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Pitch Day 2020: When innovation defies distance
25/11/2020 - Innovation and R&D
Our key Innovation 2020 gathering took place on October 27th. The pitching sessions for our top six entries on our internal innovation platform, as well as our 4 start-up finalists in the Open Innovation Challenge, were available to watch live…A highly successful event despite the health crisis
Because of the covid-19 pandemic, it was not possible for our coworkers to gather and watch the presentations together. Therefore, the different ideas were exposed in front of a camera, to a limited committee and not to a full room. The event was then broadcast live, and followed by about 700 Vallourec employees around the world.
The pitched ideas were selected among the 313 proposed on our internal Winnov platform by 141 of our coworkers. Several shortlisting rounds were organized with regions and product lines, to finally pick six of them, who had the opportunity to present their respective pitches.
The pitching session also provided the opportunity to welcome the winning start-ups for the 3rd edition of our “Open Innovation” challenge dedicated to finding solutions to help our customers reduce their carbon emissions. The four start-ups, selected among 31 candidates who submitted a collaboration project, were therefore able to defend their ideas.
The pitching session also provided the opportunity to welcome the winning start-ups for the 3rd edition of our “Open Innovation” challenge dedicated to finding solutions to help our customers reduce their carbon emissions. The four start-ups, selected among 31 candidates who submitted a collaboration project, were therefore able to defend their ideas.
Pitch Day 2020: Key Figures
Innovation
The pitching sessions for our top six entries for the 3rd edition of Winnov, as well as our 4 start-up finalists in the Open Innovation Challenge, were available to watch live…
Congratulations to our winners!
The winners were selected by a jury and an interactive voting system which allowed our coworkers worldwide to choose their two favorite innovations. Two internal proposals particularly stood out during this session.The VAM® App proposal was presented by employees who are used to our innovation challenges. This application, which can be downloaded for free to a tablet/smartphone, enables VAM® Field Service remote and physical service to be purchased.
The second concept presented a "pre-insulated pipe for cryogenic applications". Indeed, the development of liquefied gas (natural gas, H2, CO2), as a major commodity for storing energy or waste, is creating a need for more facility able to address cryogenic conditions. Vallourec is able to offer its pipes, as well as its THERMOCASE® VIT solution, with outstanding insulation capacities.
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For a number of years, Vallourec’s innovation has been aiming to be collective, unifying, iterative and agile. We encourage our employees to share their innovative ideas and, thanks to the Open Innovation program, we have forged win-win partnerships with start-ups, such as Saagie or OpenField Technology, in new fields to strengthen our offer and to continue to serve our customers better. Once again, I am extremely proud of the creativity of our teams and the meaningful nature of the concepts proposed by the start-ups.
Sylvie Dubois-Decool Innovation Director