“Simply different”: House for Work 4.0

In Wildsteig-Morgenbach, the software and consulting company Neumann & Neumann has created an innovation and competence center to break new ground in the world of work.

Wildsteig

- At first glance, it could also be a comfortable holiday home.

Idyllically located on the outskirts of Morgenbach with a view of the Ammergau Alps, a pizza oven next to the terrace.

Table football, jukebox and comfortable sofa next to a tiled stove inside.

But work should be done there.

The siblings Eva and Oswald Neumann of the Steingaden software and consulting company Neumann & Neumann intended that this is not a normal company building.

It should be a quiet space to develop innovations for the company and customers.

Neumann & Neumann deals with the digitization of quality processes.

They “start where it is too complicated for other companies”, it was said on the opening day of the new competence center.

Combine the real and the virtual

Instead of fixed places, work opportunities and computers can be found everywhere. Sometimes equipped with a swivel chair, sometimes with a so-called “desk bike”, a kind of bicycle seat with pedals. "Movement opens the brain," says Eva Neumann, who doesn't want to sit still for long either. There are also enough opportunities for relaxation, for example a sauna and a fitness room in the basement. “Simply different,” summarizes Neumann, whose brother is connected via video switch from his vacation in Denmark.

“Work 4.0” is what the Neumanns call their idea of ​​combining the real and the virtual.

They had been toying with the idea two or three years ago.

Corona has now practically acted as a catalyst, describes Neumann.

Home office worked extremely well.

But it is important to have a place where people can meet again and exchange ideas.

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“It's finally here,” says managing director Eva Neumann, delighted about the opening of the center.

© Hans-Helmut Herold

The 40 or so employees do not have fixed working hours.

The managing directors rely on trust, personal responsibility and commitment because everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Weekend at the alpine hut gives the impetus for the project

A weekend with colleagues from the software development team in an alpine hut gave the impetus for the construction of the new center.

It was a relaxed and at the same time intense time, said Eva Neumann.

They sat together until late at night, had exciting conversations with fresh results, and “everyone had so much fun”.

They wanted to experience something like that with all employees and around 1000 customers.

The idea of ​​buying a mountain hut for this was abandoned (“Internet access would be practical”), instead they wanted to build one themselves on a piece of land and finally decided on a whole house.

The highlight: There is still an alpine hut.

The Wildsteiger construction company Buchner integrated them into the house.

Even firewood is piled up in front of it with great attention to detail.

The interior of the Morgenbach Alm is more like a conference room with a large table and a screen on the wall.

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Idyllically located, with a sleeping barrel in the garden, a large pizza oven next to the terrace and a sauna in the basement: Neumann & Neumann's innovation and competence center in Wildsteig.

© Hans-Helmut Herold.

Mayor Josef Taffertshofer was pleased that the promising, digital company can now also be found in Wildsteig, which otherwise mainly has to offer agriculture and craft businesses.

Neumann & Neumann will keep the company headquarters and thus the day-to-day business in Steingaden.

The company already has another construction project in mind there, as Eva Neumann mentions: apartments for employees are to be built there.

The building in Morgenbach is a kind of refuge where you can get creative away from everyday work.

There is no telephone connection.

The building is always open to all employees.

There are even places to sleep, including in a barrel in the garden.

One would now like to hold workshops with customers and employees.

The neighbors, who welcomed the company with open arms and supported it during the construction period, would also like to show the finished building, says Neumann.

School classes are allowed to visit the company to find out about training opportunities.

Everyone else has to wait: Eva and Oswald Neumann have planned an open day for the coming year.

Then the company celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Anyone who would like to take a look at the innovation and competence center now can do so on a virtual tour.

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