Research and Development Project Services
Firms undertake research and development to create new products and services. R&D often starts with the desire to create a new product for a customer or meet an emerging market need. For most businesses R&D projects are usually funded from working capital, cash reserves or loans. Because the research outcomes are by no means certain it puts these funds at risk. R&D is often a one off activity and may be outside your firm’s normal capabilities.
Over the last 20 years Applied Support Services have assisted hundreds of innovative New Zealand companies scope, plan and budget their R&D projects. We have worked with firms in many sectors including agribusiness, biotechnology, chemicals, electronics, food, horticulture, IT, manufacturing, packaging and transport.
Download a printer friendly version of this page here R&D Project Services Oct 2011.pdf
Applied Support Services can assist you with:
R&D Project Plans and Budgets
• Creating the project scope.
• Documenting project requirements and specifications.
• Obtaining quotations from external contractors and experts.
• Identifying internal and external project resources required.
• Creating the project budget.
• Establishing milestones, go/kill points and deadlines.
• Preparing the R&D plan.
The Business Case for R&D
Whether you are developing a new product, service or process it should support a specific business need. Your business case captures the reasoning for investing in an R&D project and argues how it will address that need. Because future sales from your new product or service are not certain the business case helps you evaluate the relative value and risk of a project. We can assist you with:
• Building the business case for developing the new product or service.
• Preparing the market analysis and revenue forecasts.
• Estimating the direct costs of producing the new product or service.
• Estimating other commercialisation costs including marketing, sales and administration.
• Establishing the payback period for the R&D investment.
Monitoring and Controlling R&D Projects
Many R&D projects fail to generate commercial returns because of simple factors like inadequate planning and control. Many R&D projects go well over anticipated budgets, often for no other reason than loss of focus and direction. We can assist you with:
• Providing easy to use systems to monitor internal time and cost spent on R&D.
• Monitoring and controlling external costs.
• Tracking the progress of the project’s technical objectives.
• Reporting on project milestones, go/kill points and deadlines.
R&D Grants
The Ministry of Science and Innovation have R&D grants available to private sector firms. Funding is available to support innovation in product and service development and the creation of new or improved production processes. The schemes include:
• Under $5,000 for engaging a single expert to validate technical feasibility.
• Under $30,000 for early stage, or small R&D projects.
• Over $30,000 co-funding to assist firms with high risk, advanced R&D projects.
• Technology Transfer Voucher for engaging selected Universities and CRI’s.
• Technology Development Grant, 20% of R&D spend for high intensity R&D firms.
• Education Grants for Masters & PhD students undertaking R&D in a company.
From time to time other government agencies also provide funding to support innovation. For further information about government business grants visit Business Grants. For help applying for government business grants contact us.
Valuing R&D Intellectual Property
Tracking and recording the time and cost of your research and development projects can help you quantify the value of the intellectual property arising from the research. Applied Support Services have easy to use project time and cost recording systems that let you track and record R&D project costs. These systems were used successfully for claiming R&D tax credits and provide a basis for valuing the intellectual property arising from your research programme.
Research and Development Tax Credits
In New Zealand the R&D Tax Credits are not currently available. For a description of the R&D tax credit scheme for the 2008-2009 income year visit R&D Tax Credit. Information about the R&D tax credit is also available at www.ird.govt.nz
Our Experience
Applied Support Services has over 15 years experience assisting companies plan and apply for research and development funding. For six years Applied Support Services was a Crown Agent for the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, where we planned and managed approved grants for private sector research and development (GPSRD) in Auckland and Districts.
Useful Links:
Business templates.
Sources of business funding and support.
Government business planning advice.
Help planning and managing business projects.
Help planning and managing research and development projects.
Excel spreadsheets and excel business models.
Marketing strategy and Marketing Plans.
Market research and market analysis.
Dropbox for sharing project files across the internet.
Applied Support Services home page.
This page was last updated on 5 July 2011
Photo Credits:
Hayes Engineering Works, Ida Valley, Central Otago
Timber Milling Equipment, Tuck & Watkins Sawmill, Putaruru
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