Innovation: As defined by Dichtomatik

Innovation as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is the introduction of something new; a new idea, method, or device. Innovation as defined by Dichtomatik is continuously looking forward for improvements both big and small. No matter how you say it, innovation, καινοτομ?α, innowacja, arloesedd, inova??o, the meaning remains the same and here at Dichtomatik we all work towards constant innovation. Recently, I sat down with one of our Innovation Leaders, Quinn Fischer, to talk about what innovation means to him:

What does innovation mean to you?

To me, innovation means looking at everything differently. The world is constantly changing around us and we need to be challenging the way we do things in order to keep up.

Why do you think constant innovation is so important for Dichtomatik?

Dichtomatik needs to be a nimble company in order to meet the growing needs of our customers. In order to deliver the service our customers require, we need to be innovative in every aspect of the business. 

What is your role within the company, when it comes to innovation?

I really have two hats when it comes to innovation here at Dichtomatik. As the Accounting Manager, my role here is to make sure that the Accounting and Finance team is always looking at how we work and finding opportunities to work smarter. Because we are able to identify better, more efficient ways to do our work we have the capacity to add value both within our team as well as Dichtomatik as a whole.

I am also the lean expert on site. I support the training and work of others within Dichtomatik as we grow our Lean culture. Between training new employees, training our new group of Lean Enablers or leading projects, there are many continuous improvement efforts across the company and I do whatever I can to support all of them.

Do you have any fun projects you are currently working on? If so, do you mind expanding on them?

We recently trained our first wave of Lean Admin Enablers who are all working on developing their own process improvement kaizens to finish their certification. I’m really excited to see their ideas and help support their projects. These projects can have huge impacts on the organization, so it’s really exciting for me to see so many projects in the works.

As for a specific project, we are changing our process for setting up new parts for our customers. This is a process that involves every single department at Dichtomatik, so it has been quite the undertaking. Using technology and Lean techniques, we’ve come up with an incredible new system and I’m excited to see that put into our everyday work in the near future.

If you could use only one word to describe innovation within our company culture what would it be?

Essential.

As a multinational company, operating in 58 countries, our established tradition of innovation and renewal benefits our customers. Constant innovation in everything we do is essential for our long-term financial success. We are leaders in continuous improvement and our culture rewards creativity and initiative by all our employees.