Success in the TOP 100: Thermik Gerätebau is one of the innovation leaders of 2018
Überlingen – For the 25th time, the TOP 100 competition has selected the most innovative small and medium-sized companies in Germany. Once again, Thermik Gerätebau GmbH is one of these innovation leaders. This was the result of an analysis by the scientific director of TOP 100, Dr Nikolaus Franke. As mentor of TOP 100, Ranga Yogeshwar will honour the Sondershausen-based company, together with Franke and compamedia, on 29th June 2018 at the award ceremony in Ludwigsburg as part of the 5th German SME Summit. Thermik Gerätebau is among this elite group of innovators for the ninth time. In the independent selection process, the company with 112 employees (Germany) impressed the judges with its innovation processes and innovation success.
The products that Thermik Gerätebau GmbH has perfected appear several times in nearly every household. We are talking about temperature limiters, which automatically switch off electrical appliances (e.g. electric kettles, hair dryers, or coffee machines) before they become dangerously hot.
With its own development department, which conducts a great deal of basic research, the TOP 100 company is almost always one step ahead of its competitors: “Our devices deliver increasingly greater performance in an increasingly smaller space”, says managing director Marcel Hofsaess. To this end, his team is experimenting with material composition and developing temperature limiters with ever higher performance limits of up to 250°C. The fact that we always think ahead is also proven by the average service life of the developments (20 years), which often exceeds the service life of the products in which they are installed. “A product is tested 72 times during the manufacturing process”, says Hofsaess.
A few years ago Thermik Gerätebau increased its innovative strength by relocating to Thuringia: “We have broken up encrusted structures and, above all, gained young and highly specialised experts”, explains Hofsaess. Several warehouses were combined into one, and cumbersome processes were transformed into slim ones. The result speaks for itself: Following the relocation of its headquarters, the top innovator tripled the number of patent applications and now holds 1,030 industrial property rights – substantially more than all its competitors combined. This makes Marcel Hofsaess one of the five most inventive entrepreneurs in Germany. This is his company’s ninth TOP 100 award. Thermik Gerätebau has long been a top player in the industry.
TOP 100: the competition
Since 1993, compamedia has awarded the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and outstanding innovation success to medium-sized companies. Since 2002, the scientific management has been in the hands of Dr Nikolaus Franke. Franke is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The mentor of TOP 100 is the scientific journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and BVMW. manager magazin, impulse, and W&V accompany the company comparison as media partners. More information can be found at www.top100.de.
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