Infiana Remains an Innovation Leader
Specialty Films Manufacturer Once Again Honored with TOP 100 Signet
Essen, Germany – For the second time in a row, the Forchheim-based business has been awarded the sought-after prize for medium-sized German enterprises. Infiana was recognized in the category “Innovative Processes and Organizations” by a 30-member jury of representatives from business, government, and the media. Infiana CEO Peter K. Wahsner and Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Ingrid Sebald were presented with the coveted trophy by TV journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. “We are extremely happy to receive this award. It confirms the impact of our efforts to live innovatively, generate new ideas, and use them to develop pioneering products,“ remarks Peter K. Wahsner.
R&D Department an Important Driver for Innovations
Infiana’s 25-strong Innovation Team continuously investigates trends, materials, technologies, and suppliers, and is in permanent communication with research centers and start-ups. Customer dialogue, however, is the most essential element for process and product innovation at Infiana. Most recently, the TOP-Innovator developed an extremely thin and elastic film intended for wind turbine blade production. ”Until now, the molds used to produce these blades had to be treated with fluorine, wax, or silicon-based release agents. These could only be removed with great difficulty after manufacturing,” explains Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Ingrid Sebald, adding, “With our new film, this is no longer necessary.”
Megatrends Drive Innovation Culture
Innovations and megatrends such as digitization have left businesses in a state of permanent change. "Through our innovation app, Infiana has been able to react to this transformation and find a way to harness the change fostered by digital technologies for our own development work. This app supports our employees' idea-finding efforts. Inspiration can be sent directly to our innovation team's database in the form of a picture or written submission," CEO Peter K. Wahsner elaborates. The best of these ideas are honored once per quarter.
The TOP 100 Signet: Recognizing Mid-Sized Businesses
The TOP 100 signet has been awarded to Germany’s most innovative medium-sized businesses since 1993. Together with his team, innovation researcher Dr. Nikolaus Franke of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business evaluated a total of 414 applicants on behalf of award organizers compamedia. 305 businesses made the cut to advance to the finals. The extraordinary qualities of the TOP-Innovators are demonstrated by hard numbers: this year, the TOP 100 includes 101 national market and 26 global market leaders. In the past three years, they registered a total of 1,226 national and international patents.
About the Infiana Group:
The Infiana Group develops and produces engineered and innovative films for the consumer market and industry. The Group employs about 800 people at its three sites, located in Forchheim (Germany), Malvern (USA) and Samutsakorn (Thailand). Infiana serves the Personal Care (film products for packaging of hygiene items), Health Care (release films, process films and films for packaging), Building & Construction (release films and surface films), Composites (release films and process films), and Pressure Sensitive (silicone-coated release films) markets. In 2016, the Infiana Group generated a turnover of 200 million euros. Further information is available online at www.infiana.com.
Press Contact:
Infiana Germany GmbH & Co. KG
Peter Kuhmann
Zweibrückenstraße 15-25
91301 Forchheim, Germany
Tel: +49 9191 81-0
Mail: info@infiana.com
