Innovation and Ontologies

Knowledge Acquisition 269
Both process and structure of phases and gates are meticulously elaborated and exactly defined.
This proceeding exceeds expectations I had when selecting a medium-sized company for
participation (cf. part I, section 1.4 and part III, section 2.1.3). C. & E. FEIN GMBH tries to
gather and analyze information as early as possible, thus reducing the risk of an expensive
misjudgment of market potential. The reason for this careful approach is probably the necessary
investment for product innovations: C. & E. FEIN GMBH does research, development and
manufacturing in Germany only. In such a high wage country, labor costs alone represent a
significant investment which asks for careful consideration.
2.2.3 Marquardt GmbH 274
2.2.3.1 Presentation of Company
Corporate headquarters of MARQUARDT GMBH are at Rietheim-Weilheim, Germany. The
company was founded by Johannes Marquardt and Johannes Marquardt as “Specialized factory
for electrical supplies and fine mechanics”. In 1953, MARQUARDT GMBH became the first
German company to produce snap action switches. Another important innovation were the
Keyless Go systems for automobiles, brought to the market in 2000.
figure 96 MARQUARDT GMBH: company logo, car key and part of keyless go system
MARQUARDT GMBH is family-managed in the third generation. Until 1995, together with his
brother Ewald and their colleague Erich Marquardt, Jakob Marquardt led the company as
Managing Director. Today, Ernst Kellermann, Dr. Harald Marquardt and Matthias Marquardt
head the board of directors.
MARQUARDT GMBH has more than 4,000 employees who generate a turnover of roughly
470 million Euro in 2007 (2006: 407 million, 2005: � 369 million). About two third of turnover
stems from products which have been on the market less than five years. The majority of the
company is family-owned.
MARQUARDT GMBH develops switches and switching systems which relate user and appliance.
The product portfolio covers switches and switching systems for automobiles 275 , power tool switches, and
switches, sensors and system solutions. The company is a system supplier to electrical equipment
manufacturers and belongs to the best mechatronics specialists worldwide.
274 This section is mainly based on my qualitative interviews at MARQUARDT GMBH (cf. part III, section 2.1.3 for details on the interviews).
Further information has been derived from publicly available sources (e.g. http://www.marquardt.de), publications of Dr. Marquardt (e.g.
Marquardt, 2007), and from internal documents kindly made available by MARQUARDT GMBH.
275 Note that the account on the early stages of the innovation process at MARQUARDT GMBH mainly concerns its automotive division.