TRRA study examines which college and university attributes best meet industry needs

Southern Ontario manufacturing focus

Proximity and communication are key to expanded interaction between business and the academic sector in southern Ontario, according to a new study commissioned by the Toronto Regional Research Alliance (TRRA). The study examines how and why industry engages either with colleges or universities depending on their size, level of maturity and what innovation-related services they require.

Ontario-based manufacturing — like manufacturing industries globally — are immersed in global supply chains and the report concludes that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tend to favour building relationships with colleges, while universities provide R&D services largely to multinational corporations (MNCs).

Entitled Ontario Manufacturing, Knowledge Networks and Community Colleges, the report to the Toronto Regional Research Alliance (TRRA) was written by Univ of Toronto professor Dr Peter Warrian in collaboration with PhD students Stephanie Tombari and Adam Hempstock. It is based on interviews with 34 representatives from small and large companies, colleges, universities and knowledge networks to examine how industry engages either with colleges or universities depending on their size, level of maturity and what innovation-related services they require.

The report builds upon a previous TRRA-commissioned study that examined knowledge networks in the auto, steel and advanced manufacturing sectors and concluded that the way in which innovation occurs is determined by how the industry is structured.

materials manufacturing firms dominate study sample

For the latest report, nearly all of the firms surveyed were materials manufacturers, augmented by interviews with two start-ups in biotechnology and compostable packaging for the organic food industry.

The latest report observes that companies that collaborate with universities and research institutes tend to be large profitable firms — often MNCs — with long-term research goals and internal R&D capacity. If SMEs collaborate with universities, it tends to be on specific problems and/or to take advantage of the institution's capital intensive machinery and equipment for product analysis.

In general, however, SMEs collaborate with community colleges since their innovation typically involves smaller R&D projects aimed at process improvements whereas larger firms tends to favour university collaboration to further intellectual property (IP)-based innovation via long-term R&D projects. (The report notes that the authors did not have the time or resources for a systematic survey of provincial colleges and their manufacturing partners).

"In defining product versus process innovation, colleges … argue that the line between ‘what' a product is and ‘how' it is produced is blurred … The conventional wisdom that universities answer ‘what' and colleges answer ‘how' does not always apply," states the report. "Thus colleges must be involved in both the what and how of product and process innovation."

company's life stage matters

The life stage of a firm also has a significant bearing on how a company chooses to collaborate with a university or a college. For resource-constrained start-ups and mature SMEs, colleges are the preferred route although their needs are different. MNCs, however, tend to collaborate with universities, augmenting their internal R&D resources with specific research or access to specialized equipment.

Location also appears to have a direct influence on who companies collaborate with on innovation-related projects, with only one firm stating that geographical proximity of the academic institution was irrelevant. The re-location of Natural Resource Canada's Materials Technology Laboratory (MTL) from Ottawa to McMaster Univ's Innovation Park in Hamilton ON is cited as a major boost to the region, providing companies with access to a network of local experts, researchers and specialized equipment.

The report also found that companies large and small were looking to colleges to meet their needs for both production and product design — the latter traditionally the domain of universities. Even MNCs are looking for college talent in both areas.

In general, however, universities tend to cater to a select number of larger manufacturers while colleges must maintain relationships with many smaller firms. The ability of colleges to solve the day-today problems of SMEs is circumscribed by a lack of resources.

"Despite the increasing awareness of what colleges offer in terms of innovation, they remain grossly underfunded." states the report. "While the college research lever has produced excellent results to date, it is operating on a very small scale with limited resources. To make the most of Ontario colleges' applied research potential, strategies to increase support and funding should be adopted."

The report examines the phenomenon of sustained contingent collaboration (SCC) which has become the norm for manufacturing supply chains. Both original equipment manufacturers and suppliers are under the pressure of continuous cost reduction and the need to innovate, making SCC a learning-based process. It asserts that this environment is what colleges will be operating under as they partner with manufacturing firms.

The TRRA has produced several innovation-related reports in recent years focused on contract research in the Toronto region, the role of universities in economic development and the role of the federal government in development of the public research base in the Toronto region.

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