There is never a dull moment at Andermatt Madumbi! The annual July conference affords our Business Development teams the opportunity to connect and innovate together, energise and inspire new biological excellence.

For the majority of the year, the 20 team members that make up our PPM (Product Portfolio Management) and Commercial teams work around the country. Pooling and sharing ideas in person a ords a great opportunity to harness the collective expertise of the group, and this year, the opportunity was fully maximised.

To honour innovation (one of the Andermatt Madumbi core values), CEO Michelle Lesur, opted to forego the traditional feedback sessions and mandated a compulsory ‘Innovation Day’.

Team members were tasked with presenting an innovation they believe will allow the company to ‘gear up’ for the future. The task parameters that needed to be met were:

1. Scope – anything honouring innovation within the biological industry, AMAD company strategy, organisational solutions, products and processes or individual role within the business. It’s your best idea!

2. Purpose – generate disruptive ideas for new products, new processes, new solutions, new ideas.

Team members were given 15 minutes to present their innovation, with an additional 5 minutes allocated to Questions and Discussions.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the panel of judges tasked with adjudicating and evaluating the innovations. Each judge focused on a different evaluation criteria:

Group Innovation:
Kristy LeVoy, Andermatt-PHP CEO
Communication:
Deon Basson, CEO Recinate
Industry Impact:
Thilivhali Nepfumbada, Retrose Scientific
Personal leadership Authenticity and Impact:
Brenda Thompson, Organisation Design and Development Consultant

The challenge was hotly contested on the day, as contestants were informed that the winner of the challenge would receive a trip to Andermatt Group Headquarters, ABIM (the Annual BioControl Industry Meeting) held in Basel, Switzerland in October 2023.

We are proud to announce the winners of the Andermatt Madumbi 2023 Innovation Day challenge:

1st Place

Nastassja Viljoen

Nastassja creatively designed and presented a field tool to optimise and enhance the collection of infield data.

 

2nd Place

Peter Thorpe

As our biostimulant product manager, Peter’s focus was on sourcing enhanced local raw materials.

 

2nd Place

De Wet Steenkamp

De Wet researched and proposed a new innovation to commercially engineer and elevate the efficacy of an existing bioinsecticide solution.

‘The Innovation Day challenge was an incredibly powerful and insightful day. All 20 proposals were unique and true to the role of the presenter. The judges applauded the preparation and innovation, commenting that the presentation quality of all was of superior standard. Despite each innovation being unique, distinct opportunities were highlighted – and it is our responsibility as a leadership team to now execute and honour these ideas. I am extremely proud of our team for rising to the challenge.’

– Michelle Lesur, CEO.