Outstanding Corporate Innovator

The Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award is the only innovation award which recognizes sustained (5 or more years) quantifiable business results from new products and services.

For over twenty-five years, The Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award selection process has provided an excellent mechanism for identifying companies that create and capture value through product & service Innovation. Past OCI Award winners have proven themselves exceptionally capable of integrating strategy, people, process, and technology to consistently transfer their creative ideas into successful new products.

The award was developed with two objectives. First, to identify and publicly recognize the excellence of companies that have been the most successful in continuously developing a stream of value-creating new products and services. The second, equally important, rationale for the award is to provide a learning vehicle for the sharing of the winning firm's individual best practices with PDMA's general membership.

From the outset this award was envisioned as different from other traditional new product development awards offered by other industry organizations and publications by virtue of the rigor of the qualification and selection process. The basic requirements for receiving this award are:

• Sustained success in launching new products over a five-year time frame. This measure confirms the winner's approach to innovation and new product development goes beyond a single major product success. The winner's new product track record over an extended period provides adequate time to establish its ability to perform at an exceptional level in new product development.
• Significant company growth from new product success. This standard insures that new products that simply upgrade and replace previous company products are not considered the sole basis of outstanding performance.
• Well-defined new product development practices and processes that can be described to others. Since the OCI Award is seen as a learning tool for other practitioners, it is essential that the winner have a new product development process that can be described adequately to the membership.
• Distinctive innovative characteristics and intangibles. This standard recognizes unique and innovative characteristics of the organization's approach to the new product development process that make it particularly suitable for the organization. It also provides for the recognition of noteworthy intangibles including the organization's culture.

The 2013 Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award (OCI) Process is Now Open
Dealine for Nominations is March 15, 2013

The nomination process is easy! To nominate a company or division, fill out the nomination form online or download the form.

Anyone can nominate and self nomination by firms are encouraged.

As you consider your nomination, please keep in mind the key criteria for the award:

• Firms, regardless of size, that have achieved and can demonstrate positive, continuous and quantifiable business results (sales growth, profitability, market share etc.) from new products/services over a sustained (5 years or more) time frame.
• Firms whose product development processes and practices are disciplined and can provide a significant learning experience when shared with our membership.

The Process:
Those nominees which pass the initial screen will be asked to complete a questionnaire detailing their new product/service development practices and innovation successes.  On site examinations are held with the companies which reach finalist status. The winner(s) will be recognized and be required to share their best practices at the 37th International Conference in Phoenix, Arizona in October, 2013.

If you have any questions or need additional information please contact Amy Westercamp at 312.232.5241.

Sally E. Kay
Chair, PDMA OCI Selection Committee

Past Recipients

Since its inception the following companies have been recipients of the OCI Award and have participated in our annual conference, providing valuable insights for the organization and its members. Presentations are available for non-member purchase or as a free download for PDMA members.

2012	Faurecia, Skyline Exhibits, Clorox
2011	Illuminia, Inc. UnitedHealth Group
2010	Kennametal, Inc
2009	Royal DSM NV PGi - Premiere Global Services
2008	Corning Incorporated DuPont
2007	FedEx Corporation Mine Safety Appliance (MSA)
2006	Xerox Corporation Bank of America Global Consumer & Small Business Bank
2005	djOrthopedics Sprint/Nextel
2004	Affymetrix Air Force Research Laboratory
2003	Dow Polyolefins Harley Davidson
2002	BMW Group AG Teknion
2001	Window Fashions Divisions-Hunter Douglas
2000	EXFO Electro-Optical
1999	Maytag
1998	Cinncinnati Machine Tool
1997	Herman Miller
1996	Eastman Kodak
1995	Fluke Corporation Pepsi-Cola Company Senco Products, Inc.
1994	Bausch & Lomb, Eyewear Division Chysler Coporation Welch Allyn
1993	Apple Computer Nabisco Buscuit Company Nordic Track
1992	Keithley Corporation Marriott Lodging Group
1991	Safety Kleen Corporation
1990	Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc. Harris Corporation, Broadcast Division New Pig Corporation
1989	Hewlett Packard
1988	Merck & Company