Innovative solutions

Innovative materials solutions are technical developments that create, improve or replace materials in order to solve an industrial problem or enhance a product’s performance. They serve to provide properties that conventional materials do not offer: greater durability, lower weight, chemical resistance, new functionalities or lower cost.

This service is used when a material or product no longer meets the demands of the market, regulations or the production process. It enables the product to be updated before such limitations affect its competitiveness, by integrating innovation into a coherent technical strategy geared towards real-world applications.

A lack of innovation in materials leads to the technical obsolescence of the product. A material that does not evolve loses its competitive edge against lighter, stronger or more cost-effective alternatives, and may cease to meet regulatory requirements that become stricter over time.

Furthermore, sticking with limited materials or formulations often results in recurring failures, additional production costs and dependence on suppliers. Addressing these issues reactively is more costly than anticipating them through the planned development of technical solutions.

The choice depends on the technical problem and the required performance characteristics. When the base material is suitable but a particular performance characteristic is insufficient, improving those properties is the most efficient approach. Where there is a dependency, additional cost or environmental requirement, substituting materials offers the best risk-benefit ratio. Where no available option meets the requirement, the development of a new material is warranted.

This decision is based on a prior analysis of the requirement; material characterisation and an objective comparison of alternatives are the tools that guide the choice. A rigorous technical assessment avoids unnecessary interventions and directs resources towards the solution with the greatest likelihood of industrial success.

A standard commercial solution uses materials already available on the market, adapted to a product without having been created specifically for it. An innovative, bespoke solution is developed specifically to meet the requirements of a particular application, tailoring its composition, properties and behaviour.

The standard option is quicker and more cost-effective when a suitable material is available. A bespoke solution offers technical differentiation and addresses needs that no commercial material can meet. The choice between the two is based on the balance between cost, lead time and the level of performance required by the project.

The risk associated with an innovative solution is managed by developing it in phases, so that investment proceeds only once each stage has confirmed its technical potential. Less mature technologies offer greater scope for differentiation, but also greater uncertainty; structuring the project into feasibility, prototyping and validation stages helps to limit that uncertainty before committing significant resources.

This phased approach turns risk into a manageable variable: each phase generates objective data that underpins the decision to continue, adjust or halt development. As an external technical partner, INFINITIA applies this logic to enable companies to explore high-potential solutions without exposing themselves to disproportionate investment – an approach to technology transfer to industry recognised with the ASTER 2025 Award for Digital Innovation.

Innovative solutions are not limited to the material itself: they also influence the manufacturing process, introducing new stages, technologies or control systems into the production line. When the performance limit lies not in the material but in how it is manufactured, innovation shifts to the process itself.

These process solutions include in-line instrumentation and sensors, post-treatment at a specific stage, plasma cleaning or machine vision inspection to detect critical defects in production. Their aim is to anticipate faults at source, reduce waste and improve traceability. INFINITIA assesses the technical feasibility of each technology and how well it fits into the production line before implementation.

Emerging materials technologies are developments at an earlier stage of technological maturity (surface microstructuring, plasma treatments, programmable materials or biomimicry) that offer performance capabilities unattainable with conventional solutions. They offer significant potential for differentiation in exchange for a higher degree of technical uncertainty.

It is worth investing in them when no mature alternative solves the problem or when the desired differentiation justifies taking a controlled risk. The decision depends on the balance between the technology’s potential and the project’s risk tolerance. INFINITIA assesses both factors before determining the industrial application of each emerging technology.

Prototyping is the phase that allows the actual performance of a solution to be tested before committing to investment in tooling or production. Bringing the solution to life in a functional prototype turns a technical hypothesis into evidence, validating performance and identifying limitations at an early stage of the project.

This step is particularly critical for solutions involving greater uncertainty, where anticipating performance reduces the risk of subsequent failures. Prototyping enables iteration, the adjustment of parameters and the confirmation of feasibility before scaling up to industrial production. INFINITIA integrates this validation into a holistic view of development, linking the prototype to real-world operating conditions.

Initial technical assessments and feasibility analyses are typically completed within twelve to twenty-four weeks. The full development process is organised in phases, the duration of which depends on the scope of the project and the level of validation required.

For critical decisions that cannot be delayed, an urgent service is available, providing preliminary results within a shorter timeframe. In all cases, timelines are defined at the start of the project, with each phase linked to specific technical deliverables so that progress can be verified.

Yes. An innovative solution is designed to fit into the customer’s actual production process, not in isolation. Whether it is a new material or a process technology (in-line sensors, post-treatment processes or inspection systems), each is assessed in terms of its compatibility with the existing production line prior to implementation.

This approach ensures that innovation does not compromise production throughput or require a complete redesign of the facility. INFINITIA analyses the technical compatibility of each solution within the plant context, anticipating the adjustments needed for a gradual and controlled integration.

The cost depends on the scope: a one-off improvement to properties is not the same as the full development of a material or a process technology. The variables that determine the budget are the complexity of the requirement, the number of alternatives to be evaluated, the necessary tests and the level of validation required; therefore, each project is assessed on a case-by-case basis following an analysis of the problem and the specifications.

In projects involving greater risk and uncertainty, part of the investment may be covered by public calls for R&D&I funding – at regional, national or European level – aimed at promoting industrial technological development. Through the many consultancy firms specialising in R&D funding, or through INFINITIA’s own expertise, we can help determine whether a project is suitable for this type of programme, so that the development of high-potential solutions becomes more accessible and the financial risk is mitigated.

To begin an assessment, simply define the technical problem, the requirement that the outcome must meet, and the actual conditions under which the material or product will be used. Any information regarding previous failures, materials used or process constraints will speed up the initial diagnosis.

With this information, an initial technical assessment makes it possible to define the scope, identify viable solutions and estimate the development required. Requesting this initial assessment through failure analysis or another specialised service is the most direct way of determining whether an innovative solution is the appropriate response to the challenge at hand.