Lifting the lid on Michelin's innovations

The tyre industry is subject to strong safety requirements, and is characterised by rapid innovation (which is an integral part of evolution in the car industry), mass production and cost-cutting strategies. As well as these general constraints, Michelin has a philosophy of being a precursor : the company always wants to show that it is capable of offering a range of performance and quality which sets it apart from other competitors, and this is how it justifies its higher sales prices. Didier Miraton was initially in charge of R&D at Michelin and subsequently, as co-manager, he ‘lifted the lid’ on Michelin’s R&D which until then had been shrouded in secrecy. During a seminar, which over a period of three months brought together the sixty heads of Michelin’s R&D department, all the processes were revamped, and over a few years product design times were halved. Another aim had been to move from a culture of continuous product improvement to the production of break-through innovations. To achieve this, experts were invited to share their knowledge and create products together. This required the development of new patterns of behaviour based on learning the art of public speaking.