Co-Creation unleashes innovative powers

“Co-Creation is characterised by an honest mutual appreciation with a friendly attitude, the same way of thinking and an objective with which all players feel comfortable.”

About a year ago, the cooperation between WEIGANG, the manufacturer of organisational materials, and launchlabs has started. In a short while, this has become an intense partnership that breathes the spirit of co-creation. It has also created a close relationship with furniture designer Pool22. Among others, the ideaframe was co-created: the ideaframe is an extremely light and mobile whiteboard for the matching design thinking furniture of the brand ‘what if we fly’ which in turn have been designed for working agile.

“Whether it’s the methodological approaches or the realisation of modern work environments – from our first meetings we felt that we were in the same state of mind as the experts from launchlabs,” reports Stefan Schneider, Head of Product Development at WEIGANG. Within a few months, a team from the traditional manufacturer of organisational and visualisation tools has pushed forward the cooperation with launchlabs to such an extent that the first system products have already been developed. The third player in the cooperation – the furniture design-network Pool22 – also plays a major role here. launchlabs provides the methodical tools in this triumvirate – design thinking and agile methods – Pool22 contributes its design and furniture expertise, while WEIGANG contributes its extensive production and sales know-how in addition to its extensive practical experience. “All three companies developed ideas and gave impulses for the realisation of new products that aim at establishing innovative organisational structures and agile management processes in the industry,” emphasises Stefan Schneider. Co-Creation forms the firming bond of the joint work, to which all participants feel obliged. It goes far beyond the usual concept of partnership between companies – usually conceived as short-term alliances of convenience – and is supported by a trusting and very open relationship with one another. Simon Blake, founder and CEO of launchlabs, explains: “Co-Creation is characterised by an honest mutual appreciation with a friendly attitude, the same way of thinking and an objective with which all players feel comfortable. From the very beginning, these values have also been the driving forces of our cooperation with Pool22 and WEIGANG.”

Quickly from the idea to the product
Characteristic for successful co-creating is the rapid transformation of initially vague ideas into ready-to-use products. It is therefore not surprising that the inspiring tête-à-tête from launchlabs, Pool22 and WEIGANG led to the first minimal viable product after just a few months. It is a flexible whiteboard developed with agile methods, fine-tuned at WEIGANG and currently manufactured at WEIGANG in Ebern (Bamberg), Germany. As a dynamic component, the ideaframe is integrated into the new ‘what if we fly’ furniture brand by the creative trio, which is tailor-made for equipping agile project teams thanks to its mobility and modularity. “Our new furniture system consists of mobile standing tables for group work and movable shelf modules, which also serve as room dividers and can be transformed into a presentation area by connecting the new whiteboard. As the product name indicates, everything is designed for the problem-solving method of Design Thinking, which is currently used by more and more companies,” explains Frank Hesselmann, Managing Director of Pool22.

Strong in method and production
WEIGANG has been in business for over 90 years, producing high-quality organizational resources that enable the concrete implementation of modern management and working methods. Therefore, the company can contribute the entire spectrum of its flexible production and the channels of its sales structure to the co-creation with the much younger Berlin companies launchlabs and Pool22 – in addition to WEIGANGs practical experience with users from almost all industries. Moreover – and this is perhaps the decisive factor in this case – WEIGANG has a high level of methodological competence. “Lean Management, Teamworking, CIP or Kanban are, so to speak, among our original topics, the practical application of which we have been dealing with for decades. We therefore have a good feeling for new trends such as scrum, agile work or Design Thinking. This benefits us in realising new forms of cooperation – such as co-creation with launchlabs and Pool22,” says Stefan Schneider.

Apart from the ideaframe, the whiteboard, more projects for co-creation are already on the agenda. Of particular appeal is also the question of how to set up the future responsibilities with regard to technical production and logistical tasks and project requirements. “A co-creation releases undreamt-of innovative forces; we can imagine quite a lot,” says Stefan Schneider. launchlabs is also looking forward to further inspiring co-creation!