S4.E15. 集合吧！創新森友會

提案發想、嘗試新領域、並與他人共享結果，是「Accelerate加速器」內部平台的核心思維。在Christoph Brabandt 的帶領下，百靈佳殷格翰已經協助80多位倡議者實踐他們的創意行動方案。

Christoph Brabandt 負責的專案項目很多：服務型機器人、對話機器人、VR 虛擬實境眼鏡、創意空間…等；這些充滿創意的發想，皆來自於百靈佳殷格翰同仁們的提案。目前Accelerate 加速器平台已經集結了來自13個國家的130多項提案。這項創意行動計畫由Brabandt 負責，他說：「公司裡居然藏有如此多驚人的創造力，真是不可思議！」三年前，有一群夢想家聚在一起（其中一位就是Brabandt），眾人討論的重點凝聚在：百靈佳殷格翰要如何產出更多的創意思維並能實踐創新；進而產生員工必須能藉由有趣的方式學習新技術的主張。之後，他們創建了「Accelerate 加速器」內部平台，同仁們可以藉由這個平台輕鬆地與他人分享創意，並在遇到障礙時尋求援助與支持。

由加速器平台搜集而來的提案會被放在Brabandt 的辦公桌上，他會進行審查，將倡議者與過去曾提議過類似概念的專家媒合，或者直接提供修改提案的珍貴的技巧。下一個階段即是將提案交予指導委員會。Brabandt 說：「我們重視能真正創新的顛覆性想法。」提案通過審查後，倡議者通常會獲得高達50,000歐元的執行預算，讓他們的想法得以付諸實踐。不只內部同仁，我們的外部合作夥伴也會加入Accelerate 平台的討論區，參與者們能在活絡的社群裡討論提案，分享彼此的經驗。

Brabandt 支持如「Fast Forward 疾進」類型的數位化活動，幫助創意提案者們在「發想」的過程中，逐步將想法完善，並能接受設計思維業務督導與Scrum Master （Scrum是一種敏捷軟體開發的方法學，Scrum Master 是教練和團隊帶領人） 的培訓。執行這些步驟的目的，都是希望能激發同仁們，帶來更多靈感。他說：「創新思維是我們展現競爭力的關鍵。」這些發想（尤其是在Accelerate 加速器平台上），並不需要在提案之初就具備非常成熟的商業模式。」Brabandt 補充：「這也代表有些想法或流程無法獲得原本預期的成果，必須要再重新設計。」

在Accelerate 平台的協助下，比伯拉赫的專案團隊成功採購了無人機，並取得無人機的飛行許可，用於運輸實驗材料。另一個專案計畫則是對智慧型手機遊戲進行編程，用以鼓勵體重超標的孩子和青少年，以玩樂的型態追求更健康的生活方式。在杜拜，我們有一個服務型機器人正在迎接參觀百靈佳殷格翰的訪客，並將他們帶領到會議室。公司裡居然藏有如此多驚人的創造力，真是不可思議！

The innovation driver

Submitting ideas, testing new things, and sharing the results: This is the core idea of Accelerate. Under the leadership of Christoph Brabandt, this initiative by Boehringer Ingelheim has helped more than 80 applicants to put their innovative ideas into practice.

Service robots and drones, chatbots, virtual reality glasses and creative spaces: Christoph Brabandt deals with an incredible range of subjects, all thanks to the employees of Boehringer Ingelheim. They have submitted over 130 proposals to Accelerate from 13 countries. The initiative promotes innovation – and is led by Brabandt. “It’s incredible how much creativity there is in this company,” he says. The business information specialist became involved with Accelerate rather accidentally. Over three years ago, a group of visionaries including Brabandt got together and asked themselves how Boehringer Ingelheim could generate ideas and innovations. Their main focus was on ways employees could learn new technologies through playful means. Before long, the idea of creating a platform with minimal barriers where people could easily share ideas and request support was born: Accelerate.

The proposals land on Brabandt’s desk. He reviews the formalities, connects the idea creators with experts who may have already submitted similar concepts, or provides valuable tips for reworking the proposals. Then comes a second stage where the proposals are submitted to the steering committee. “Our main focus is on promoting really new, disruptive ideas,” Brabandt says. When a project is approved, the creators normally receive a budget of up to 50,000 euros to bring their ideas to life. Input is provided by external partners as well as an active community that has formed on Accelerate’s portal, where participants discuss proposals and experiences.

Brabandt is also a passionate contributor to the discussions. After all, he has dedicated himself entirely to innovation for years. He supports digitalization campaigns like “Fast Forward”, helps idea creators refine their ideas in the “ideation” process, and has received training as a Design Thinking Business Coach and as a Scrum Master, a moderator for agile development teams. His goal in all this is to provide employees with the inspiration to innovate. “Good ideas are the key to our competitiveness,” he says. In this context, the ideas – particularly at Accelerate – do not necessarily need to be thoughtfully prepared business models. “The first step is to try things out and gain new knowledge,” says Brabandt. This can also mean that certain ideas or processes fail to achieve the desired success and need to be reworked.

“It’s incredible how much creativity there is in this company.“ — CHRISTOPH BRABANDT

Thanks to Accelerate, a project team from Biberach was able to procure a drone and acquire the proper licenses for flying unmanned aerial vehicles, with an eye on transporting lab materials by drone in the future. In another project, a smartphone game was programmed to motivate overweight children and teenagers to pursue a healthier lifestyle through play. And in Dubai, a service robot now greets visitors to Boehringer Ingelheim and leads them to their event or meeting rooms.