Zukunftsgestalter: Kann Dorfner mit KI den Umsatz um 40 Prozent steigern?

In the Hirschau opencast mine, 70 meters underground, the Dorfner family company extracts white kaolin from a 47-hectare site, which is used primarily for porcelain, cosmetics, paper production, and high-quality paints. The company's headquarters sits isolated in the midst of the mining area, with the western and eastern fields encroaching closer to it.

The land cannot be mined indefinitely, but artificial intelligence (AI) has helped Dorfner to use kaolin more efficiently and slow down the mining process. Since implementing AI in 2020, the company has been able to reduce the amount of raw material used by roughly a third, allowing it to extend the life of the deposit by decades. Dorfner CEO Mirko Mondan states, "We have grown both in terms of results and revenue."

In 2020, when Mondan took over the reins of Dorfner, the company was facing challenges with supply chains and rising sustainability requirements. Mondan recognized that the company had a wealth of data, not just a raw material. Before AI, the company was focused on acquiring more customers abroad, but this strategy was no longer viable.

Mondan's approach was to think differently and leverage both the raw material and the data assets. Over the years, the company had collected recipe data in various Excel sheets, but the AI platform enabled them to identify customer needs and translate them into recipes. The fourth step involves using AI to minimize the number of prototypes tested in the real world, thus reducing the time from months to just a few days.

The result is a model that uses less raw material while maintaining the same or higher performance, extending the life of the deposit. Dorfner's innovation strategy involves investing in start-ups and developing internal innovations, aiming for the 130-year-old company to remain relevant for the next 130 years. Mondan envisions the company becoming independent from raw material extraction, focusing on substitute, blended, and new offerings.

With AI, Dorfner can better understand its valuable raw material, reduce its dependence on it, and create customized solutions for customers. This shift in strategy also includes plans for international expansion, primarily in Asia, using locally sourced materials.