Choosing an industrial cooperation partner requires two kinds of evidence: a view of the sector and a clear account of what an organisation can contribute. They answer different questions. A large trade flow can justify further investigation; it cannot establish that a particular company is ready to run a joint trial.
This methodological note relates to the industrial-analysis work described in our 2nd Life experience. It sets out a practical way to organise evidence without reporting client-specific findings.
Start with the cooperation question
Before collecting figures, define the decision. Are you looking for a material supplier, a processing partner, a testing organisation or a route to a new application? For a plastics collaboration, the relevant question might concern a particular polymer, processing method and end-use requirement. “The plastics sector” is too broad to serve as a specification.
Record the product scope, territory, reference period and intended use of the analysis. Keep a short list of exclusions so that the reader can see what the figures do not cover.
Separate trade from production
Eurostat’s international trade in goods statistics describe the value and quantity of goods traded by product and partner. PRODCOM provides measures of industrial production, including sold production. These are different observations: goods crossing a border and goods produced and sold do not describe the same activity.
Before combining datasets, check product codes, classification versions, units, geography and reference years. Preserve source notes and flags. A missing or confidential value should remain visible as a limitation, rather than being converted into zero.
Our practical interpretation is to use aggregate data to identify questions worth investigating. Treat conclusions about individual organisations as a separate evidence task.
Build a capability record for each candidate
For every potential partner, record the contribution being considered and the evidence supporting it. Useful fields include materials handled, processes, relevant applications, testing access, source date and the questions still to confirm directly.
A published description can support an initial shortlist. Before planning a joint trial, confirm the specific equipment or partner access required, available capacity, material specifications and who would perform each activity. Keep a documented capability separate from an expression of interest.
Turn the shortlist into a testable next step
Consider a hypothetical collaboration to assess a recycled polymer in a new component. Sector statistics help frame the context. The technical discussion must then establish who can supply a suitable sample, process it under defined conditions and evaluate the resulting component. Neither the size of a regional industry nor a company’s broad activity label answers those questions.
A useful output is a concise evidence matrix: candidate, proposed role, supporting source, unresolved requirement and next validation step. This makes the reasoning behind a shortlist inspectable and helps a project team focus its next conversation.
Sources and further reading
- Eurostat: international trade in goods — information on data.
- Eurostat: PRODCOM — information on data.
Discuss an industrial cooperation or evidence-mapping question with NEXUS.