futureSAX Innova­ti­on ­Forum, March 21, 2019

Innovation through cooperation: Opportunities and challenges in the cooperation between start-ups and established companies

Medium-sized companies are an essential basis of our economic success. Often the recipe for success of these companies is characterized by a strong technology orientation. However, in Germany, such companies invest less in business model innovations and new products in an international comparison and in comparison to large companies.

• Cooperation with start-ups can support their own innovation activities in a variety of ways.
• Strategic cooperation can be used to pursue a variety of innovation goals.
• The cooperation must be embedded in an innovation strategy in which the objectives of the cooperation are defined.

Table sponsor
Jun. Professor Mario Geissler, Junior Professorship for Entrepreneurship in Foundation and Succession, Chemnitz University of Technology

In order to survive in the face of competition, SMEs have to prepare themselves for the future in times of digital and demographic change. New approaches and innovative impulses are needed to master these challenges under uncertain conditions. In order to make this possible internally and externally, strategically applied openness in the corporate culture plays a key role.

• What fears of contact exist with regard to the willingness to cooperate between SMEs and start-ups and how can inhibitions be reduced?
• Keyword Intrapreneurship: What can established companies learn from start-ups with regard to an Open Innovation culture?
• Openness in external presentation - How transparent does my company really have to be?

Table sponsor
Martin Kutschinski, Head of Project Group Start-ups Southwest Saxony Digital (SWS), Plauen

Technical progress is an essential factor for the foundation, growth and future stability of companies. Technologies are often the core of product, process and business innovations. Initial for a founding idea and start-up is usually an innovation to realize an advantage in the market.

The following theses and questions, among others, will be discussed at the table:

• Technology transfer from start-ups is not yet sufficiently considered as an element of an innovation strategy.
• Added value must be clearly evident for start-ups and medium-sized companies.
• Which complementary instruments, platforms and organization for technology transfer can support this?
• What obstacles exist for such technology transfer?

Table sponsor
Prof. Dr. Sonntag, Scientific Director of the Dresden University of Applied Sciences

MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY ACROSS DISCIPLINARY AND INDUSTRY BOUNDARIES

Alliances and partnerships with creative partners and initiators for new and further developments. One way for companies to access creative potential and external capabilities for research and development is to cooperate with university and non-university research institutions. In the World Café, the aim is to work out how technology transfer between science and business can succeed, what opportunities are available to both sides and what general conditions must be in place for successful transfer.

The World Café will address the following questions, among others:

• From the ivory tower to the workbench - How must knowledge be prepared in order to be successfully transferred to industry?
• Material characteristics and ROI - How can successful communication between disciplines be achieved?
• Contract research, R&D project or acquisition of licenses - What are the suitable options for technology transfer?
• Identifying external knowledge - How to know what is possible?

Table sponsor
Mattes Brähmig, Project Manager Innovation Network smart³ / Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Bautzen / Dresden

Research institutions at universities of applied sciences as technology providers and project partners

The project Saxony5 stands for technology transfer from research and development of the Saxon universities of applied sciences to the economy. The Co-Creation Lab Additive Manufacturing is specifically concerned with the transfer of technologies and knowledge from the field of generative processes.

• The use of the generative procedures requires in the middle class a deep reorientation to the understanding of advantages of the procedures without losing sight of the disadvantages.
• Particularly the middle class can profit from a special training to generative procedures at universities.
• The cooperation with universities offers direct access to the latest industry-related research results.

Table sponsor
Michael Pfeifer, Research Assistant Laser Institute University of Applied Sciences Mittweida 

Transfer using the example of a skilled worker initiative: GlasCampus Torgau

A joint initiative for skilled workers involving a university is an ideal basis for establishing barrier-free communication between science and business. Specific advanced training courses for core industries qualify technical specialists and increase the flexibility of companies.

Continuing education formats in the form of professional schools offer an ideal basis for the transfer of knowledge and will pave the way for the targeted transfer of technologies.

• How can new qualifications in personnel and the transfer of technologies be mutually beneficial?
• Should continuing education formats for personnel who have moved up the career ladder be institutionalized?
• Which qualification should be taught in-service training to reach the state of the art?
• Do training courses in vocational schools include the state of the art?
• Is the state of the art in master schools a topic?

Table sponsor
Jonathan Engelhardt, Transfer Assistant Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg

Valuable data from production, logistics or customer service is often kept in silos and recently literally "piled up" in large data lakes. However, knowledge about data origin, data quality and data ownership is often lost.

In ScaDS we are researching methods to easily link data in networks and to cleanse them for analysis, also in compliance with data protection.

At the Theme Table you will gain insight into the possibilities of such tools and discuss how internal company processes can be optimized and new potentials identified.

• What do your data silos look like and how can they be resolved?
• Linking also brings risks. How do you get the support of all stakeholders, especially the employees?
• How can data silos be shared and linked across company boundaries?

Table sponsor
Dr. Eric Peukert, Deputy Managing Director Competence Center for Scalable Data Services and Solutions Dresden/Leipzig (ScaDS), Leipzig

In companies of all industries and sizes, data accumulates. In addition to customer data, this also concerns data from machines or sensors, which is often neglected in public discussions. These data, profitably linked and used, can open up new possibilities for value creation. The Fraunhofer IMW and the University of Leipzig are investigating how this can work in the joint project Data Mining and Value Creation.

At the Theme Table you will gain insights into the application-oriented research of the project and discuss best-practice examples and your own ideas for the successful use of data.

• What data is generated in your company?
• How can this data be better used?
• How can this data use lead to cost optimization, new products and services or new business models?

Table sponsor
Prof. Dr. Heiko Gebauer, Project Manager "Data Mining and Value Creation", Fraunhofer Institute for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW, Leipzig

In every company there is a lot of knowledge, creativity and innovation potential. What is missing is the knowledge about and where as well as "spaces" to promote a lively exchange of expert knowledge and ideas.

Not the software tool is the promoter, but the specifically prepared and networked knowledge within the company, the targeted networking of employees. In the age of digitization, the "Olympus of knowledge" is a key factor for the success of medium-sized companies.

• Generation 50plus - taken along in the knowledge age?!
• Manager - Motivator or doer!
• Knowledge capital of the future - experience knowledge becomes more and more, if you share it?

Table sponsor
Dagmar Lange, Project Manager "Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Chemnitz" Chamber of Industry and Commerce Chemnitz

Matching between successors and handovers plays a central role in the succession process. In order to be able to assess the risks of a company takeover well from the outset, the succession project should be clearly defined and a thorough examination of the company should be carried out - and one should deal with oneself honestly.

• What criteria does an entrepreneur use to select a successor?
• What skills and how much energy should the successor(s) bring with them?
• Why do I need a business plan for company succession?
• How do I manage to gain the trust of the entrepreneur, the employees and other stakeholders?

Table sponsor
Manuela Zenk, Project Manager Company Succession TUCed - Institut für Weiterbildung GmbH, Chemnitz

The appropriate financing of a succession requires an in-depth analysis of the transaction structure. The resulting financial requirements for both the implementation and the future corporate financing must be covered by the right financing mix of equity and debt capital. The principle "liquidity before profitability" must always be observed.

• How much equity capital can I contribute?
• What credit security options do I have?
• How do I finance the projects after the company takeover?

Table sponsor
Markus H. Michalow, Managing Director of Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen - MBG, Dresden

The advisors of the chambers of skilled crafts actively accompany the process of company succession from the search for a successor and company, through financing, to the handover date and beyond. Questions of the succession process are discussed at the thematic table:

• How do I optimally design the succession process from the point of view of the transferor and the transferee?
• How do I find the right successor?
• When is the best time to start with company succession?
• What are the basic requirements for a successful corporate succession?

Table sponsor
Jens Krause, management consultant, Leipzig Chamber of Crafts

The key to successful products, in growing markets, is a combination of a trusting, open innovation culture, the identification of conscious and unconscious customer needs, the correct application of innovation methods such as the Business Model Canvas, Design Thinking and TRIZ, as well as efficient and long-term partners that complement each other well.

Get a first insight into creative and user-centered product development with elements of Design Thinking and the TRIZ methodology in the practical workshop.

• What are the secrets of success in innovation projects besides honest, clear and appreciative communication?
• What do Design Thinking and TRIZ have in common?
• How can you use resources even more efficiently in order to reduce product and process costs and to act sustainably?
• How does the TRIZ methodology work in practice easily and quickly in 5 minutes?
• Presentation

Dr.-Ing. Sabine Lautenschläger, Managing Director InfraRes GmbH, Leipzig
Martin Sachse, Technology Transfer AGIL Leipzig

Transfer In concrete terms: Designing efficient and networked business processes, using and securing

Digitalization and Industry 4.0 make it possible to model and simulate company business processes extensively and virtually. The tool ARIS, a comprehensive tool for the design, documentation and simulation of business processes, will be explained for you using various scenarios as examples. In addition it gives insights into:

• Parameterization of individual process steps
• Simulation and evaluation of related process steps
• Identification of interdependencies between different processes
• Derivation of weak points in the process landscape

Presentation
Sebastian Wolf, Research Associate AIIS West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau
Pierre Werner, Knowledge Transfer AIIS West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau