The innvotion2business.nrw project, funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, helps companies to identify suitable technologies and cooperation partners.
In order to remain competitive in the long term, mechanical engineering must be innovative. Knowledge of new technologies and research results is essential here. While large market players have relevant resources in terms of research and development, SMEs rarely have access to them. But this is where external service providers can help.
As part of the virtual exchange of experience under the headline “Technology and knowledge transfer with innovation2business.nrw” on June 18, 2024, Oliver Werche, project manager from Provendis GmbH, provided an overview of the services offered by the innovation2business.nrw funding project. The services are free of charge and are funded by the state of NRW (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy – MWIKE).
Werche explained the various consulting modules of innovation2business.nrw. These are based on an analysis of the companies’ needs and the provision of solutions. Using practical examples, he reported on how the required technology needs are defined in workshops with the company and how requirements and search criteria are worked out with the aim of finding suitable know-how providers from the NRW university landscape.
For example, Werche reported on the transfer of expertise in the field of digital sensor technology for Jakob Müller AG. The company had no experience in the digitalization of miniature sensors for digital monitoring in the manufacturing process of industrial textiles. The solution provided by innovation2business.nrw was to offer a bilateral research project in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Bochum University of Applied Sciences.
A question and answer session with lively participation from the participants from the Innovation Management and Business Development departments rounded off the exchange of web experiences.
Further information
Organizer
The event was offered by ProduktionNRW. ProduktionNRW is the cluster for mechanical engineering and production technology in North Rhine-Westphalia and is organized by VDMA NRW. ProduktionNRW sees itself as a platform for networking, informing and marketing companies, institutions and networks with each other and along the value chain. Significant parts of the services provided by ProduktionNRW are funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.