The Erasmus Plus project “Matrix of knowledge for innovation and competitiveness in textile enterprises” – TexMatrix is funded with support from the European Commission. This project is a Strategic partnerships – KA2 / Vocational Education and Training, in the field of transfer of innovation from research providers towards textile enterprises. The coordinating National Agency is ANPCDEFP: www.anpcdefp.ro . The implementation of the project has a duration of 2 years: September 2016 – August 2018.

Many textile enterprises face difficulties in finding the best solutions to compete on the global market. They face the challenge of skill development and innovation without having the focused resources and the strategic vision to adapt to the rapid changes of trends and technology in the textile field.

There is a renewed interest in fostering manufacturing, so the EU has set itself a target – manufacturing currently makes 16% of EU GDP and the EU would like to bring it to 20% by 2020. It wants to specifically strengthen the manufacturing industry, to give it more weight in the EU economy. How it does this is not easy and straightforward, so it supports a lot of R&D, which is really one of the key levers they can pull.” (Interview with Lutz Walter, secretary general of Fibers-Textiles-Clothing ETP Dec. 2015).

New technologies and research results offered by research providers have to be implemented and adapted within textile enterprises. The enterprises need qualified personnel, while the young workforce needs to cope with performance requirements of the enterprises.

A solution to these needs is given by spreading of creative and innovative organizational culture inside of textile enterprises by transferring and implementing methodologies, tools and concepts for improved innovation and training. Research providers in textiles are able to foster textile enterprises to learn how to apply creative thinking in their organizations and how to develop the capacity for innovation and change.

The knowledge matrix for innovation is an innovative concept for the quantification of the intangible assets of an enterprise. Its usefulness is given by the classification on two dimensions of the intangible assets. The vertical dimension is given by the nature of intangible assets (criteria), while the horizontal dimension is given by the use of the assets (skills of organization). Examples of intangible assets of an enterprise are: innovation strategy / culture, informational resources, training methodology, relationships portfolio, IP rights etc. Their identification and improvement for a textile enterprise is of utmost importance for their competitiveness and capacity to implement innovation.

The main aim of TexMatrix is to define and implement the Knowledge Matrix for Innovation (KMI) in textile enterprises.