We rely on continuous exchange with our customers and partners in the industry to further develop products, processes, applications as well as services and business models while always keeping an eye on the saving of resources.
In addition to customers, numerous cooperations with institutions, educational and research organisations form a select group of experts at motan with whom we continuously think through, design and implement innovative solutions. Know-how that not only connects, but is also passed on and promoted in the long term. In the meantime, our cooperation with research and educational institutions connects us with more than just professional exchange. Together we promote young talents through scholarships, practical semesters and thesis or support laboratories and research institutions on site with motan peripheral equipment and systems. Education and the transfer of expertise are at the focus here.
We have been connected to the SKZ since 2015 through cooperation with motan campus, the motan training program. A membership with the SKZ makes it possible for us to achieve top positions within a team – to be part of a network, to benefit from excellent contacts and sources of information in the field of plastics, and to promote and realize plastics specific interests and research projects.
“Innovation is definitely much, much more than just having an idea. It is about being able to develop and actual real product from an idea.” - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Bastian (SKZ Institute director)
The Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) is an innovation driver and research partner for the plastics sector. Extensive know-how and many years of experience in all areas of plastics technology put IKV in a unique position in Germany. The cooperation between IKV and motan is diverse. motan supports many research projects with loan units and is given advice and support by the IKV when realizing new ideas.
“However pleased we may be about new scientific findings, we are only really happy when they are utilized in practice.” - Professor Christian Hopmann (Institute Head and Chairholder)
Since it was founded, the JKU Linz has been a forerunner for technological innovation. The LIT is renowned for the Linzer art of engineering, networked researchers in different technology departments and faculties, and the LIT stimulates the highest levels of interdisciplinary technical and technological research due to competitive funding. With their lighthouse project LIT Factory, the JKU Linz, in close cooperation with the industry and KMU, established an intelligent Industry 4.0 research plant. Motan-colortronic is also involved in plastics engineering, contributes to the innovative project “LIT Factory” and cooperates with the Institute for Polymer Extrusion and Compounding.
“Without plastics and their constant improvement, our modern society would be impossible”
With more than 3,200 members, VDMA is the largest network organization for mechanical engineering in Europe. The association represents the common economic, technological and scientific interests of this diverse industry. More than 200 companies, including motan-colortronic, are members of the association, covering more than 90 percent of the branch production in Germany. Motan-colortronic has been a VDMA member since 2013, and since 2015 Sandra Füllsack, Managing Director of motan holding, has been a member of the Executive Board of the Sector Association at VDMA.
The Sector Association represents the interests of its members in national and international standardization committees and takes up research impulses from the members’ circle. Current issues are: Industry 4.0, sustainability, 3-D printing, energy efficiency and functional integration.
“Innovation policy can also contribute to innovative medium-sized industrial companies. Cooperative industrial research is jewel of the German innovation system, which needs to be sustainably ‚polished‘.” - Hartmut Rauen, VDMA Deputy Executive Director
Konstanz University of Applied Sciences places a particular emphasis on the research and development of ideas and the implementation thereof. Alongside practical teaching in the multiple laboratories and the variety interdisciplinary courses available, Konstanz University of Applied Sciences also benefits from close professional exchanges with regional companies operating in the plastics technology sector. This includes motan. For several years, motan has maintained an active dialogue with the plastics technology laboratory at the university on the topic of materials handling.
“Our quest is to bring life to the exchange between universities and industry, to benefit from each other and responsibly use plastics technology in this environment.” - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lazar Bošković (Head of the laboratory for plastics technology)
Our technical blog was founded over 10 years ago and has been continuously expanded. Our goal is to pass on the basic knowledge of materials handling via mo's Corner. Because we believe: "Education [& knowledge] not only opens up new possibilities, it is also an investment in the future"1. In the meantime, mo's corner has become a success story. It has published a textbook, over 60 articles in the international trade press, an online trade blog and a youtube channel in over five languages. We are pleased to have created a free educational channel that explains the complexities of material handling in a simple way and makes it available to a wide audience.
1Quote: Ed Markey
“Education not only opens up new possibilities, it is also an investment in the future” - Ed Markey
The Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) is a source for proactive sustainability transformation and knowledge transfer. In order to achieve that, IGCS offers funding opportunities for individual research exchange for junior and senior researchers from both Germany and India. Another focus of IGCS is the well-attended Summer and Winter Schools carried out in both countries, which include intercultural training in addition to knowledge transfer.
With its vast network of scientists and practitioners and regular activities, IGCS is a source of inspiration with a broad range of skills, conceptual models and standards, as well as best-practice examples for proactive transformation.
IGCS and motan ally to tackle sustainability challenges in the field of plastics. In 2021, they conducted the first virtual IGCS – motan workshop on challenges and strategies in the management of plastics. The two-day workshop involved impulse lectures with speakers from industry, academia and civil society, as well as group work by the students.
Freeing rivers from plastic and thus protecting the sea - that is the mission of the Aachen-based start-up everwave. The two supporting pillars here are technological innovation and ecological inspiration. Its sophisticated technologies allow everwave to not only detect trash, but also analyze it and thereby prevent it from entering the waters in the first place. Companies can offset their plastic footprint by letting the startup retrieve trash from the waters for them – so does motan. Together, we are thus making a visible contribution to trash-free waters worldwide.
"Business and environmental protection, which are often described as opponents, are thereby working hand in hand." - CEO Clemens Feigl