INNOVATION

Technological innovation is the basis for rising to the challenges in the sectors and markets in which Efacec does business, offering sustainable, differentiating solutions that generate value for its customers and for society as a whole. Technological innovation is of strategic importance, which can be seen in the continued update of the Group’s technological portfolio, comprising innovative solutions at an international level, completely developed inhouse, leveraged on an ecosystem of complementary partners in terms of know-how. Technological innovation at Efacec starts with a need experienced by customers, or a future challenge, being identified by a multi-disciplinary team. This internal assimilation of vast and complementary technical skills is supported by an investment in Technological Research and Development and complemented by an ongoing policy for technological partnerships with benchmark entities, worldwide.

EFACEC’S APPROACH TO INNOVATION

Continuing on with Efacec’c long tradition as a Group with a strong component in technological innovation, in 2016 the overall investment in innovation was reinforced, in particular in the Energy, Environment, Transportation and Electric Mobility sectors.

The strong investment in value-creation through technological innovation substantiated in the creation of a new function throughout Efacec. The mission of this function is to increase the focus and management capacity of technological innovation and promote technical synergies and processes between the different Business Units.

This function is headed up by the Technology Management Office and the Technology Committee – Efacec’s Technological GPS – which have a coordinated and common approach with the Technology Department of each Business Unit and the various Corporate Departments.

The main objective of the function of Technology Management is to actively contribute so that Efacec, as a Group, can respond effectively and efficiently and in a timely manner to the major digital transformation under way in the sectors and markets in which it does business, in particular in the energy and mobility sectors.

Technology Management is like a new catalyst for Efacec’s different structures, enabling the Group to be more innovative in creating, optimising and tailoring Products, Systems and Services, which it supplies every day to its customers.

EFACEC’S PERFORMANCE IN 2016

Every year Efacec ensures that there is a sustainable, significant investment in TRD activities identified as being of the utmost importance for the future success of the Group.

NUNO
SILVA

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT OFFICE

In 2016, Efacec underwent a strong restructuring and repositioning with regard to innovation, with the creation of a common technology management structure. What were the grounds for its creation and what are the main objectives?

This new body within Efacec’s structure is a catalyst for the Group’s future technological innovation. Its creation is based on the fact that technological development and innovation are crucial for Efacec’s activity, and so it endeavours to leverage the Group’s endogenous facilities and knowledge, in order to promote the creation, optimisation and tailoring of Products, Systems and Services in processes that produce synergies between Business Units. The strategic importance of innovation and technological development can be clearly seen in the constant update of the technological portfolio where there are products completely developed in-house, besides the areas of calculation and planning, as well as in production and integrated systems, for which there is highly qualified group of technical staff, as well as a vast network of national and international partners.

What is the urgency and the relevance of this new approach to technological innovation?

The transformation of the energy sector is a challenge to which Efacec aims to rise with sustainable and differentiating solutions. The need to increase the system’s efficiency, resilience and reliability, even when taking into account all the different assets (including sources or renewable origin), requires the systems to have multiple technologies. Besides this being a concern during internal development processes, Efacec actively participates in international technical groups, in order to make a positive contribution and to follow the state of the art in standards and rules, besides the various regulatory evolutions that the sector is facing.

The transformation of the energy sector is a challenge to which Efacec aims to rise with sustainable and differentiating solutions.

Of the various initiatives and innovations that took place in 2016, which do you think deserve to be most highlighted?

2016 was a year of many changes, with a wide variety of initiatives both on a global level for Efacec, and specifically for each Business Unit. Although there are many, good examples that are worth mentioning with regard to products, complex solutions and engineering for integrating systems, due to their innovative potential, strategic nature and recognition within the market, I would highlight 3 innovations:

• The ultra-quick charging system for electric vehicles, Porsche being the first customer, and where Efacec stands out as being a pioneer by achieving a capacity of 350kW;
• The electricity grid advanced management system (ADMS), including the smart grids concept and clearly differentiating functionalities;
• The combined multi-phase and multidisciplinary numeric modelling, algebra modelling and respective multi-scale experimental validations for Core type transformers.

And in 2017? What can we expect Efacec to do in the field of technological innovation?

Efacec’s investments in terms of technological innovation have been defined in its strategic roadmap. This means that there will be initiatives that are more immediate and others which cover several years. There are projects that will continue to be developed in 2017 and which cover areas such as asset management, demand response, systems for storing energy and developing solutions for the digital sub-station. There are also other multi-disciplinary initiatives in progress, which have to do with aspects such as Efacec’s digitalisation (this being a progressive process facilitated by the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) platforms and leveraging Big data and Machine Learning tools), cybersecurity and material technology. Other areas of interest where Efacec is developing initiatives are smart cities, positioned with an added value offer, integrating solutions that bring together a variety of our skills, the use of digital models and automatic calculation and 3D tools to optimise the design of products and systems. Also worth highlighting is the continued investment in solutions for wireless and V2G charging of electric vehicles. These topics will be developed whenever necessary, supported by the ecosystem of existing R&D partnerships.