In particular in case of new and innovative product developments product testing should occur in early development stages in order to avoid later development failures, which might cause huge costs. On the other hand, particularly early stage product testing (e.g. prototype) causes high costs, which makes it even more difficult for Mirco and SMEs as well as start-ups to take steps in competition with well-established and global players, due to low or missing return in early product development stages.
Facing these challenges, Christopher Meyer and colleagues from the European Project Center (EPC) at Hochschule Wismar organised a workshop for SMEs and other stakeholders, which took place on the 21st and 22nd of January 2020 in Berlin. A special guest, who had been invited as a speaker was Dr. Monika Tomczyk (Media Dizajn, Szczecin).
The following topics were covered by the sessions during the two-day event:
- What companies should know when designing and developing new products in order to meet international standards
- Testing procedures
- Where to test the prototypes and products
- Business support
- Innovation Centre Wismar
- Presentation of Prototypes and Products
Next to German participants, also other international guests and SMEs participated during the workshop and presented their product ideas and prototypes. Hence, among other things, the company „PowerCore“ (Polen) works on a new hydrogen drive for cars, “AllBinary” (Sweden) presented a novel concept for the optimization of public transport, and “TermDach” (Poland) is developing a new type of system for photovoltaic facilities for private households.
