Research and development management at the centro de tecnologia copersucar (CTC)

摘要

Centro de Technologia Copersucar (CTC) provides technology support to 35 sugar mills in a cooperative (Copersucar) in Brazil. Those mills process 65 million tonnes of sugarcane per year. CTC covers both agronomic and industrial aspects. It provides R&D, technology transfer and some technical services. The planning and evaluation of R&D is described in detail. The key elements are the Advisory Committee and a well established methodology for project portfolio management. The paper describes in detail the main aspects of project selection, the resulting portfolio (current), and performance evaluation. The system is continuously improving, and its dynamics seem adequate to provide equilibrium between the necessary changes due to external pressures (new product development, growing sugar export markets) and the stability/development of strong R&D teams in CTC.