A Gestão da inovação tecnológica em ferrovias brasileiras de cargas

Abstract

The railway freight transport system was invented 200 years ago and, since then, its technological framework has undergone a great deal of change that was reduced in intensity and quality while the industry matured. Technological innovation was very much present in the first railroad companies as part of their entrepreneurial strategy but it has been delivered to suppliers slowly in recent times, seen that a small part, inherent to transportation services, was retained. In a context where the pressure for cost reduction and operational efficiency increasing are higher every day, it becomes more important to understand how such incremental innovations can be generated. Considering that 70% of operational costs are spent on fuel, innovation in power efficiency is particularly important. This was the background for the search for the tools and resources used by the three main Brazilian freight railway companies – Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, América Latina Logística and MRS Logística – to remain competitive and to achieve their strategic objectives, established by their shareholders, transforming Research and Development into results by innovation management. The case study was built on the concepts of innovation, technological trajectory, innovation systems and models in parallel with railroad innovation management practices. Such practices are presented in the results of interviews with railway specialists and engineers and the main objective is to identify how the railways represented by these specialists deal with the innovations. The most important contribution of this research is to deliver additional information to policies and strategies to improve technological innovation in the national railway transportation industry