Young, agile, creative: the Krones Innovation Lab
Founded in 2016, the Krones Innovation Lab serves as a platform for testing innovative approaches and business models and transferring the results to the Krones Group. Small teams take a close look at the latest trends from science and research, from which they then develop forward-thinking ideas and practical solutions in a start-up atmosphere at the TechBase Regensburg.
Organisationally the Innovation Lab is a part of Krones Research and Development. Its task is to initiate new projects in a very early phase of the innovation process and conduct pilot studies on their technical and financial feasibility.
The Krones Innovation Lab at a glance
The profile: Students – in any field – having fun with new technologies and the topic of innovation
The tasks: Explore new approaches and findings from science and research, test them for practicability and transform them into creative and innovative project ideas for Krones
The focus: Issues of the future such as digitalization and sustainability
The duration: A full-time placement generally lasting five to six months or a working student job
The place: TechBase Regensburg
Our work plays an active part in shaping the future of the company. We achieve this through an interdisciplinary team which takes a holistic approach to examining the status quo, working agilely on new challenges. Modern methods such as lean start-up and design thinking are employed in order to find an integrated and customer-centred solution to problems quickly. The goal of each project is to develop a proof of concept and all the associated tasks.
Our work plays an active part in shaping the future of the company. We achieve this through an interdisciplinary team which takes a holistic approach to examining the status quo, working agilely on new challenges. Modern methods such as lean start-up and design thinking are employed in order to find an integrated and customer-centred solution to problems quickly. The goal of each project is to develop a proof of concept and all the associated tasks.
What is special about the Innovation Lab is that it is not only Krones staff who work there – so, too, do students. The majority of these are, of course, new to the beverage and liquid food industry in which Krones has its home. That’s a good thing, actually, because instead of looking at a particular issue through Krones glasses, they tackle the problem completely afresh – which means they come up with unique, innovative approaches.
The project term of five to six months leaves sufficient time to develop a business model, to shed light on the market and to look at the technology. The tasks here include, for example, design, simulation and software development. And all in close collaboration with the experts from the Krones Group.
What is special about the Innovation Lab is that it is not only Krones staff who work there – so, too, do students. The majority of these are, of course, new to the beverage and liquid food industry in which Krones has its home. That’s a good thing, actually, because instead of looking at a particular issue through Krones glasses, they tackle the problem completely afresh – which means they come up with unique, innovative approaches.
The project term of five to six months leaves sufficient time to develop a business model, to shed light on the market and to look at the technology. The tasks here include, for example, design, simulation and software development. And all in close collaboration with the experts from the Krones Group.
The development process in the Innovation Lab
The work in the Innovation Lab begins with diagnosing the problem, which is about understanding what the issue is and deriving the appropriate requirements. In the subsequent solution-finding process the team works together with experts in the field on a practicable solution for the food and beverage industry. The suggestions and initial results are discussed again and again within iterative cycles, with the feedback then being taken into account in the subsequent development step.
A small insight into projects we have already completed:
| 5G technology Feasibility study (technical/financial) for the use of 5G technology within the line network of Krones systems Main topics: Technology research and conception | Exchange with suppliers & research institutions | Business case |
Intelligent parameterisation Development of a solution for the automated and intuitive re-parameterisation of frequency inverters in existing Krones systems Main topics: Hardware-related software development | Test setup | Product concept & usability | Business case |
New bottle washer concept Design of new cleaning approaches and development of a solution for the interior cleaning of bottles Main topics: Simulation | Design | 3D Printing | Experimental Setup | Data Analysis and Evaluation |
„Dirty Harry” Development of a turbidity sensor that monitors the lye quality in bottle washing machines Main topics: Hardware-related software development | Test setup | Business case |
Main topics: Technology research and conception | Front- & backend system development | Design | 3D printing | Business case |
Main topics: Technology research and conception | Front- & backend system development | Test setup | Data analysis and evaluation |
Where we are located
Testing, research and experimentation goes on not only at the Krones site in Neutraubling, but also in Regensburg – specifically at the TechBase, where we have leased premises of our own since 2016. The venture and innovation centre is located right opposite the East Bavarian Institute of Technology (OTH) and is the home of start-ups and small businesses, the majority focused on the IT sector.
