On equal terms with the CTO

One step at a time

In the Autumn Semester 2023, the Lab teamed up with the B¨¹hler Group to launch the B¨¹hler Exploration Lab (BEXL), a collaborative initiative to explore how a lean de-risking strategy might work within the company¡¯s internal innovation process. Reichenstein was one of a team of eight students ¨C led by three experienced postdocs ¨C who spent six months testing innovation ideas from B¨¹hler¡¯s 24 business units. The initia?tive gave rise to a total of 60 projects, some simple, others more complex.

For example, one project set out to develop a device that oat mills could use to determine the quality of oats at the moment of delivery, thereby helping them negotiate a fair price and correctly calibrate the mill for that particular batch. The first question the students addressed was what exactly a device of this kind would need to measure. In addition to the grain to chaff ratio, the quality of oats also depends on the ease with which the outer hull, or husk, can be separ?ated from the oat kernel, as this affects how easy the oats will be to process. The students¡¯ goal was therefore to create a small testing device that would assess the same key criteria applied to processing oats in full-size machines. They decided to approach this challenge step-by-step.

Their first prototype, which was made out of cardboard, took just 18 hours to build; the second prototype was ready after 40 hours. It was only after these initial successes that they started on the third prototype, in which they invested 400 hours of work. ¡°I¡¯m very impressed with how quickly students are able to develop prototypes that answer fundamental questions,¡± says Ian Roberts, chief technology officer of the B¨¹hler Group. ¡°With our usual development methods, a project like the oat dehulling machine would have definitely taken two years instead of two months ¨C and we would have burned a lot more capital in the process.¡±

When the collaboration between ETH and B¨¹hler came to an end, the oat dehuller was still at the prototype stage, which Reichenstein found frustrating. ¡°It would have been a real shame if the dehuller and all those other great projects simply ended up in a drawer somewhere,¡± he says. He therefore opted to do an internship at B¨¹hler, which gave him and his BEXL colleague Diego Verzaroli time to get the dehulling machine to a stage where it could be tested by customers. ¡°It was an amazing experience to be able to take this machine out to customers in the field and get their direct feedback,¡± says Reichenstein. Alongside his Master¡¯s degree, which he began this February, he now works one day a week as a junior product manager at B¨¹hler.

New challenges

Student Arne von Hopffgarten was one of the Master¡¯s cohort who completed their thesis via BEXL. He, too, felt there was more to be done. ¡°I wanted to delve deeper into the projects and really get to grips with project management,¡± he says. He joined the coaching team that planned the second year of the Explor?ation Lab (EXL). The ¡°B¡± for B¨¹hler was dropped when three other companies were welcomed on board: household appliance manufacturer V-ZUG, fastening and assembly technology company Bossard, and the VAT Group, which produces high performance vacuum valves. Over the course of the last Autumn Semester, von Hopffgarten and four colleagues supervised 14 students as well as 200 employees from the four companies whose jobs involve innovation. These stakeholders presented the students with 178 ideas, which in turn gave rise to 87 projects. The students¡¯ work ¨C except for projects subject to a confidentiality agreement ¨C was unveiled in a final presentation held at the ETH Hangar in D¨¹bendorf in late March.

Alina Arranhado, who is doing a Master¡¯s degree in Mechanical Engineering, presented her idea for improving inventory management of assembly parts. ¡°In the existing set-up, workers pick these small parts from hoppers that are mounted on scales," Arranhado explains. This, however, is an expensive way of monitoring when supplies are running low, she says. Her plan was to use light sensors to detect when screws and other items need replenishing.

Arranhado presented the four prototypes she had built at a booth in the hangar. ¡°As I was working on the project, I realised that a simple set-up with just a few sensors was all that was needed, because so much could be done on the software side,¡± she says. ¡°Even LED lighting wasn¡¯t necessary ¨C we were able to rely solely on daylight.¡± The solution she came up with uses only five to ten sensors, making it about ten times cheaper than the existing scale-based system. Arranhado says it was a one-of-a-kind experience, and the EXL was the perfect environment for her Master¡¯s thesis. ¡°Some weeks we faced a brand new challenge every single day, which is great for someone like me who craves variety!¡± she says. Spending six months dedicated to a single topic would have suited her far less, she admits. One of the nicest surprises was how easy it was to work as a team, not just with the students and coaches, but also with the stakeholders from the companies. ¡°There were no barriers to communication ¨C everyone was on first-name terms and felt free to speak their mind.¡±

Much of their success comes down to staying the course. ¡°Innovation is like a marathon,¡± says Thomas Christen, head of Corporate R&D at VAT. He noticed significant differences among the students and quickly realised which of them had real drive and determination. ¡°The rest were spurred on by the coaches or by the people on my team,¡± he says. ¡°But all the effort paid off: we¡¯ve already implemented some of their ideas in our production processes, and there¡¯s one particular product innovation that has the potential to be a game changer.¡±

More companies on board

VAT plans to participate in EXL again next year, despite the considerable costs. ¡°We don¡¯t look at it solely from the viewpoint of a financial investment, where maybe one out of every ten projects might come to fruition,¡± says Christen. He insists it¡¯s more about the mindset: ¡°I don¡¯t think that you can put a price on that kind of collaboration.¡±

The other firms were equally enthusiastic about working with the students and are also keen to take part again, according to Kai von Petersdorff-Campen, head of the ETH Feasibility Lab and project lead. ¡°This semester, four projects emerged that we can¡¯t discuss publicly ¨C I think that says a lot about the quality of the work,¡± he says.

Several more companies have already expressed interest in being onboard next year, including the flavour and fragrance manufacturer Givaudan. ¡°ETH Hangar in D¨¹bendorf has such great facilities that even companies without an internal innov?ation lab can get involved,¡± says von Petersdorff-Campen. Smaller firms would also be welcome in principle, but the coordination required currently exceeds available resources. ¡°I¡¯d be delighted if we could find a solution to that in the months ahead,¡± he says.