TOP 100: WERMA Signaltechnik

The signaling technology manufacturer makes it into the TOP 100 innovators for the sixth time.

WERMA Signaltechnik once again receives the TOP 100 seal 2024, making it one of the most innovative medium-sized companies in Germany for the sixth time. Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar will personally congratulate WERMA on this success at the award ceremony on June 28 in Weimar.

On behalf of compamedia, the organizer of the competition, innovation researcher Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and his team examined the innovative strength of all participants on the basis of more than 100 criteria from five categories. “Are the companies able to create new products, new services, new processes and new business models? And are these achievements just coincidences or the result of a structured and targeted approach? These are the questions we examine at TOP 100,” says Nikolaus Franke, explaining his approach to the review. It is also important how and whether innovations and product improvements have been able to establish themselves on the market.

Newly crowned innovation champion
WERMA Signaltechnik has once again prevailed in the scientific selection process and is among the top innovators for the sixth time. The company from southern Germany specializes in the development of optical and acoustic signalling devices and related systems for process optimization in industry and logistics. WERMA Signaltechnik thinks ahead: by networking signalling devices, solutions are created that help customers to quickly and easily analyze and sustainably optimize processes in production, logistics and assembly.

WERMA Managing Director Matthias Marquardt says: “Clever solutions that simply work – that’s what we at WERMA have stood for for decades. We set the standards for modern signaling technology and define its future: for more than twenty years with the modular signal tower as the industry standard and today with networked, intelligent system solutions.”

The company was particularly convincing in size category C (more than 200 employees) in the “Innovative processes and organization” category. The Swabian company’s innovation process is based on the “WERMA Development System”. This consists of an idea phase as well as a project and realization phase. Another key driver of innovation is in-house software development. In the search for new solutions, WERMA works with the “Scrum process”, a method for agile project management.

TOP 100: the competition
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. In the 31st edition of the innovation competition, 388 medium-sized companies competed for the award. The scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Niko-laus Franke since 2002. Franke is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The mentor of TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW.