EDITOR’S CHOICE
JOHANNES STEMMER INTERVIEW
BEUMER GROUP
WE HAVE ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WORLD
THE NAME “DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION”
ALREADY IMPLIES THAT
THERE IS AN IMPORTANT
CHANGE INVOLVED. WHAT
DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE
BUSINESS WORLD AND FOR
THE INDIVIDUAL, WHAT
WILL BE THE CHALLENGES?
Digital transformation is inevitable. Industry,
economy and society are already there. How
can a medium-sized mechanical engineering
company and leading global systems
supplier of intralogistics solutions face
these changes and get the most value out
of it? Johannes Stemmer, Director Digital
Transformation at BEUMER Group, is here to
give us answers.
MR STEMMER, HOW DO
YOU UNDERSTAND DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION WITHIN
THE CONTEXT OF YOUR
COMPANY?
Stemmer: First of all we have to include the
people in this, at an acceptable pace. We
at BEUMER Group have a large group of
different experts. Some of the colleagues
work on innovation and software every
day, other areas are less affected by this. It
is important to make all employees more
aware of this topic. Digital transformation
is inevitable and it will change our entire
business environment. So we should avoid
alarmism and find quick and consistent
answers instead.
Stemmer: It basically comes down to the
safeguarding of our future sustainability. We
are combining 80 years of experience, which
made us one of the leading global systems
suppliers in the intralogistics industry,
with innovation that is driven by today’s
challenges from digitization.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR
A SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION?
Stemmer: We are already experiencing
digital transformation, not only in our
business, but also in our private lives. Almost
everybody owns a smartphone, streaming
services are taking over and digital platforms
are continuously growing. Many of the
companies that are active in this field have
no relation to standard business models
which have existed previously. In August this
year, Apple became the first company in the
world to have a net worth of more than one
trillion US dollars. That is more than the 15
largest DAX-listed companies combined. This
switch to mobile end devices also affects the
buying behaviour in our society. E-commerce
is picking up speed, and we are expecting
double-digit growth per year in this area. It
is an important business field for BEUMER
Group. We have to be fast and flexible in
adapting new technologies.
Property rights are an important topic
that we will need to examine thoroughly.
A traditional technical innovation can be
patented, but when it comes to software,
things get a littler more difficult, and
for business models it becomes almost
impossible. For any digital innovation, data
plays an increasingly important role. Their
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PECM Issue 36
value tends to be underestimated in the
industrial context. Data, and the resulting
efficiency gains, are beneficial for customers
and companies and the use of this data can
be transferred into new business models. In
this regard, other countries are way ahead
of us, which has to make us rethink our
strategy.
WHERE IS GERMANY IN THIS
PROCESS AT THE MOMENT?
Stemmer: I think that German companies
are generally in a better position than it is
often portrayed in the media. We have many
hidden champions who are global leaders
with their products and systems. That is
a very good starting position to acquire
the necessary digital literacy needed to
ensure future sustainability. In my opinion
it is easier for a company to adapt the
digitization technologies instead of trying
to catch up on the know-how lead in the
manufacturing sector from a software
perspective.
The goal is to complement the capacity of
the machines and systems, including the
required software and controls, with digital
innovation. Especially the B2B environment
offers us every chance to play a leading role.
HOW CAN YOU MAKE
PEOPLE MORE AWARE OF
THIS TOPIC?
Stemmer: One good example are streaming
services. Everybody knows Spotify, Apple
Music or Netflix. What is new is that we
have to look at them as our competitors.
Not because they offer the traditional
products in the intralogistics field like we
do, but because streaming services have
changed the entire market mechanisms.
Our sortation systems were used for sorting
and distributing CDs for the music industry,
for example. Within only a few months this
entire market was cancelled out, almost
no one went to a record store anymore
because now there were streaming services.
With these business models, the services
contributed, within a very short period of
time, to the disruption of a market segment
that we are active in. This can happen in
other segments too.
WHAT ARE THE REACTIONS
AMONG THE EMPLOYEES?
Stemmer: They can see that there is a lot
happening right now. They also see the
opportunities, if we respond quickly and
efficiently.