Wilfried Rähse

Produkt-Design: Zusammenwirken von Chemie, Technik und Marketing im Dienste des Kunden

The job profile of the process engineer in chemical industry has gone through a lasting change in the 1990s. Thus, interdisciplinary team work in projects has been established with the aim to create an innovation leadership of the company that is competitive and fast. Developing unique and improved products has brought the consumers needs into focus. Besides the product performance, the user-friendliness as well as the aesthetics are important aspects that should be taken into account during product design. The history of a product, starting from the idea and ending with its market launch, is described. In this connection, the methodology of the determination and evaluation of consumer needs is a main issue. Process engineering enables the technical execution, whereby the economic as well as the time targets is considered. Hence, creativity are required - and not seldom the creation of novel technologies. Bringing a project to a successful conclusion implies understanding for and appreciation of the colleagues involved from other departments, such as chemistry and business administration (marketing and market research).