Speaking at a recent manufacturing and technology conference in Rosemont, Illinois, the ‘global head of manufacturing industry’ for Google at Work said that “innovation is in the DNA of manufacturers”. In a keynote address, Mike Walton said: “It is vital for manufacturers to establish a culture of innovation, in order to sustain it over time. If there is any industry where innovation is ‘the mother of necessity’, it is this industry.”

Mr Walton warned that many manufacturers believe they are more innovative than they actually are. He said that many businesses just have “cycles of innovation that are ‘one-offs’ or else have “top-down innovation, rather than encouraging innovation throughout the organisation.” He said: “Ask yourself: are you giving not just your lieutenants but also the lowest-level personnel the tools, techniques and trust to ‘think big’ and to make improvements?”

Mr Walton said that innovation is “an important driver of growth”. He recommended that firms should learn from his own company’s practices and devote 10% of their time to so-called ‘moon-shot’ ideas, examining fundamental changes to the way they carry out tasks. He pointed to Google Glass as an example. “Google Glass was born out of an employee asking: ‘Why do I have to hold a phone? Why can’t I just wear a phone?’ Employees working on the idea walked around the campus wearing cardboard on their face; Google Glass inspired the boom in high-tech wearables.”