The building industry is a very traditional and conservative trade. To develop new digital business models the Umdasch Group founded Umdasch Group Ventures, which is an independent company next to the formwork company Doka with the purpose to develop digital business models and industrialize the building process. These new developments are regularly presented at the big trade fairs, e.g. at Bauma from 8th to 14th of April 2019 and awarded with prizes like the USA Biz award 2018. The success of the new digital business models is especially shown for Concremote®. With the new digital building process it was possible to increase the efficiency of the building process by 20%. The digital business models to achieve that were both developed and protected by Umdasch Group Ventures for Doka with the help of IP-design.

„Umdasch Group Ventures is focused on developing revolutionary new business models and benefits from IP design as a management tool to protect different business model scenarios. “ Johann Peneder, Member of the Executive Board of Umdasch Group Ventures at Bauma.

Umdasch Group Ventures is the Innovation Hub of the Umdasch Group. While Doka is a world leading formwork company and the building process is still a very traditional and conservative business, Umdasch Group Ventures is industrializing the building process. The use of digital technology makes building more plannable and safer, so that time and material can be saved. This is done with the help of sensors in the Concremote® Infrastructure. The sensors provide real-time data about the status of the formwork and give information about the exact date, when the formwork is solid and it is safe to build a new floor, which industrializes the building process, makes it more efficient and already shows to be successful.

This was made possible using IP-design. IP-design means, not waiting for inventions and writing patents, but having a structured approach to develop new digital business models and to design the products and processes. With this approach Umdasch Group Ventures did not only develop, but also protect and exclusivy their digital business models for Concremote® through intellectual property rights. IP design therefore helped the company to think in business models, to think customer focused, to overcome silo thinking and to think faster and more agile.

Digital business models also offer a full new cascade of options to create value. For the building industry sensors like Concremote® help in a first step to increase efficiency by industrializing the construction process and serve as a maintenance tool. In the next step synergies on a construction site or between multiple construction sites can be created by an efficiency platform. One step further an architect platform can be used to improve the planning of building based on historic data. This is just one possible evolution of the digital business model and multiple more ways to create value may be realized in the future by thinking more agile.

The case study of the Master in Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM) of CEIPI at the University of Strasbourg describes the use of IP-design to design and protect digital business models in the building industry. The use of IP-design in the process landscape of Umdasch Group Ventures causes the enhancement of the technical creativity of the employees, so that it can be used systematically to create the necessary intellectual property rights.

 

Authors of the case study:

Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Wurzer

Dr. Wurzer is Adjunct Professor for IP Management at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (Centre d’Etudes Internationales de la Propriété Industrielle, CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg, where he has been Director of Studies for the Master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM) since 2007. Prof. Dr. Wurzer is Director of the Steinbeis Transfer Institute for Intellectual Property Management at Steinbeis University Berlin. He is Managing Partner at WURZER & KOLLEGEN GmbH, a consulting firm specializing in strategic IP management.

Prof. Dr. Wurzer is Chairman of DIN committees DIN 77006 for quality in IP management and DIN 77100 for patent valuation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of “Deutsches Institut für Erfindungswesen e.V.” (DIE), Spokesman of the Board of Trustees awarding the Diesel Medal, Fellow at the Alta Scuola Politecnica at Milan/Turin Polytechnic and Conference Chairman of IP Service World. He is also a jury member for the 2018 German Innovation Award of the German Design Council and a member of the group of experts of the European Commission.

 

Werner H. Bittner

Werner H. Bittner is CEO of Umdasch Group Ventures as of 1st May 2019. Prior to that he has served as Member of the Executive Board in this firm which went operational in January 2017. In May 2016, he had joined Umdasch Group in the newly established position of a Director Strategic Business Development at Doka which contributed to the set up of Umdasch Group Ventures by Umdasch Group AG in November 2016. He had held various international management positions at Boehringer Ingelheim, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and Collini Holding AG. With regards to his academic background, he has a Masters degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the Technical University in Vienna, Austria.

 

Johann Peneder

Johann Peneder is Member of the Executive Board of Umdasch Group Ventures as of 1st May 2019 and Managing Director in Umdasch Group NewCon GmbH and Neulandt GmbH executing the operational business. In October 2017 he had joined Umdasch Group Ventures as a Project Manager for Business Model Development and IP-Strategy. With more than 30 years of experience in the field of construction and formwork technology, he has held many international positions in the Doka division as a project manager and in technical sales. It was under his responsibility that the globally operating Expertise Center High Rise & Self-climbing formwork was created. Most recently, he was responsible for around 18 years as head of the research and development department, as well as for technical software development. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and automation technology.

In addition to his professional career, he is co-founder of the Platform for Innovation – PFI – The Leading Organization for innovation in Austria.

Download MIPLM case study Umdasch Group Ventures