Ebersberger Innovation Award – “Parking is the new refueling” – Ebersberg

The very first of all first places in this competition can no longer be taken from them: The employees of Nimmsta GmbH from Aßling are the winners of the Ebersberger Innovation Prize 2021. The two managing directors Florian Ruhland and Andreas Funkenhauser were able to convince the jury with their “HS-50” : A modular back hand scanner with touch display. If you believe the two entrepreneurs, the device will “revolutionize the logistics market” because it is a handheld scanner and tablet in one. For example, a worker removing goods from bins when composing an order can do so without having to put the scanner aside. This, according to Ruhland and Funkenhauser, increases efficiency enormously.

There are big words that District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß (CSU) chooses on Monday at the opening speech for the award of the first Ebersberg Innovation Prize in the former Sparkasse room. Innovation means “future viability”, “technological progress”, “public benefit”, “sustainability”, but also “realizable business ideas”. All of this and more should be made possible or at least promoted by the innovation award.

The prize should actually have been awarded in 2020, but this had to be postponed due to the pandemic. The innovation award, which is now added to the energy and business awards also advertised by the district, originally arose from discussion groups to improve digitization. However, it quickly became clear that it would be worthwhile to promote innovation as such.

The winners from Aßling accepted the award with joy. Backhand scanners already exist as a technology. According to Funkenhauser, the central innovation lies in the modularity of the device. It consists of a fingerless glove on which the actual scanner can be placed at will. This not only eliminates the need for electronics in the glove, which is more resource-efficient in the event of a defect, since only the scanner has to be replaced. The device is also more ergonomic. Prize money for the winning glove: 5160 euros.

Twenty-one applications were received for the innovation award, of which twenty were accepted, which Robert Niedergesäß sees as a “good sign” for the future of the award. All of them can now adorn themselves with the district’s “seal of innovation”, whether they were on the podium or not. The products, campaigns and ideas submitted, all in different fermentation states, from “idea” to “ready for delivery”, covered a broad spectrum: from a “trucker translator app”, including images, to organic dog treats, to intelligent transport robots. Most frequently represented: ideas on climate or environmental protection.

Open detailed view

Second place went to the company “Your Charge GmbH”, also in Aßling. “Your Charge” has set itself the task of making e-mobility possible in large private garages. “The traffic turnaround must not fail because of the installation of sockets,” said managing director Christian Brandt in a video clip in which the top three were briefly presented. The innovations in “Your Charge” are mainly in the area of ​​the complicated sockets that are necessary for charging an electric car. If several cars are charged in a garage at the same time, there is a risk that the house connection and the local power grid will be overloaded. The wall charging stations from “Your Charge” provide a remedy here. At the same time, they make it easy to bill who actually charged or – in old German – refueled how much electricity in their car. Because, according to Brandt: “Parking is the new refueling!” Second place is endowed with 2080 euros.

The Grafinger Verein secured third place in the foundation “Grafing Goes Green” and is endowed with 1360 euros. The future association consists of students who came together in 2019. They were honored for their concept of a stamp card to avoid disposable packaging. It works like this: If a customer decides in one of the currently 21 participating Grafinger shops to forego disposable packaging, there is a stamp on the stamp card when paying. When ten stamps have been collected, the card goes into a box. You then take part in a raffle. Winners can count on vouchers worth up to thirty euros, provided by the city of Grafing. In his award speech, Julian Schmidt reports on major plans that the association still has and for which the prize money is to be used: In addition to expanding and financing the stamp cards, the association wants to promote a plastic-free day in Grafing.

In addition to innovation, the event ultimately also relied on tried and tested: those who had gathered in the former hall of the Kreissparkasse and stayed long enough were able to end the evening with a buffet in attendance. And so, at the end of this evening, maybe everyone was able to feel like a winner after all.