Excellent innovation - stoba receives 3rd TOP100 Award in a row

In this interview, Managing Director Gerhard Firlbeck tells us how he perceived the event and what, in his opinion, constitutes the innovative strength at stoba.

Mr. Firlbeck, three TOP100 awards in a row - what is the decisive factor in stoba's achievement?

Innovation is something that is in stoba's DNA. For several decades now, we have made it our mission to pioneer and develop technologies that truly bring progress. Our principle is to always think one step ahead and continuously improve. The basis for this is, on the one hand, our committed employees and their high level of know-how. On the other hand, we work together with our customers on innovations in the early stages of development in order to bring successful products to market.

Actually implementing innovative ideas is a crucial sticking point in many companies. What do you think it takes to do this?

It's probably a little different in every company. At stoba, we have the great advantage of having three specialist departments at a total of seven locations worldwide, whose expertise we combine under one roof. The networking of these locations and departments, and thus the exchange of ideas, works very well. Not least because we have deliberately chosen management teams everywhere that come from the technically innovative sector and can create a correspondingly future-oriented breeding ground. At the same time, however, it is above all our employees who are the drivers of our innovative strength, working day in, day out with great motivation and perseverance on ever new solutions for our customers.

In the past two years, the TOP100 Awards ceremony could not take place on site due to the Corona crisis. What was the event like for you?

Of course, such an event with well-known people like Ranga Yogeshwar and Linda Zervakis is something completely different than receiving the award by mail or video. Since other award winners also took part, you could literally feel the conviction and motivation to create something new. It was a great experience and of course it is nice to know that stoba is part of it. That spurs us on to continue working on innovations with maximum performance. 

What does the future hold for stoba?

We will not stand still in the future. In the coming years, our focus will be on further developing our technologies and thus gaining a foothold in new markets. To this end, we will certainly continue to work on international cooperation between our sites and further deepen the advantages that this cross-disciplinary cooperation gives us. And then next year we will once again be among the TOP100 of the most innovative medium-sized companies in Germany.

More about the TOP100 competition:

Company profile stoba

Download book portrait

Press release TOP100 Award ceremony

Image source: Please always note the photo reference when using the photo: KD Busch / compamedia