Supporting the development process for building products by the use of research portfolio analysis: A case study for wood plastics composite materials

• The use of research data banks supports innovation processes particularly in SME.
• Future trends in a specific industry can be interpreted by the Technology-S-Curve concept.
• Data on projects can be assessed using a matrix-based approach.
• A research portfolio as 4-field matrix serves as Future-Matrix in ideation.
• This kind of portfolio analysis provides ideas for radical and incremental innovations.

Today’s plastics are increasingly compounded using renewable fibres. Such composites raised the interest of the massively bulk-plastics consuming building industry. However, “green” products are still rare and their development constitutes a challenge particularly for small companies.Our study evaluated European scientific projects in composites from which we derived a Research Portfolio serving as future matrix for ideation. It was found that research databanks can serve as basis for strategic innovation planning. We were able to identify several appropriate future technologies and material applications in the field of bio-based plastics composites. Our methodology particularly supports manufacturers with less formalized innovation processes.