Corporate News
Munich, 26 June 2018 – Technology Group The Linde Group has been named “Best Innovation Lab 2018” for its Digital Base Camp, also ranking number one in the category “Industry”. The award is presented by the renowned business magazine Capital and the company Infront Consulting & Management GmbH.
In addition to coming top in the category “Industry”, the Linde Digital Base Camp was ranked among the top four innovation labs out of almost 60 German companies that were analysed in this study.
“We are delighted by this award and it further strengthens our commitment to systematically driving our digitalisation strategy,” says Dr Christian Bruch, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG responsible for Innovation and Digitalisation. “One thing is clear: digitalisation is a game-changer for industrial companies such as Linde, and we want to be in the best possible position to capitalise on these changes. Leveraging data intelligently is thus at the heart of everything we do at the Digital Base Camp. We want to harness data assets to further improve internal Group processes, for example, and to develop new services for customers.”
To bundle digitalisation efforts and anchor them throughout the company, Linde established its Digital Base Camp in August 2016. The digitalisation team comprises, on the one hand, employees who have already gained multiple years of experience working in Linde’s traditional lines of business and, on the other, data specialists, software developers and experts who have joined Linde from the digital community. The team is rounded out with specialists from technology start-ups and universities (for example the Technical University of Munich) and with partners from innovation platforms that Linde has formed alliances with such as STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play.
“Our digitalisation experts at the Digital Base Camp and employees from our traditional lines of business work closely together in small teams. Together, we develop new products and services within three months as part of our accelerator process. Only innovations that prove successful within this timeframe are developed further and transitioned to our core business,” explains Philipp Karmires, Head of Digitalisation at Linde.
The team is also developing a systematic methodology to support the digital transformation process at Linde. The aim is to advance digital maturity across the entire organisation. Based at Pullach, near Munich, and in Singapore, the Digital Base Camp is ideally positioned for both the European and Asian markets. The Digital Base Camp in Singapore, which opened in February of this year, will develop and test global products and services. The company believes that these solutions will especially benefit from the fact that customers in Asia are particularly quick to adopt innovative technologies.
In the 2017 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.113 bn, making it one of the leading gases and engineering companies in the world, with approximately 58,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business, with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com