Innovation at MGP
MGP views innovation as the conversion of ideas into value. It’s important to link the intellectual event (the concept or the idea) with the commercial reason for being (generating value).
New products developed through R&D are not the only innovations available to us. That is how a lot of people categorize innovation, but for MGP, this classification is too limiting. Innovation is broader than that. First, there are many ideas or concepts that are not new products that can be implemented and generate new value for customers and other stakeholders.
Second, innovation is an activity that is focused on filling customers’ needs. The process incorporates intellectual work, development work and commercial work so that we are focused on truly satisfying customers at the outset.
Third, innovation is an active and company-wide effort. Converting an idea into value takes energy and effort and it is successful only when a customer benefits from the final delivered product.
Other factors also sustain an innovation culture. There is individual initiative, which encourages people to identify opportunities and create solutions. There is coordinated action, which encourages people across functions like R&D, manufacturing and sales, to assist each other with projects. In many ways, factors like these are prevalent in the business culture that exists at MGP – a Company that values individual effort and insight along with shared effort toward creating value built on innovation.
MGP’s commitment to innovation is built into the Company’s legacy. All of our products were new at one time and those that remain are ones that enable us to create value. High quality alcohols, proteins, starches and bioplastics are all good examples. When considering product line opportunities and various business model opportunities, our future has tremendous potential for profound innovation.
Technical Innovation Center Enhances Product Development Capabilities
MGP’s Technical Innovation Center in Atchison houses 11 laboratories, a culinary kitchen, 19 offices, and two conference rooms. These laboratories, opened in 2007, include protein and starch research labs; applications labs for bakery, meat, prepared foods, bioplastics and distillery products, a state-of-the-art culinary kitchen; and sensory testing, instrumentation and analytical labs. Our laboratories are equipped to effectively support and accommodate a full range of...
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Innovating today and in the future must be far more collaborative than it has been in the past. Most companies have embraced a more open innovation structure and process over the last two decades and university researchers have almost always operated in a collaborative manner. The reasons are simple: breadth and speed. Even the largest research organization has only a small fraction of the people and ideas available and ideas are the raw material of innovation. The only way to ...
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