Technology Leaders Recognised by Fraunhofer Institute

Which companies are true champions when it comes to identifying new technologies? This is a question which the German Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT has tried to answer. More than 200 leading companies participated in its survey and five were honoured.

The institute found the winners in cooperation with experts from successful enterprises such as Opel, Audi, BMW, Roche, Saurer and Bosch. The aim of the survey was to identify and compare the most successful approaches and concepts for the early identification of new technologies among leading European companies.

The investigation was based on a detailed written survey to which 207 businesses responded. The Endress+Hauser (Switzerland) people taking part in the analysis were Ulrich Kaiser, Head of Technology, and Marc Baret, Technology Manager of Endress+Hauser Maulburg, the company’s competence center for level and pressure measurement.

“We were questioned about different areas and topics in the early identification of technologies, with the focus on the process of early identification, how it is organised, on its methods and tools, its link to our strategies and the evaluation of technologies at the early stages,” explains Ulrich Kaiser.

Following the pre-selection, the most promising candidates were interviewed in great detail. The anonymised results went to the members of the jury for their assessment, with the jury eventually picking five companies that are particularly skilled and successful at implementing their concepts for the early identification of new technologies.

Beside Endress+Hauser, the other companies were Osram GmbH, Enel from Italy, Wittenstein AG and 3M Germany GmbH. “We are proud to be a member of this illustrious club,” says Ulrich Kaiser. “We cannot look into each and every technology ourselves, but we can gain a lot if we keep a keen and watchful eye on what’s happening worldwide in research laboratories, both of the scientific community and of the industry.”