TOP 100 Award: Ranga Yogeshwar Honors WERMA Signaltechnik for Innovative Achievements

Summary

At the German SME Summit, Ranga Yogeshwar congratulated WERMA Signaltechnik GmbH + Co KG from Rietheim-Weilheim on being awarded the TOP 100 seal. The award ceremony took place on Friday, June 28, in Weimar as part of the Summit for all SMEs that received the TOP 100 seal at the beginning of the year. The science journalist is accompanying the innovation competition, which is being held for the 31st time, as a mentor. In the scientific selection process, WERMA was particularly convincing in size category C (over 200 employees) in the category "Innovation-promoting top management." This is the sixth time that the company has been one of the top innovators.
 

TOP 100: The competition

Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. In the 31st edition of the innovation competition, 388 medium-sized companies competed for the award. The scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Niko-laus Franke since 2002. Franke is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The mentor of TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners include the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW.

Innovation researcher Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and his team examined the innovative strength of all participants on behalf of compamedia, the organizer of the competition, using more than 100 criteria from five categories. "Are the companies able to create new products, new services, new processes and new business models? And are these achievements just coincidences or the result of a structured and targeted approach? These are the questions we examine at TOP 100," said Nikolaus Franke, explaining his approach to the review. It is also important how and whether innovations and product improvements have been able to establish themselves on the market.

Innovation champion once again

At the beginning of the year, WERMA Signaltechnik once again came out on top in the scientific selection process and was named one of the top innovators for the sixth time. WERMA Managing Director Matthias Marquardt and Head of Development Daniel Kensy are delighted to have received the award once again and are beaming with joy as they accept the coveted TOP 100 trophy in Weimar.

The company was particularly convincing in size category C (more than 200 employees) in the "Innovative processes and organization" category. The Swabian company's innovation process is based on the "WERMA Development System." This consists of an idea phase as well as a project and realization phase. Another key driver of innovation is in-house software development. When searching for new solutions, WERMA works with the "Scrum process," a method for agile project management.
 

Innovation is a top priority at WERMA

The company from southern Germany specializes in the development of optical and acoustic signalling devices as well as related systems for process optimization in industry and logistics. WERMA Signaltechnik thinks ahead: the networking of signalling devices creates solutions that help customers to quickly and easily analyze and sustainably optimize processes in production, logistics and assembly.

Daniel Kensy said: "Our innovation strategy is directed both outwards and inwards: On the one hand, we always put customer added value at the forefront. On the other hand, we focus on our three core competencies: Digitalization, networks and software." Once a year, top management and other executives meet at a strategy meeting to define the focus for the coming months and years. The topics of environmental protection and CO2 footprint also play an important role here.

"We want to continue to optimize our innovation process in line with sustainability requirements," said Managing Director Matthias Marquardt.