Imagining the future together

What does the future look like? What do companies need to be prepared for and how can they set the course today for success tomorrow? A Future Workshop organized by DOPAG in Stuttgart made its participants think about these questions in relation to the world of dispensing technology. Material manufacturers from the field of bonding and sealing joined DOPAG experts to draft up and discuss future scenarios together.

Food for thought was provided by trend watcher Mathias Haas. He exposed some of the main megatrends and showed where the future is already being made today. Next, he explained how to identify relevant developments in time and use them to one’s own advantage, and even how to become a trailblazer through one’s own developments. Haas’s advice: Give yourself time and freedom to think.

The fact is, that the future is closing in on us at a much faster pace than many in Germany come to realise. Haas gave a few very impressive examples of this phenomenon. For instance, companies or business models that are struggling today because of the ever-increasing use of 3D printers, have not carefully considered the developments over the last 15 years and learned to adapt. In the meantime, other companies are using 3D printers to generate large profits, even in areas not yet known to the general public. For example, the Deutsche Bahn is using 3D-printed metals in areas relating to safety.

Haas provided stimulating ideas around the question of customers’ expectations from material and machine manufacturers in the future, and how we can address these demands today already. Towards the end of the event, the participants agreed that new ideas can be processed more fruitfully through a more intensive cooperation, and synergistic effects achieved.