Catalyst x Imzo: solving a factory’s real problems in a single day

On 10 August, StartupFest’s new Catalyst track made its first industry visit. The destination: the Imzo plant. The day opened with registration and an opening ceremony. Participants met their teams and were briefed on the format and on what the day would ask of them. Inside the factory Then came the part that mattered most — going onto the production floor. Participants watched the door and window production lines, studied how the operational processes fit together, and spoke directly with the plant’s experienced specialists. The goal was not a guided tour. Teams were there to identify the enterprise’s real problems and real needs — to see the problem with their own eyes before proposing anything. From solution to pilot Fifty young people, working in ten teams, then got to work. Each team took the problem it had identified and built a practical solution around the plant’s actual needs. At the end of the day the teams presented what they had built. The winning teams came away with the most valuable outcome of all: the chance to pilot their projects at Imzo. One day. A real factory. Real problems — and real solutions found for them.