Digitization only succeeds in collaboration
Lenze also aims to support machine and plant manufacturers in their search for new, digital business models, and relies on a triad consisting of electrical engineering, software, and a platform strategy, according to the company. “Today it is no longer enough just to sell hardware. Together with our customers, we must work more closely with the operators to be able to reach a better understanding of processes and needs, and to develop business models based on that. Many smaller machine manufacturers cannot develop digital services themselves. Lenze helps them with the development and the implementation,” explained Wendler.
Strategic investment in new forms of collaboration
To achieve this goal of developing business models and solutions in collaboration, Lenze is intensifying its cooperation with start-ups, suppliers, scientific institutes, and customers. “We have to work together more closely and more agilely,” explained Wendler. In the 2021/2022 financial year, Lenze created forward-looking places for collaboration. One example is the Mechatronic Competence Campus (MCC) at the company’s Extertal site. “The MCC opens officially on 15 October 2022 and will be the heart of Lenze mechatronics. The aim is to bring all our expertise together in one place so as to speed up our development of drive solutions consisting of mechanics, electronics and software, which our customers need in order to succeed against the competition,” said Wendler.
The Digital Hub Industry in Bremen has also been facilitating innovative forms of collaboration since summer 2022. Working there in close cooperation with the University of Bremen, Lenze offers small and medium-sized businesses an ecosystem for the open exchange of experiences and ideas and for experiments and collaborations. It is only in collaboration that beneficial digital services and business models can be created, according to Lenze. “We believe that this requires courage and the readiness to change. It is no coincidence that ‘The Courage of Change’ is Lenze’s jubilee motto in 2022,” said Wendler.