Sulzer Innotec, the research and development unit of the Sulzer Corporation has made substantial contributions towards opening up new business for Sulzer for 60 years. The company also offers its expertise on the open market in the form of contract R&D and specialized technical services.

The core competencies in the area of contract research services are the expertise in materials and surface and fluid technology.  The specialized technical services include production engineering, joining and heat treatment, laser welding, and precision manufacturing of machine parts and prototyping as well as materials testing, failure analysis, structural mechanics, machine dynamics and acoustics. Sulzer Innotec is embedded within a broad network of universities and institutes.

After the successful opening to the external market the portion of the services sold to third-party customers is more than four fifth of the total turnover. Sulzer Innotec employs 105 highly qualified and experienced employees. Nearly half of them are academically educated engineers or scientists from most diverse disciplines and are supported by technicians and laboratory workers.

To strengthen the technology leadership of Sulzer, technology management is a core process on corporate level. Thus the impact of Sulzer Innotec as a source of technological innovations is significant within the company.