An INNOVATION SYSTEM represents the totality of all subcomponents and plays an indispensable role in successful innovation. But what are the key elements of a successful innovation system, and what role do MITTELSTAND enterprises – the SMEs that form the …
Steinbeis Day 2023 | Network. Event. Campus.
A review and impressions of the day
In keeping with tradition, the Steinbeis network met up once again on September 29, 2023 for a Steinbeis networking event. Going by the name Network. Event. Campus., the meet-up was an opportunity for …
“It’s about doing things right”
An interview with Steinbeis Entrepreneur Wolfgang Müller
Innovation systems, innovation management, innovation financing – topics Steinbeis expert Wolfgang Müller knows everything about. For more than 30 years, he has been helping companies implement innovation projects. In an interview with TRANSFER …
MindTags: Always Headed in the Right Direction
A problem for some becomes an innovative solution for all
MindTags Group has been tackling an everyday problem for blind people – finding their bearings and gathering information in buildings. In part, this issue has a direct impact on actual …
When Geopolitics Gains the Upper Hand
Not only do innovations have to be good – they also have to overcome geopolitical hurdles
Innovations are relatively easy to recognize because they make things fundamentally better, faster, or easier. But where do “things new” come from? How do …
“We see sustainable action as a corporate and socio-ecological responsibility for the future”
An interview with Dr. Philipp Liedl, Steinbeis Entrepreneur at the Steinbeis Consulting Center Technological Transformation
Accelerated innovation cycles, the rapidly decreasing half-life of expert knowledge, and multiple crises pose a variety of new challenges to innovation systems. How can all …
Acquiring and Passing on Knowledge
Steinbeis experts focus on the development of competences
The Steinbeis Transfer Institute competence institute unisono specializes in developing the skills of people and organizations. The many certification courses it offers allow experts to pass on know-how not only in the …
Achieving Regional Progress Together – Cooperative Innovation Ecosystems
A response to disruptive developments and complex challenges in the SME sector
In times of turmoil, there is an opportunity for SMEs organized into cooperatives to respond to complex challenges by finding solutions together, especially by harnessing the power and …
Transform – and Innovate
An exploration of the interplay between emerging technologies, education, and innovation at SMEs
In his youth, Professor Fritz J. Neff, Steinbeis expert and author of this edition’s Steinbeis Swipe column, enjoyed watching bakers, butchers, carpenters, clockmakers, and glassblowers manufacture their …
Pizza Circolare and Food Council
Small innovations help shape the future of urban food and beverage systems
FUSILLI is an EU project involving 12 European cities with a focus on sustainable, inclusive, and healthy food systems. As a member of the project consortium, Steinbeis Europa …
Dear Readers,
The SME sector has written an impressive history of innovation and entrepreneurship in Germany, with many global market leaders and hidden champions coming from this segment of the economy.. But innovation is not just about developing revolutionary technology. It can …
Utilize the Unseen
An interview with Professor Dr.-Ing. habil. Gerhard Linß and Steffen Lübbecke, managing directors of Steinbeis Qualitätssicherung und Bildverarbeitung GmbH
Utilize the Unseen – this is the motto of RUBIN-AMI, a research alliance launched in October 2022 to look into multimodal …
Micromobility rethought
mocci and Steinbeis shape the future of eMobility – digitally and sustainably
The hustle and bustle of modern cities underscores the importance of making places more liveable in the future. Mobility solutions play a crucial role in this. Mobility will …
The Importance of Cultures of Innovation and Managing Innovation with Corporate Innovation Systems
Systematic and creative – how innovations become a success
The transformation of ideas into innovation requires a confluence of factors, including the right people, ample funding, and a well-functioning innovation system. In this context, the role of a culture …
Mastering Funding – Through Good Management
Making better use of tax allowances for research – and boosting competitiveness
On January 1, 2024, the German federal government will significantly improve tax allowances for research through the Growth Opportunities Act, yet few companies are making good use of …
“You need a vision”
An interview with Professor Uwe Dittmann, Steinbeis Entrepreneur at the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Marketing, Logistics and Company Planning at Pforzheim University
Uwe Dittmann and his team are building a network of companies in the Pforzheim, Enz County, and Northern …
For a smooth riding experience
Steinbeis-Team develops a universal test rig for bicycle wheels
The wheels are the most important part of a bicycle and require extensive testing, not only to determine service life and load limits, but also to make optimizations. The challenge is …
Turning the Spotlight on Alternative Sources of Protein
The first FutureFood conference in Anklam showcases innovations in sustainable nutrition
Advancements in alternative protein sources are of critical importance, especially given current food supply and sustainability challenges. Dealing with global population growth, climate change, and intensifying demands on resources …
Comfortable Temperatures for Electric Cars
Steinbeis experts participate in ZIM thermal management project
E-Car-Tech produces conversion kits that allow vehicles with combustion engines to be refitted with electric motors. One issue in this area comes with thermal management, which is not only different but also …
Implementing Successful Digital Transformation Projects with the DTXN
Steinbeis experts develop a navigator for measuring digital maturity
The word “innovation” is derived from the Latin verb “innovare,” which means “to renew.” This underscores the fact that without innovation, neither companies nor society can hold on to the achievements …
AAWS – Innovative and Climate-Friendly
Steinbeis experts at FiberCrete develop cement-free concrete for use in the base elements of maintenance holes
For more than a century, Portland cement has been used as the primary binding agent in concrete production – albeit at a high price, …
Prepared for an Emergency
Coping successfully with a corporate crisis with the Steinbeis+Akademie certification course
Everyday life for German SMEs often feels like a constant attempt to navigate through one crisis to another. It’s not uncommon for there to be only one remaining option: …
Dear Readers,
The term “New Mittelstand” brings together two worlds: startups on the one hand and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) on the other. The new and novel meet the tried and tested. The declared goal: to prepare Germany’s successful SMEs for …
How Mittelstand Enterprises Stand to Benefit from Company Acquisitions
Steinbeis experts support SMEs with expansion strategies and financing growth
Many in Germany associate corporate takeovers and acquisitions with companies listed on the DAX (the stock market index in Germany). For medium-sized enterprises, acquiring another business presents an enticing opportunity …
Tracking Resources
Resource conservation in production: a key success factor
Skills shortages, international competition, and high wages underscore just how crucial it is to continuously optimize the use of resources at all stages of the value chain. To help with this issue, …
Digital Transformation – an Opportunity for Mittelstand Enterprises
The Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute introduces SMEs to new business models and working in ecosystems
Since the earliest phase of the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century, which was triggered by the steam engine, to the second phase …
From Business Intelligence to Business Competence
Steinbeis experts co-develop an AI-driven support system to improve the management of skills requirements
Companies currently face a variety of complex challenges, with constant changes in the business environment compelling them to question their business models – in some cases …
Mittelstand: The Next Generation
A team of Steinbeis experts increasingly solves succession issues by pulling together teams from inside and outside companies
According to the 2022 KfW Succession Monitoring Report, there is an “increasing shortage of succession candidates.” The authors of the report cite …
Time for a New Way of Thinking – The Changing Nature of the Mittelstand
A team of experts from Stralsund university comes up with different ways for Mittelstand companies to continue underpinning the German economy
Innovation, quality, change – steadfast companions of the Mittelstand, the bedrock of SMEs in Germany. Mittelstand firms are currently …
“Mittelstand companies place particular emphasis on values”
An interview with Steinbeis Entrepreneur Professor Dr. Georg von Schnurbein
The term itself is enough to highlight the expectations faced by the new generation of SMEs in Germany – the New Mittelstand, where things new and global now intersect with …
The new Mittelstand
The very term highlights the POTENTIAL TO FOSTER CHANGE and a COLLISION OF TWO WORLDS: NEW MITTELSTAND – the successful transferral of the tried and tested into the FUTURE while also exploiting opportunities to bring about something new. In other …
Business Etiquette: An Update to Personal Conduct at Work
Steinbeis experts offer certificate courses with the support of business partners
competence institute unisono, the Steinbeis Transfer Institute of the Steinbeis+Akademie, is offering certification courses to become a skills trainer in (international) business etiquette in collaboration with two providers of …
SMEs on the Path to Industry 5.0
Professor Dr.-Ing. Adrian Pisla explains why SMEs need an environment that lays emphasis on social and technological factors
The Engineering & Management Steinbeis Enterprise – or EMSEC – was founded in March 2023 in Cluj-Napoca, a city in Transylvania in …