The second time around, the FST Innovation Fair again met with a great response in Weinheim. The event had its debut in Plymouth in the United States a month later.
The term “innovations” can be defined in myriad ways and its contents are just as varied. At the Innovation Fair organized by Technology & Innovation (T&I) in September in Weinheim, the topic was clear and the directions simple: T&I had structured the various current innovation themes on the agenda of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) into three areas. This was also reflected spatially in the arrangement of the exhibition booths.
One part of the fair consisted of the incubator teams. These are dedicated specifically to the development and market launch of products that FST considers to be particularly important and promising in its strategy. Incubators were established for wave guide antennas, busbars, cell caps, thermal barriers and
H2 energy stacks.
Hydrogen, fuel cells, batteries, electromobility, and renewable energy – these were the buzzwords in the second trade fair area. This was where individual divisions presented what they were working on for the future. Trade fair exhibits such as a hydrogen compressor (Fluid Power) and a collaborative robot, or “cobot” (O-Rings), represented the range of topics currently on the agenda in the divisions.
The third area of the trade fair, titled “Innovation Support”, highlighted methods and tools used by FST to accelerate innovations. In a time of fundamental technological changes, how can a company determine future customer demands as precisely as possible in order to align its developments with them instead of missing the mark? How does the Design for Six Sigma development method benefit FST? How are the test and inspection procedures for new applications established?
The event venue, Building 112 of the Weinheim Industrial Park, was a flurry of activity during the five hours of the trade fair. It was filled with people discussing ideas, sometimes in pairs in detailed talks, sometimes in small groups. Here you would have seen one person pointing at an exhibition board, another exploring a product sample, and right next to them, two employees who apparently hadn’t seen one another in a while shaking hands. The visitors clearly showed interest, attentively listening to explanations and asking questions, all in a vibrant, focused atmosphere.
That was exactly how the T&I organization team envisioned it. Like the premiere last year, the second edition of the FST Innovation Fair was completed successfully. And this while being held under more difficult conditions: Last year, the trade fair was embedded in the R&D conference; this year, it had to exert its magnetic force all by itself.
Verena Mayer headed the organizing team, and the event’s success was clearly reflected in the look of satisfaction on her face. “Our goal was to create transparency in the development process at FST, to stimulate discussions between employees in different functional areas and to uncover potential synergies.” Exactly one month later, the concept was planted on American shores: A counterpart of the Weinheim Innovation Fair took place in Plymouth in the U.S. state of Michigan on October 12.
An article on the Innovation Fair in Plymouth can be found in the FST portal at:
Discoveries, Talent on Display (sharepoint.com)
