Hardly any other industry has experienced such a transformation in recent years as the automotive sector. Innovations in products, services and processes have become essential for survival. No one can avoid the overpowering driver of climate change.

We identify four areas in particular in which the current challenges in the industry take place:

– E-mobility
– Driver assistance systems and autonomous driving
– Big Data
– The war for innovations and patents

The particular challenge in innovation work lies in the area of mindset work and the creation of innovation culture and interdisciplinary work structures. 

The reason lies in the very long traditions and rather conservative, preserving corporate cultures. Particularly challenging is the integration of the production-related, experienced teams into the innovation work.

Some of our customers:
AUDI, Continental, Daimler, Nemak, Sixt, Toyota, Volkswagen.

For our customers in the automotive sector we have:

… trained internal innovation coaches who moderate innovation projects and additionally distribute innovation knowledge within the company.

… organized innovation management and developed and implemented it with agile frameworks.

… moderated strategically relevant signature projects.

… developed and implemented campaigns to sustainably promote the culture of innovation.

The chemical industry is on the edge of Chemistry 4.0, which is characterized by digitalization and the circular economy.

Innovations are needed to enable:

– the digital revolution
– sustainability and climate protection
– closing material cycles

In product portfolios, raw materials must give way to comprehensive offerings of sustainable solutions for customers and the environment.

At the same time, research is about their decentralization into customer markets, imaginative use of Big Data, and joint, integrated development with customers.

Some of our customers:
BASF, BayWa, DOMO Chemicals, Evonik, Unilever.

For our customers in the chemical sector we have:

… trained internal innovation coaches who moderate innovation projects and additionally distribute innovation knowledge within the company.

… organized innovation management and developed and implemented it with agile frameworks.

… moderated strategically relevant signature projects to find new business models.

… provide top management with relevant strategic innovation knowledge.

The international consumer goods industry has been in a state of constant change for years. Thus, the current situation of manufacturers and retailers worldwide is characterized by important challenges such as
– demographic change
– rising raw material prices and booming emerging markets
– increasing globalization and societal digitalization

To ensure continued growth and stability, more meaningful stories need to be told and new narratives developed.

Innnovation work is about new visibility and making excellent use of trends and anticipating just in time.

Some of our customers:
Fripa, Hornbach, IKEA, Leifheit, OBI, Schüco, Sennheiser, Warema

For our customers in the consumer goods sector we have:

… made efficient working with trends and subsequent integration into innovation work possible.

… organized innovation management and developed and implemented it with agile frameworks.

… moderated strategically relevant innovation projects to find new products and business models.

… provided top management with relevant strategic innovation knowledge.

The energy transition has been fundamentally changing the energy world for some time.
On the generation side, there is a shift from centralized large power plants to smaller, decentralized energy generation plants with wind power and photovoltaics.

At the same time, however, the end-user side is also changing due to increasing electrification of the heating and mobility market (heat pumps, electric vehicles, etc.).

These comprehensive developments pose completely new innovation challenges for energy providers and, in particular, grid operators.

Vital to survival:
– Ideas for smart grid expansion
– Ideas for strong integration of the consumer side
– Innovations that create higher integrations and penetrate all areas of life – energy alone is not enough.

Some of our customers:
Nehlsen AG, Rheinenergie, RWE

For our customers in the energy provider sector we have:

… moderated and coached idea generation and prototyping.

… moderated signature projects that revolved around new and radical business models.

… trained internal innovation coaches who moderate innovation projects themselves and additionally distribute innovation knowledge within the company.

… provided top management with relevant strategic innovation knowledge.

Within the framework of its current business models, the industry is under increasing pressure to maintain and expand its competitiveness.

The current innovation challenges are very broad and complex – innovations and disruptive ideas are born almost daily in the market and competition of financiers and insurers.

It therefore needs:

– Efficiency improvements, e.g., through digitalization and automation in current workflows and processes.

– Transformations, e.g., for employees in the context of the corporate culture

– A very comprehensive, multidisciplinary innovation expertise to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in the high volume of market innovations

– An objectifiable, ongoing assessment of business models and knowledge of the individual starting position in each case
Likewise, innovation must help to avoid “broken trust” and overly complex user experiences in the business models.

Some of our customers:
Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Generali, Versicherungskammer Bayern

For our customers in the field of finance / insurance we have:

… organized innovation management and developed it with agile frameworks and brought it into implementation.

… accompanied digitization projects.

… co-designed an evaluated system for new ideas.

… moderated a 6-month radical design thinking project.

Decarbonization has become a key global task for governments, businesses and society at large.

For some industries, however, the transformation toward lower carbon turnover is an overly large challenge – including aviation.

– Smart and dynamic innovation strategies have become necessary on a scale never before imagined.

– Likewise, new ideas are needed to drive long-term customer demand through appropriate incentive mechanisms and differentiated offerings.

Some of our customers:
Eurowings, Fraport, German Wings, Han Air, Lufthansa

For our customers in the air transport sector we have:

… facilitated workshops for the search and prioritization of innovation search fields to sharpen the innovation strategy.

… facilitated idea generation workshops.

… trained internal innovation coaches who moderate innovation projects and additionally distribute innovation knowledge within the company.

How we eat healthy and tasty food in the future while at the same time using our resources responsibly – especially in view of the growing world population – is the major challenge facing the food industry worldwide.

Every company must be extremely vigilant in order not to be suddenly disrupted by new radical ideas from small and fast competitors.

Inventiveness is needed in potential fields such as:

– Urban Farming
– Alternative protein sources
– Food upcycling
– Circular flow concepts
– Blockchain solutions that can ensure sustainability

Some of our customers:
Aldi Suisse, Dextro, Dr. Oetker

For our customers in the food sector, we have:

… challenged the business model together with the help of disruption scenarios.

… facilitated workshops that used external inspiration to rethink the product portfolio in a new and more sustainable way.

… provided top management with relevant strategic innovation knowledge.

… trained internal innovation coaches who moderate innovation projects and also distribute innovation knowledge throughout the company.

For this purpose, we have developed special innovation tools for the food industry together with our verrocchio Fellow and food expert Hila Attaie:

– Food Inspiration Cards
– Minesweeper Framework

The current challenges for the healthcare system are enormous. Demographic and social trends, as well as changes in the spectrum of diseases, pose a major threat to the stability of the healthcare system.

Also of great relevance, however, are medical-technical progress, the advancing shortage of skilled workers, individualization, climate change and increased immigration. These parallel developments must be addressed with integrated solutions and innovative ideas.

Innovative products, rethought processes and smart business models can make a valuable contribution to solving these challenges.

Of great importance in this context are

– technological trends

– innovative developments from the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical technology

– all new communication possibilities – especially the inclusion of mobile devices in health care and prevention, called mHealth, should be highlighted here

Some of our customers:
SOS Children’s Village

For our customers in the health and social sector we have:

… trained innovation coaches, who moderate innovation projects and additionally distribute innovation knowledge within the company.

Customers’ requirements and expectations of retailers are evolving at a rapid pace, as clearly demonstrated by the corona pandemic, among other things.

Various challenges are occupying the industry:

– The digital transformation – it is drastically changing retail. The digital transformation is becoming more and more an integral part of retail companies in Germany, eCommerce and retail stores are moving ever closer together. Online retailing sometimes poses challenges for the traditional retail business, but it also opens the way to new cooperation models from which both sides benefit.

– The “smartness” trend – in the sense of digital and thus efficient business models and solutions that accurately record current operations in stores and thus allow appropriate control of processes and resources.

– The adaptation of the retail offering to so-called micro-segments – In concrete terms, this means that the clientele and thus the target groups of the retail sector are becoming increasingly diversified, particularly with regard to age cohorts with widely differing demands.

– The greatest challenge consists of a general paradigm shift with regard to the sustainability issue. This relates to the question of how to handle personal customer data, but also how to deal with resources, supply chains, etc. Large segments of future buyer groups combine sustainability with high individual demands on the offer.

Some of our customers:
Markant, Metro

For our customers in the retail sector we have:

… facilitated digital transformation projects.

… provided individual ad hoc support for their innovation issues (Flex Support).

… moderated idea generation for more sustainability.

… developed and introduced agile dynamic project and topic roadmaps.