Innovation Workshop
Case Study
Turning Emerging Science into Product Opportunities
The Challenge
Beckers wanted to identify new opportunities to differentiate its future product portfolio in an increasingly competitive coatings market.
To stimulate fresh thinking, the FutureLab R&D team brought together three leading UK university professors specialising in materials science, polymer chemistry and advanced materials. The objective was to connect emerging scientific developments with meaningful customer needs, applications and future product opportunities.
The challenge was not simply generating ideas. It was helping the team translate cutting-edge science into promising innovation concepts that could be evaluated and explored further.
The Impact
Rather than ending with a collection of interesting ideas, the process converted emerging science into structured opportunities that the R&D team could evaluate and develop further.
Working closely with Beckers' technology and R&D leadership, I designed and facilitated a bespoke innovation workshop that guided participants from scientific stimulus through to prioritised concepts in a single day.
The engagement delivered:
Cross-disciplinary alignment between industrial researchers and leading academic experts
Dozens of new ideas and opportunity areas inspired by emerging developments in materials and polymer science
A portfolio of prioritised innovation concepts developed into structured concept sheets capturing scientific rationale, potential applications, commercial potential, key uncertainties and recommended next steps
Clear momentum for future innovation activity through prioritised opportunities, ongoing academic collaboration and agreed areas for further investigation
My Approach
I worked closely with Beckers leadership over several weeks to frame the challenge, design the innovation process, prepare participants and engage the academic experts ahead of the workshop.
The workshop followed a structured innovation journey, moving participants from expert insight and idea generation through to concept development, prioritisation and action.
This included:
Designing a bespoke workshop aligned to Beckers' innovation objectives
Preparing participants and academic experts ahead of the workshop
Facilitating expert-guided discussions, collaborative ideation and structured concept development
Using practical frameworks to connect emerging science with customer value and commercial opportunity
Capturing, evaluating and prioritising concepts to create clear outputs and next steps
The result was a focused innovation process that transformed emerging scientific insights into actionable concepts and future opportunities.
Client Feedback
"Rod designed and facilitated an engaging workshop that successfully connected leading academic expertise with our FutureLab R&D team. The structured approach helped us move quickly from emerging scientific insights to a number of promising innovation concepts with clear relevance to our future product portfolio. The day generated valuable discussion, strong engagement and practical outputs that continue to inform our ongoing innovation work."
Gavin Bown
Chief Technology Officer, Beckers Group
Facing a Similar Challenge?
If your team needs to explore an emerging technology, unlock new opportunities or turn promising ideas into actionable concepts, a structured Innovation Workshop can create the clarity, alignment and momentum to move forward.