And another Sven…
Yes, you read that correctly. Alongside our managing director Sven Siefert, I, Sven Dörhage, complete the team and am responsible for business development at our company.
To this end, I spend a lot of time in direct dialogue with customers. For example, at trade events, conferences, and trade fairs, I actively seek out conversations to learn about needs and trends firsthand. It is important to me to build and maintain a trusting relationship with you. As you know, this is the only way we can develop long-term partnerships and offer truly suitable solutions.
In my role, I also work closely with management and division heads to actively advance our future focus areas. These include innovation fields such as robotics, automated agriculture, cybersecurity, and sustainability. These areas have enormous potential for us and our customers—we want to set the course early on. I particularly like the fact that I can contribute strategically to such future-oriented topics. Together as a team, we develop visions and concrete concepts for how we can create new solutions in these fields that give our customers a competitive edge.
“My motivation is to turn ideas into reality.”
My motivation comes primarily from turning good ideas into reality. I am thrilled when a vision becomes a tangible product. I want to contribute to bringing durable, high-quality products to market that offer real added value for society. In our field in particular, technical innovation and social benefits can be combined. For example, when a new medical device makes treatment safer and more efficient for patients. Success stories like this motivate me every day.
In my projects, I value interdisciplinary collaboration. Whether it’s mechanics, electronics, or software, the best solutions come about when all departments think and work together from the outset. This cross-disciplinary approach often leads to more creative and robust solutions than working in isolation.
From my 25 years of experience in product development in medical design, I know that
“Communication is key,”
to solve complex problems. Therefore, communication between teams and individuals is the most important factor in developing and understanding the big picture for a good product. It is important to me to look at projects on a meta level, i.e., not just optimizing individual components, but keeping an eye on the interaction of the entire system.
Soccer metaphors always describe complex relationships very vividly: during my active time on the field, as a left midfielder, my job was to support the central midfield in building up play, to provide impetus to the attack, and to relieve the pressure on the defense on that side. In other words, I had to create space for the team so that the game could develop successfully. I had to keep an eye on the big picture and provide momentum in the right places. That pretty much sums up my role at B&W Engineering.
One specific project that illustrates my approach and perspective is the Endoprime from comprex, which I had the opportunity to help develop during my time at WILDDESIGN GmbH. This is a novel cleaning system for medical endoscopes, which we were able to help develop from the initial idea to the concept to the transition to series production. Transferring a proven, safe, and sustainable technology from the industrial sector to medical technology was a very challenging and meaningful task. From the outset, the focus was on user-centered design. We placed great importance on a well-thought-out UI/UX so that users in everyday clinical practice could work with the device intuitively and safely. Equally important were a deep understanding of the system and well-coordinated communication between the various specialist areas. We had to understand the endoscope preparation processes holistically in order to integrate the product optimally into existing processes and supplement it with useful features. Brand development also played a role, as the device and brand needed to have a coordinated, contemporary identity that would reveal the potential of the technology at first glance. From the initial concept to shortly before series production, we worked closely with our customer and partners so that their feedback and expertise could be incorporated at any time.
The result of this holistic approach is a solution that inspires everyone involved. This means that patients benefit from greater safety thanks to optimal hygiene in the cleaning process, and medical staff are relieved of some of the burden of their daily work thanks to the user-friendly, ergonomic operation. In addition, simple and automated workflows enable more efficient processes and reduce risks and costs.
I am looking forward to the next projects, where I will work with my colleagues and our customers to launch further innovative products. I am particularly motivated by the open team culture here… I mean, yes, everyone out there talks about being “interdisciplinary, solution-oriented, and always striving to create real added value,” but here at B&W, it’s a way of life. If you see me at a trade show or conference in the near future, please feel free to come and talk to me! I look forward to hearing from you!
