailed analyses of the market, of competitors, technology surveys and existing production facilities (including OICAM, the Open Innovation Center Advanced Materials in Nijverdal, the Netherlands).
The close-knit consortia working on these projects will flesh-out concepts to produce business plans. Each AMMON project will give rise to a working demonstration system, which will then be the basis for the final product design aimed at high volume production. AMMON will monitor the progress of the projects and provide guidance in market development.
AMMON is currently conducting talks with more companies that would like to join the industrial partnership. Potential future collaborations and projects being discussed include smart roads and other advanced roads, bridges, the “sustainable stadium of the future,” innovative mobility concepts, an advanced energy content meter for biogasses and other gasses, innovation on the interface of agro and high-tech and smart water treatment systems.