tmax Germany GmbH has been awarded the TOP 100 seal for the first time in 2021. This award is presented annually to the most innovative companies in the German SME sector. The prerequisite for receiving the seal was the successful completion of a scientific selection process in which tmax was able to prove its innovative strength.
On behalf of compamedia GmbH, which has been organizing the TOP 100 innovation competition since 1993, innovation-researcher Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke and his team investigated the innovative strength of tmax. The researchers used around 120 test criteria from five categories: Innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation and innovation success. At its core of the competition is the question whether innovations are the result of a planned approach or a product of chance, i.e., the repeatability of innovation performance. And also whether and how the corresponding solutions will establish themselves on the market.
Under the leadership of Thorsten Thom, Chairman of the Management Board of the tmax Group, and Dr. Jesco Gumprecht, Corporate Development Manager, tmax has significantly professionalized the area of innovations and thus increased its Innovative strength.
“The TOP 100 Innovator award is particularly important to me,” Thorsten Thom explains. “It underlines the high value placed on innovation at tmax and highlights our success in implementing efficient innovation management.”
Thorsten Thom is convinced that “without innovations, there is no future” and explains: “It is therefore crucial for us to keep our finger on the pulse of time, to detect future topics and to approach them agilely and systematically. The focus is always on customer benefit, on the added value that the innovation provides for our customers.“
In 2020, tmax completely overhauled its innovation management. An internal cross-functional team operates under the name tBrain 2.0, in which the management plays a decisive role. Because, as the CEO adds, “Innovation is boss business.” The team picks up on trends, evaluates them and develops solutions in close cooperation with the customer. The agile approach allows tmax to evaluate ideas quickly and implement prototypes with minimal effort to get feedback from the customer or market quickly.
Thorsten Thom explains tmax’s commitment to innovation and future viability as follows: “Hydrogen engines and fuel cells, as well as electromobility, are the topics that currently keep us very busy. With our solutions, we are actively shaping the technological change in mobility.” Tmax high-temperature insulation helps, for example, to increase the fire protection of battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs), increase the efficiency of hydrogen engines, and control temperatures in fuel cells. Thus, tmax ensures effective protection of man and machine as well as increased efficiency and makes an important contribution to reducing emissions.
