Smart protection against burglary for windows and doors.

Burglary and the theft of valuable business information remain common crimes in many parts of the world. The innovations experts at REHAU set out to find out if they could use their know-how to prevent burglaries before they even happen.

The result is REHAU Smart Guard, a burglar-blocking technology from our windows and doors specialists. When someone approaches a window armed with REHAU Smart Guard, a warning sound and lights can be automatically activated. If they don’t take the warning seriously and try to open a window with force, security shutters can close and security personal will be alerted.

It’s a revolutionary solution to an age-old problem, that required generations of expertise to develop. The smart system emerged from a tactical co-operation between our Window Solutions Division (WS), UNLIMITED X, and the digitization platform.

Late in 2016, the REHAU window division started generating fresh idea for how windows might look and function in future. The bold idea for smart burglary protection emerged thanks to input from representatives from the “smartREHAU” team, but it was clear from the start that the team would have to overcome many challenges before they could bring a product to market.

Michael Lehmann, Innovation Architect at UNLIMITED X, explains: “Our task was to understand the market, to rapidly convert the idea into reality through prototyping, and to turn an overall concept into a product and business model.”

The key to REHAU’s rapid success lay in the remarkable cross-functional teamwork enabled by our shared ambition for innovation. Customer feedback was quickly collated, the market potential was assessed, and dozens of new ideas were developed before a business plan was approved. All that was left was for the WS division to expertly oversee the technical implementation. Together, REHAU teams created a fully certified new product and brought it to market in under 18 months.