Garz & Fricke - the Donatifier
In the Cross Innovation Lab, Garz & Fricke developed the first digital donation box and initiated a company-wide collaboration process.
The challenge
Innovation cycles are shortening, markets are becoming more complex - the framework conditions for industry are changing. New solutions are needed to ensure that the manufacturing industry remains competitive in the global marketplace. In the Cross Innovation Lab, embedded system manufacturer Garz & Fricke tackled these challenges together with creative minds.
Specifically, the question was how a new culture of collaboration can be established across company divisions.
Output
Garz & Fricke builds small computers and mobile payment systems behind many everyday objects. The product idea of the Donatifier, the donation hat of the future, was developed in collaboration with experts from the creative industries.
In just four workshop days, the prototype of a new product was created that activates the entire company's knowledge and motivates employees to work across departments.
The small cube provides transparent information about the purpose of the donation, can be individually programmed and offers contactless card payment.
The Donatifier was successfully tested at Embedded World 2020 in cooperation with the Hamburg-based NGO Viva con Aqua.
Team: Kai Poggensee, Philipp Bruns, Tobias Boeing, Christian Rothmaler and Imanuel Schipper
"The highlight for me in general is that we were always able to question, reject and rethink the ideas we had on all sides."
"The appreciation that increases and the other methods that you get to know from the creatives will definitely be carried into the company and that is the reason why I can recommend the lab to others."
Format & method
In the Cross Innovation Lab, companies come together in changing constellations over a period of six weeks to work together on product developments in a stimulating environment. Experts from the creative industries are specifically involved in the process.
- Field research: At the beginning, the challenges of the companies are analysed in a new kind of depth in collaboration with creative professionals - and their fresh perspective from the outside.
- Workshop phase: In a total of four workshop/lab days, the companies develop new solutions together with selected creative professionals.
- Feedback loops: Between the labs, a concept review takes place with all participating companies in order to further improve the products through joint feedback and exchange.
In the iterative work process, companies develop new products or product adaptations in a significantly reduced amount of time.
Our partner: Garz & Fricke
Founded in 1992, GARZ & FRICKE is a medium-sized company for embedded single board computers, human machine interfaces and panel PCs that still develops and produces its hardware and software solutions for the industrial IoT exclusively at its home base in Hamburg. The main areas of application are system integrators, primarily from the smart vending, networked vending machines, catering electronics, security technology, laboratory and medical technology, digital signage, industrial automation, transport and traffic sectors.
