International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Current materials science and materials engineering focus on the development of innovative advanced materials. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) advanced materials are intentionally designed and engineered materials to have new or enhanced properties, and/or targeted or enhanced structural features to achieve specific or improved functional performance. Advanced materials include both high and low tech materials. Innovative materials are previously known classic materials used in new applications that have commercial potential. Published in February 2022, the Materials 2030 Manifesto calls for the creation of “a strong European Materials ecosystem to drive the green and digital transitions alongside a sustainable inclusive European society through systemic collaboration between upstream developers, downstream users, and citizens and all stakeholders in between.” The problem of lack of access to new (functional, circular) advanced materials urgently needs to be solved due to the following risks of not delivering on Green Deal and Digital Agenda, loss innovation markets, loss of jobs, relying on polluting and hazardous materials, as well as future geopolitical dependency. The activities undertaken by the Advance Materials Initiative (AMI2030), established in June 2022, led to the development of the Materials 2030 Roadmap and the Strategic Materials Agenda. These documents set European development trends in innovative advanced materials area.

This paper provides an overview of theoretical approaches and methods used to assess the innovative potential of human resources and identification of the key elements and conditions for development of the innovative potential. We suggest indicators to measure the innovative potential assessment which include assessment of opportunities that the external environment provides for implementation of the innovative potential, the effectiveness of implementation of the innovative potential, and the resources available for innovation. The following conditions for development of the innovative potential of human resources were identified: ethical norms and values existing in the society that support the drive to the unknown and a hard work based on the creative approach, a system of continuous education and propagation of innovative activities in the society, a high level of income and a high quality of life, an open and non-conservative social environment.

The rapid development of communication and information technologies not only reduces risk but also strongly influences the ability of industrial companies to develop innovation activities faster and more purposefully. A dynamic and difficult to predict environment has been created in which companies are forced to flexibly seek alternative solutions to the negatively influencing factors in their operations. There are numerous tools and models for strategic development and evaluation of innovation. Most of them describe the problem statically, i.e. at some point in the company’s development until the components of time and innovative aging are taken into account. The purpose of this article is to propose a new approach to modeling innovative aging. In this way, the influencing factors will already be present in the methodology for innovative development. Therefore, a new, integrated, approach of methods and tools is needed to realize an effective innovation system.

The study is a review of the scientific and applied content of the research carried out over the years on the topic, both worldwide and by the authors. The research is structured in a way that presents the topic in its active development over the years, which substantially proves its permanent relevance. The development of the researches of the spatial transformation of motions, oriented towards the synthesis and analysis of spatial transmissions with innovative characteristics, at this stage and up to the present moment for Bulgaria are realized exclusively at the Institute of Mechanics at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). The content of the researches carried out at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences clearly determines their market orientation and, therefore, their place of development was in the “Centre of competence MIRACle – Mechatronics, Innovation, Robotics, Automation, Clean Technologies” at the Institute of Mechanics. The above said makes it inexplicable the decision of the former management of the institute, in the face of Prof. Vasil Kavardjikov (Director) and Assoc. Detelina Ignatova (Project Manager), to ignore this topic when designing a project for the creation of the Competence Centre.

The realization of technological transfer and forming of innovative potential of the enterprises is of great significance for their development and progress in the dynamic modern business environment.
The purpose of the present article is to show some possibilities and restrictions related to the realization of the technological transfer, forming and development of the innovative potential of the enterprises in Bulgaria. Some basic trends are emphasized related to the realization of the technological transfer, forming and development of the innovative potential of the enterprises in Bulgaria.

Technological development, nowadays, has entered a crucial stage that gives precedence to the innovative obsolescence over the physical one. To that effect, of utmost importance, therefore, is the accurate identification of the extent, i.e. the degree of innovative obsolescence in an effort to assess the effect of innovation upon the technical-economic performance and social outcomes of the industrial activity. Moreover, in an increasingly globalizing economy, innovations are bound to make a worldwide impact, accelerating the innovative technological obsolescence with the level of technology being utilised is globally lagging further behind the level of today’s technology. Prolonged use of obsolete technology and outdated technological processes leads to certain losses, the amount of which is contingent on the extent of the lag range. Advanced in the paper is an alternative approach to determining innovative obsolescence of technological products and the respective solutions in pursuit of a marked reduction in its adverse effects.

The inadequate economic policy in 90’s brings to destruction of basic sectors of the Bulgarian industry. Bulgaria is one of European’s countries mostly engaged with deindustrialization process. Nowadays we have to pay more attention to high technological sectors in industry which are based upon theoretical and practical knowledge that by its side is based of enormous investments in science. The condition of Bulgarian industry needs to focus urgently towards inculcating innovations and investments for increasing the enterprise competitiveness. The introducing innovations needs special attention nowadays because the rapidly speed of changes. The world had gone through the industrial time to the age of knowledge. In the fast developing global environment the strategic advantage can be brought by leaders of changes and the only way for that is by introducing innovations. An important role for the long term competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy has the increasing level of innovative enterprises which produce and inculcate new products and processes and the participation of the country in the global high technological manufacture. The reviving of the Bulgarian industry is connected with building new high-tech enterprises and a good example for that is Trakia economic zone (Plovdiv region, Bulgaria).

The company operates in a dynamically changing environment, it must keep up with current changes and even overtake those changes using upcoming opportunities. Moreover, the company must have strong ability to create and implement innovation, because thanks to them, in many areas of its activity, the company performs its market’s tasks and developing. The company’s innovative activity depends mainly on human resources, knowledge and entrepreneurship, which essence lies in creating and searching for innovation and discovering new relations in the economic system. The advantage of modern enterprise is its human resources and their development, learning and creativity capability. The aim of the study is to isolate the factors influencing the activity of innovative enterprises.

Changes, improvement, and finally the introduction of new solutions (innovations) in every area of the company’s activities, are an important part of its existence on the market. Among the characteristics of modern markets, those associated with dynamism are particularly important. Customers’ preferences and needs, the behavior of competitors are constantly changing. This happens in fact of geographically unrestricted access to products and their suppliers. This is accompanied by the possibility of access to key terms of operating efficiency, including innovation information management. They are (information) the cause of innovation, as well as one of the most important factors affecting the achievement of intended objective. This aim of this article is to analyze the possibilities and desirability of active management in conditions of globalization in terms of information, particularly in terms of efficient innovation management in a changing environment.

All European countries including Bulgaria need to promote the entrepreneur spirit through young people, to encourage the creation of new business and to stabilize the institutional and culture environment for innovations. The encouragement and advancement of present and future entrepreneurs (mostly young people) is a basic mechanism to revive the Bulgarian economy and ground the post crisis development. Using a survey is made an investigation through young people with bachelor degree in economics and their readiness for entrepreneurship. Findings from this study indicate that there are many challenges and problems that are an obstacle to start business in Bulgaria but many young people have motivation for entrepreneurship.

Success in the market can only be achieved if the business processes are designed and realized with the optimum use of the resources in order to do the best job for the first time, without any disadvantages, without waste of time and to the satisfaction of all the interested parties. Sustainable success can only be left out if innovations are being promoted and innovated. That is why this paper is based on innovations in correlation with the European Quality Award, so we are evaluating the state of innovativeness of the relationship with the model of business excellence. The enterprises have been analyzed through the questionnaire in accordance with the criteria for obtaining the international quality award.

The obtained data have united the experience and reality of significance of a number of certifed organizational systems in Montenegro. The analysis of data, principles and strategies that would be resulted from this research should help and provide useful directives in developing of a model for improving of organizational performance, in defining of measures to achieve a sustainable business systems, for increase of innovation, to contribute the strenghtening of links among the enterprises, scientific research and Innovation.

In the center of the development of the new cars marketing tendencies in the next decades lay the innovations in few industries which interact between. This leads to the appearance of the autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles – between themselves, with the infrastructure and with the other personal smart belonging, incl. home; the strategic approach towards smart vehicles, shared vehicles, electric vehicles and finding ways this technology to become mainstream. These are now priority for the largest car manufacturers. The technology, Internet of Things, the environment and the change in the consumer behavior will create new types of products – smarter, more intelligent, more connected and integrated into connected ecosystems between the industries and businesses.