More and more companies are setting up innovation labs to help develop new products or concepts. VIVID took a closer look at the three Düsseldorf think tanks of IOX Lab, Henkel and Vodafone.

In the digital age, every company is looking for innovations. To do so, you have to leave the beaten track, think out of the box and even allow crazy ideas - the latter, however, should be tested extensively before they are actually implemented.

Since this cannot happen in an open-plan office, more and more companies are setting up so-called innovation labs, or InnoLabs for short, where they can run through their ideas. Regardless of whether it's about technologies, services or processes - what's important is a free and unconstrained way of working that can provide space for thinking “out of the box”. One company that relies on internal idea factories is Henkel. The company, based in Düsseldorf-Holthausen, has set up several InnoLabs to promote the development of new business models. In the beauty care incubator “Fritz Beauty Lab”, various teams try to identify trends and develop completely new business models from them.

The Henkel Beauty Care Content Factory in Düsseldorf is a central hub for the “Fritz Beauty Lab” - where creative ideas, product and campaign shoots are developed.

To do this, the innovators observe the needs of customers and the market, create corresponding business models, which are then used to develop prototypes. The finished products are offered to end-customers via e-commerce and online platforms; if a product is well received, it is immediately placed on the market more widely.

A similar approach is taken in the “Laundry & Home Care” think tank, whose team works primarily on sustainable solutions for laundry and cleaning products as well as new technologies and business models in this area. Here, too, they of course want to bring prototypes to the market as quickly as possible. This is achieved, among other things, through a “co-creation approach”: the company involves customers, suitable influencers and experts in product development. Henkel also operates a Digital Innovation Hub in Berlin, where it works with its own team of developers on digital projects in the areas of marketing, technology, venture funds and innovation.

The mobile phone provider Vodafone also relies on innovation labs. In May 2018, it opened what was then the world's first 5G Lab in Düsseldorf. An important factor of the lab is the 5G Testing Area, a 20-square-metre measuring chamber in which new technologies are tested. In addition, complex and innovative solutions are developed in the 5G Lab together with partners. In the early days, the focus was primarily on research and development to make the new mobile network suitable for practical use. In the meantime, 5G is being used in more and more companies and in the first industrial projects.

5G is the basis for applications in the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and is many times faster than its predecessor - just as fast as the human nervous system. This enables applications in real time. Many innovations are only possible at all with the new, extremely powerful network, such as Europe's first 5G medical campus, which saves lives with fast, digital technology and which has been under construction at Düsseldorf University Hospital since the beginning of May; Vodafone, along with the NRW state government, is an important partner for this key project. In addition to the 5G Lab, the mobile phone provider also operates other think tanks in a so-called Innovation Park, such as the IoT Future Lab and the Innovation Garage.

Vodafone 5G Lab: The robot Pepper is networked via 5G.

In the Düsseldorf harbour, the IOX LAB has elevated the search for innovations to a corporate concept. IOX GmbH was founded in 2015 by Robert Jänisch and Andreas Bell. Six years ago, they were already certain that intelligent, networked technologies would be the key to many companies and challenges in our society. In the meantime, the young IOX team employs 30 people who develop customised IoT solutions and products. But what exactly is behind “IoT”? “IoT means 'Internet of Things'. It refers to the networking of the physical and virtual worlds. Physical objects are equipped with sensors, software and a network connection to collect and exchange data,” says Robert Jänisch.

IoT is considered the main driver of digitalisation in the information and communication technology industry and is full of new possibilities: The linking of machines, automation in production, smart devices.

In the new Vodafone 5G Lab, a crane can be controlled via mobile radio at a distance of 60 kilometres.

“The potential of the Internet of Things is also being taken to a new level by artificial intelligence. The intelligent control and evaluation of data processes helps to connect things.” As this is all very complex, IOX offers its customers workshops that work out how to integrate IoT into companies or that help with project preparations. “Then it's on to prototyping and product development,” explains Jänisch. For the implementation, IOX naturally works with state-of-the-art technologies such as 3D printing, lasertech or AI.

The most important thing for the IOX team is to always keep an open mind, to think in a visionary way and to bring along a lot of innovative spirit. “It is difficult to solve new requirements with past experience. We work with different future technologies and use some methods to try out projects and learn innovation processes. This dynamic is an accelerator for innovation,” says Robert Jänisch delightedly.

In the last five years, IOX has accompanied projects, and now the team is developing its first own products. “One of them is the smart.click. This is an IoT button that can be used to shorten and optimise processes within a very short time.”

IOX is an official partner of Vodafone, and the company is also still working on various innovative research projects. For Robert Jänisch, Düsseldorf is a perfect place for this. “As an important location for the communications and digital economy, many companies in Düsseldorf and NRW are very open to innovations. The good network of business people based in the technology sector makes the state capital attractive as company headquarters for us.” •

www.henkel.de
www.vodafone.de
www.ioxlab.de

Interview Katja Vaders
Pictures istock, Thomas Knieps/Henkel, Carolin Weinkopf/Henkel, Vodafone, IOX lab

Out of the Box

More and more companies are setting up innovation labs to help develop new products or concepts. VIVID took a closer look at the three Düsseldorf think tanks of IOX Lab, Henkel and Vodafone.