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50% of executives still see lean management as nothing but a hawker’s tray of methods, from which to cherry-pick a few choice bits. This error can quickly take a company into the death zone of mediocrity; this was the central message of the Staufen AG “Best Practice Day 2013” in cooperation with the TU Darmstadt. National and international experts at Europe’s leading congress on lean management all agreed: a company wanting to reap the profits of a change-over to lean management cannot avoid the sometimes painful change and development of its management and leadership culture.

The shortening of development times is the number one issue in the R&D departments of the German engineering industry. The potential for doing so is enormous: project analyses by Staufen AG show that the time from product idea to market launch can be cut in half.

In two-thirds of German mechanical engineering companies, restructuring their international business is one of their major concerns. The reason: new challenges have to be faced in the race to develop the rising economies of Asia and Latin America as sales markets. The task is to manage the change from the “extended workbench” to a sophisticated consumer market. The interaction between management in Germany and regional management in the target countries is a particular cause of problems in the positioning as global players. This has been shown in market observations by Staufen AG business consultancy and the Technical University Darmstadt. 

Six of ten industrial suppliers are too dependent on their customers – with existence-threatening risks: too much specialisation on a few major customers leaves the mainly medium-sized companies vulnerable to negative developments in particular sectors. The trend towards regular changes in the award of orders further increases the risk of revenue losses. This has been shown in market observations by the Staufen AG business consultancy as well as the chamber of Schneider, Geiwitz & Partner.

Staufen AG ranks amongst the top class of German employers. This has been confirmed by an employee survey as part of the “Great Place to Work 2013” contest. The greatest plus in business consultancy: contented employees. Nine of ten consultants emphasised team spirit and a pleasant atmosphere at work.

How to conquer China’s markets? German medium-sized companies face new challenges in further expanding into the fast-growing Chinese sales market. Market presence and customer engagement in the Middle Kingdom frequently remain under-developed: For example, 84 per cent of Chinese require better service performance from German suppliers in future – one in two customers is critical of their ‘latent arrogance’.

In March, Xi Jinping has taken office as President of the People’s Republic of China. Under his leadership, China will spend massively on promoting innovations in order to generate growth – thus the official announcement. In your view, what does this line taken by China’s new government mean for the country as a manufacturing location?

The positive image of German companies in China is getting tainted: Chinese customers attest to the strong quality awareness of German companies (97 percent). However, at the same time, one in two Chinese perceive their presence on the Chinese markets as arrogant (51 percent). The large majority of those questioned also hold the view that German manufacturers should respond more to the wishes of Chinese customers (94 percent). This is the result of a representative survey conducted by Staufen AG in the People’s Republic of China.

At the end of 2010, the Spezial-Transformatoren-Stockach GmbH, in brief: STS, found itself faced with a significant increase in demand on capacities.  The solution: a comprehensive process and plant optimisation.