Miele-Geschäftsführer und neuer it's OWL Clusterboard-Vorsitzender: 3 Fragen an Dr. Stefan Breit

First of all, I am very much looking forward to this task and I sincerely thank you for the trust placed in me to be elected chair of the cluster board. We start from an excellent foundation laid by our predecessors, and this foundation must first be maintained and then expanded. By that I mean two things: first, the very proven model of collaboration in the leading-edge cluster OWL, and of course the previous thematic focus, for example on digitalization in the SME sector in the region. At the same time, companies in the region are facing new challenges. I am personally convinced that very soon, competitiveness and sustainability will no longer be a contradiction for companies, but these two topics will be one in strategic alignment. We want to link our technologies for products and processes with digitalization and the new topic of sustainability. You all know that we have already declared sustainability as a focus topic in the current project phase 4, the projects we are currently working on within the funding framework. And I can only tell you, I am very optimistic about this path we are taking, considering the content and approaches we have received and are currently developing. I also believe that we can succeed in developing a unique profile for OWL by combining what we have done so far with the topic of sustainability. If we manage to continue knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange in this direction, I believe that the OWL region as a business location can become even stronger. At the same time, we must be aware that today we may not yet have all the players and all the competencies on board to address this expanded field. Therefore, I believe that an important point will be to look towards partnerships and cooperation, possibly also beyond the horizon of Ostwestfalen-Lippe.

For me, the added value of it's OWL is already inherent in the term 'leading-edge cluster'. OWL is a unique concentration of competencies in science, industry, and supporting organizations in the region. We cover a wide range of topics, from intelligent products to production processes, and some time ago we added the further consideration of services and digitally supported business models, and we look into the working world of the future. An important success factor is that we can engage in low-threshold exchange within the cluster in the region. We have short distances; every partner in the region has at most perhaps an hour's drive to meet, and through these meetings, trust is built through personal contacts. I can only say from my own experience: I take something away from every event, every conversation, and every visit, whether at companies or universities, that is also relevant for many. For example, before Christmas I was traveling and was very pleased to visit Mr. Cordes and Mr. Meyer at the company Lenze, who thankfully is one of the deputy chairs of the cluster board together with Professor Schramberg. And I learned, for example, what Industry 4.0 really means in depth and in practice in automation technology.

First of all, I already had the pleasure and opportunity in recent years to act as deputy chair of the OWL board, so this task does not come completely out of the blue. Let me perhaps say that the chair of OWL, alongside my main professional responsibility at Miele, is a significant voluntary position that I have taken on, and I have taken on this task very gladly. One motivation for me is the competition for talent for the region. We want to make the OWL region attractive for high potentials and retain them, and we particularly want to ensure that talents stay in the region. Another motivation for me is the exchange between companies and the exchange between companies and science, from which I am convinced especially small and medium-sized enterprises in the region can benefit. For example, as a medium-sized company, I don't have to develop artificial intelligence solutions completely on my own. And looking ahead to the topic of sustainability, I don't have to explore this admittedly complex but also very exciting topic entirely from scratch on my own. It helps enormously if I can learn from the experience and work of others. That is, so to speak, a very valuable shortcut in the individual topics for everyone, and I think that is a good mission.