Product Engineer for Floor Path Marking

When Katharina Wiele is developing something new, her office sometimes looks a bit like a testing laboratory. Small test set-ups can be found directly next to her desk. One recent example for such a development is GuideU CustomFit. The customer wanted to fully integrate the safety strips into the carpet – a particular challenge, as the basic brown tone of the carpet physically blocks the recharging of the strips. The pivotal idea was inspired by the perforated promotional films on some buses: In just the same way that these films allow a view out the window, small holes in the overprint of the GuideU strips ensure that the strips can recharge sufficiently – a new product was born. "Many of our decisions are customer-driven," Katharina Wiele resumes. 

Apart from new developments, Katharina Wiele also looks after customers worldwide, responding with her colleagues every day to numerous e-mails. Her travel schedule is quite full. She supports customers on-site and also attends trade fairs. "Time is always the biggest challenge for us," she says. "Queries are generally urgent so we have a tight schedule. You have to be well organized." For new aircraft types, the team has to make sure that GuideU meets all of the relevant requirements. Another increasingly demanded task is the testing of LED light scenarios. "Imitating a red sunrise will now charge the strips for example," she explains. "The lighting scenario must be adjusted in such way that the strips charge sufficiently and the safety requirements are fulfilled."