New ideas within old walls

Innovation at MÜNZING does not just mean talking about it, but actively living and implementing it. In the first MÜNZING Innovation Workshop, the “Innovation” business unit, which was newly established last year, showed how creative ideas are generated across different areas and how future topics are brought into focus.

Horneck Castle, which overlooks Gundelsheim, was the perfect location for creative ideas. Vision and grounding through a long history - that suits MÜNZING.

MÜNZING's strength - adapting almost 200 years of chemical know-how to trend topics - was tangible in all approaches.

One particularly striking statement: "Every thought in the direction of innovation also goes in the direction of sustainability."

The discussions centered on topics such as sustainable nutrition, recycling, rapid and space transportation, wind power, 3D printing, and food technology.

At the end of the day, there was a special team event - the “knight games” impressively demonstrated how well the teams already work together. The bridge that was symbolically created during the workshop was put into practice in the evening.

Day 2: Focus and realization

After intensive discussions and deep diving into the ideas landscape, some promising approaches were identified. Practical criteria were at the forefront when selecting the topics:

• Is the plant technology available?
• Is an acquisition necessary?
• Is fundamental research required?
• Is there direct market access?
• What added value can we create?
• What unique selling point does the idea offer?
• What regulatory requirements need to be taken into account?

The participants selected four ideas that promised the most significant potential. These ideas can be pitched to management, and anyone who sees added value for themselves and their work has the opportunity to participate in the project - for which MÜNZING provides time and resources.

This also opens up exciting opportunities for final theses and innovation projects in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM). We are already looking forward to the students' ideas.

The first MÜNZING Innovation Workshop is an essential step in the continuous development of MÜNZING. The consistently positive feedback and promising ideas from all participants confirm that this hackathon was a decisive step in the right direction.