"We want to create new knowledge"

In the automation and IT industries, standing still is more like taking a step backward, especially in light of the industry’s increasing digitalization. That is why CTE is placing greater emphasis on the company’s further development and consolidating its expertise in the newly created division Research & Development (R&D). We asked our COO and Head of R&D, Andreas Langer, what benefits this is expected to bring our customers and what innovations have already been implemented.

Andy, what's new at CTE?

Andreas Langer: CTE’s capacity for development is a core value in our current mission statement. This brings into focus an issue that has always been important to us: CTE has consistently invested more than the industry average in continuing education and technical developments. The fact that this strategy has been—and continues to be—successful over the past 30 years is evident in CTE’s steady growth and the ongoing expansion of our range of services and products.

It was important to us to address this topic even more clearly and with greater focus in the future. To this end, we have therefore created a new dedicated Research & Development division.

Why is a separate Research & Development department so important?

Andreas Langer: We want to maintain our strength as a holistic and flexible small and medium-sized enterprise even as the company continues to grow. In order to respond to changing requirements together with our customers and to be prepared for future challenges, we must be—and remain—forward-thinking at all levels.

However, the broader range of offerings mentioned earlier—combined with the ever-closer integration of individual components and services in the operational environment—presents us with the major challenge of keeping track of all aspects and coordinating them as effectively as possible.

The logical consequence of this was to make a virtue of necessity and establish Research & Development (R&D) as a standalone function.

Where do the new ideas for R&D come from?

Andreas Langer: Central to our work are the experiences we’ve gathered and the expertise we’ve developed through a wide range of projects across various industries and fields, as well as the wishes and requirements expressed by our customers regarding products and systems, and our own market observations.

This wealth of ideas presents many opportunities, but also challenges: On the one hand, we want to maintain as much autonomy as possible in our development efforts; on the other hand, we absolutely do not want to distance ourselves from the “real world”—that is, our customer projects. Thus, we aim to identify continuous and incremental improvements, while also approaching topics in a detached or even disruptive manner

We therefore view innovation management as one of the central tasks within this framework. This involves the organized, creative collection and evaluation of ideas, as well as the definition and commissioning of innovation projects and their ongoing oversight to ensure alignment with the existing product portfolio.

I urge anyone to tell us about their daily challenges and to contribute with any ideas, no matter how far-fetched!

Andreas Langer, COO and Head of R&D

What advantages does R&D offer our customers?

Andreas Langer: This structured approach to innovation management is precisely what gives our customers a decisive advantage. Our goal is to provide the highest level of expertise in our areas of specialization so that, together with the customer, we can develop the ideal solution for them. We must share and evaluate the experience gained from this, learn from it, and continue to develop so that we can consistently apply these insights to future projects.

This enables us to consistently provide our customers with up-to-date, well-thought-out, and—as much as possible—standardized yet flexible solutions to address the complex challenges of our industry as efficiently and sustainably as possible.

Are there already CTE innovations that are being used in practice?

Andreas Langer: As mentioned above, our commitment to continuously improving as a company is nothing new. For example, we regularly feature results from our innovation processes on our blog that underscore this commitment. What is new is that we are establishing professional structures for our innovation management through R&D.