Überlingen – The innovation leaders in Germany's SME sector are dusting off their evening wear in preparation for the 25th TOP 100 awards. The winning companies have been selected following independent scientific analysis by Professor NikolausFranke, who will be joined by the competition's mentor, RangaYogeshwar, and its initiator, compamedia, at the fifth German SME Summit on 29 June in Ludwigsburg to present the winners with their awards. After success in 2016, WENZEL Group now returns to the ranks of Germany’s most innovative companies. In an independent selection procedure, the company and its 390-odd employees particularly impressed the panel with its innovation processes.

 

 

WENZEL Group GmbH & Co. KG is a leading manufacturer of measuring machines offering a wide range of measuring technologies – from coordinate metrology to high-speed scanning and on to computed tomography. The company, which has now made it into the TOP 100 for the second time, employs around 390 people who work on turnkey solutions for quality assurance processes in almost all branches of industry.

 

Over the past two years, the Wiesthal-based company has restructured its innovation management to make it even more effective, for example with the creation of the management position of Chief Digital Officer. A multi-project office (MPO) was also set up to assume responsibility for coordinating innovation projects as well as project manager coaching. It acts to select and prioritize projects together with the business management. “At companies of our size, a separate MPO team is not yet an established norm,” says Managing Director Dr. Heike Wenzel. The benefits it offers, however, are clear to her: expert project managers are complemented by a method-oriented team that also takes care to ensure that project teams comprise the right interdisciplinary mix of people. WENZEL Group also has five internal think tanks with access to “innovation pools” from which they can obtain everything they need to test out new ideas independently of normal order processes.

 

"The way the TOP 100 companies approach challenges is really fascinating. They are using their creativity, determination, and audacity to achieve what we need as a society: novel solutions to problems, resulting in prosperity, growth, and employment," commented TOP 100's scientific director, Professor NikolausFranke, on the occasion of the awards.

 

Competition mentor RangaYogeshwar was equally impressed: "The TOP 100 are small and medium-sized businesses that are willing to shake things up and aren't afraid of letting go of the old. People who don't fear new ideas and practices, and indeed embrace change. Entrepreneurs, whose businesses remain stable and successful, precisely because they are constantly evolving."