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In a turbulent environment dominated by global networks, cross-market integration, product individualisation and high
innovation dynamics, a family enterprise from Menden in Germany's Sauerland region has shown impressively just how
important strategic corporate development and a high level of adaptability are for
sustained corporate success  .
The ground-breaking step in development was taken in the mid 1990s with the foundation of the
innovation network Eucopet1 In the course of initiating and organising collaboration between
like-minded competitors from across Germany and Europe, the brothers Wolfgang and Stefan Kaiser
transformed the corporate organisation into a cooperation organisation, making a top team out of
their workforce in the process [10]. The result has been the creation of a new generation of
internally produced nozzle heaters (HotMicroCoils), the opening of new markets in the plastics
industry and access to new global markets through the cooperation partners [11].
At the beginning of the millennium, in the wake of Eucopet, the simple standard heating element
then experienced a renaissance, and the research project Lean2 – a business model in which market-oriented
flexibility and cost-minimising standardisation do not contradict one another – was introduced into the
traditional low-tech segment of the company. The success of the simple standard heating element that ensued,
provided the company with its second, long-lasting growth cycle after Eucopet [9].
The company managed to survive the crisis-year 2009 with a respectable result, using the time to
focus on project work. Some promising project developments were brought forward and the Lean-business
model in the new research project Low2High3, in particular, underwent further strategic development.
The aim is to continue to improve contacts to the continuingly growing clientele of demanding high-tech
customers in the future.
- 1 1The EUREKA cooperation project European R&D co-operation among
small and medium sized competitors (Eucopet) was subsidised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
framework concept Production 2000 and supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA)
(www.eucopet-heaters.com
 ).
- 2 The cooperation project Lean Implementation - pragmatic implementation
of integrated business models in companies with standard manufacturing (Lean) was supported by the Federal Ministry
of Education and Research (BMBF) framework concept Research for tomorrow's production methods and was supervised by
the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA)
(www.lean-implementation.de ).
- 3 The cooperation project Innovation management for lowtech-hightech
cooperation (Low2High) is jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the
European Social Fund (ESF) of the European Union in the BMBF research and development programme Working – Learning –
Competence Development – Innovation ability in a modern working environment, and is supervised by the project
management section of the German Aerospace Center (PT-DLR)
(www.low-2-high.de ).
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