Hilden/Cologne, 18 December 2020. Innovations are the engine for success: for precisely this, WENKO was today awarded the "Rheinland Genial" prize as an innovation leader in the Rhineland metropolitan region. Dr Claus Pommer, Mayor of Hilden, presented the award to WENKO Managing Directors Niklas Köllner and Philip Köllner at the headquarters of WENKO-Wenselaar GmbH & Co. KG in Hilden.
The traditional company from Hilden was particularly convincing with their high level of innovation in the development of future-oriented product ideas with high consumer benefits, always true to the WENKO company motto "The better idea". "We see the award as a great confirmation of our work. Together with trend scouts, inventors and designers, we develop around 500 new products every year that make our customers' everyday lives more pleasant and comfortable. This year, for example, we launched a world first, a shower rail with integrated LED lighting, and developed a unique system with the 'Vacuum-Loc' fastening without drilling series, which allows bathroom articles to be mounted in the desired place with the help of a vacuum pump and removed again just as quickly without leaving any residue," says Niklas Köllner, describing the basis of the company's success.
Kirsten Jahn, Managing Director of the Metropolregion Rheinland e.V., also confirmed that it was not difficult to choose the prize-winner. KG constantly sets new impulses with the right feeling for innovative ideas in the household, the necessary inventiveness and entrepreneurial passion. More than 1,000 registered patents and industrial property rights bear witness to the company's high innovative strength, which has a trend-setting influence on many product areas," emphasises Kirsten Jahn.
The Rhineland Metropolitan Region is one of the most research-intensive locations in Europe. The density of innovative companies that bring new products or services to the market is correspondingly high. To make them more visible and to publicly acknowledge their work, the Rhineland Metropolitan Region created the "Rhineland Genius" award. To this end, the Rhineland Metropolitan Region called on its members to nominate companies with exciting innovations. WENKO, for example, was nominated by the business development department of the city of Hilden for its product developments, which have been continuously full of ideas for decades. The management of the metropolitan region decided on the winners.
