Jungheinrich: A new prototyping culture

The Jungheinrich Group is successful worldwide with forklift trucks and digital solutions for intralogistics. In the Cross Innovation Lab, interdisciplinary teams have strengthened the company's innovation culture.

Challenge

Many employees of the intralogistics company Jungheinrich are more familiar with computer-aided than with the low-threshold forms of prototyping with haptic materials such as Lego or plasticine. In the Cross Innovation Lab, employees from various departments – from production to sales to accounting – worked with creative professionals to discover how low-threshold prototyping can stimulate innovation processes.

Output

"The Cross Innovation Lab was a unique experimental space where we could experience, test and learn to work with external partners and make the best use of creative input for us."

Susan Pinternagel, Innovation Manager, Jungheinrich AG

"It was a great enrichment to involve creative people in the process because they looked at our challenges from a different angle and were able to give us impulses to develop new solution ideas. That was really an inspiring moment for me."

Elif Korkmaz, Product Manager Digital, Jungheinrich AG

Format & Method

In the Cross Innovation Lab, companies work together in changing constellations over a period of six weeks to develop products in a stimulating environment. Experts from the creative industries are systematically involved in the process.

• Field research: At the beginning, the challenges of the companies are explored in a new depth in cooperation with creative people – and their fresh perspective from the outside.
• Workshop phase: During four workshop/laboratory days, the companies work together with selected creative professionals to develop new solutions.
• Feedback loops: Between the laboratories, a concept show with all participating companies takes place in order to further improve the products through joint feedback and exchange.

In an iterative work process, companies develop new products or product adaptations with a significantly reduced expenditure of time.