..............edag....newsletter ....No.5...2006..... Issues: » Editorial » Success Factor: Personnel » Sale of EDAG IT Solutions » Everything’s different » EDAG: Exhibitions and Shows » Living Knowledge Management – 5. FEM conference in Rüdesheim am Rhein » Speedy EDAG Staff » EDAG Concept Car Keinath Takes the Key Role in TV Thriller » A Giant in Transit – AudiTT XL sculpture flies to China » EDAG Presentation at BMW in Landshut » Innovative Adhesive Bonding in Automobile Production –1– Contact: Christoph Horvath Manager Public Relations, Fulda Tel.:++49 (0) 6 61-60 00-5 70 E-mail: [email protected]Graphics/Layout: Karen Eckert Marketing Department Tel.:++49 (0) 6 61-60 00-7 54 E-mail: [email protected]
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As the business year 2006 now draws to its close,this is the appropriate time to look back on whatwe have already achieved, and talk about our targets for 2007, the year ahead of us.
With the backing of a strong, long-term investor,we set ourselves two central targets for 2006:
1. Re-structuring the company by streamlininginternal structures, and clearly establishing EDAGand its range of services as the leading partner forthe package development of modules, completevehicles and production facilities, through to therealisation of these.
2. Improving economic turnarounds
As we can see today, we have succeeded in achievingboth targets!
Despite intense, cut-throat competition and theongoing consolidation process within our branch,we have still managed to assert ourselves to anexceptional extent on the market. The two complete development projects for two OEMsacquired in the middle of the year, along withnumerous production facility development andconstruction projects, provide us with positivefeedback to the effect that our customers honourour reorganisation, and that EDAG is still a sought-after partner.
It is particularly gratifying to know that, workingtogether with you, we have also been able to bringabout a considerable improvement in the difficulteconomic situation of the last few years, and thatthe company’s key figures give evidence of a clearupwards trend.
At this point, I would like to thank all members ofstaff who have supported me and my Board teamthroughout the necessary change processes.
Together, we have proved that success is possible,even in difficult market situations and economicclimates – provided you have the courage to imple-ment changes and take up new business ideas,even if these happen to go beyond the bounds ofmore traditional paths.
It is in this spirit that we shall approach the newbusiness. EDAG is not a stagnating company, butone which is very much alive; this we have alreadyproved, and shall continue to do so in the future.EDAG has a target. Our intention is to be the leadingpartner to the mobility industry, also providing ourknow how to new fields for us on land, at sea, andin the air. This is something we will achievethrough our own growth, and if necessary bymeans of acquisitions.
My best wishes to all members of staff within theEDAG Group, and to all customers and suppliers,for a happy Christmas and a good start to a successful new year in 2007.
News, situational analysis and strategy. Usingthis motto, we will, in future issues, be inter-viewing members of EDAG’s board to find outmore about the work they do in their areas ofresponsibility. For this issue, we have beentalking to Dr. Udo Hüls, Head of HumanResources and Legal Affairs, about humanresources development and recruitment atEDAG.
edag newsletter: “People are a company’scentral success factor”. This sentence can be foundin the self-portrayals of just about every company.EDAG uses it, too.
Dr. Hüls: This sentence holds especially true forservice providers, whose services are naturally “displayed” via the staff.
The important thing here is to rid oneself of anyexcessively “transfiguring” ideas concerning thissubject, and to set up tangible programmes instead.One future target will be – even if it does soundvery hackneyed – to push and encourage our staff.In the future, we will need to employ greater clarity and authority in showing staff what waysare open to them with regard to their careers,while at the same time pointing out just what theprice will be, and that the employee will have tomake a decision for him or herself. It will also beimportant to offer demanding jobs to employeeswho place a strong emphasis on family and privatelife. However, for anyone wishing to pursue a top-level career, a certain amount of experience will beabsolutely essential, and will generally involve professional situations which will be challenging,and may well strain private matters. This applies toEDAG as well as to other companies.
The staff survey carried out earlier this year willhelp us here. Not only did it contain useful pointersregarding potential for improvement, it also provided direct content-related indications: many
members of staff would like to move ahead,though not at any price - family and the privatesituation still need to be considered. Implementingthis in a tangible programme will be the challengefor 2007.
edag newsletter: After a very lean time, the market for external engineering services is nowreviving again. The forecasts say that things on themarket for qualified staff will once again becometight.
Dr. Hüls: This trend can already be observed today.The so-called “age pyramid will heighten this problem further. In the near future, there will befewer and fewer young people available on thelabour market.
This is why it is so important for a company to holdon to its existing labour force, to improve theirquality, and create external growth in such a waythat it is “bearable”. For this reason, apart fromattending to the above-mentioned points of focus,it is absolutely essential to intensify the advancementof our own trainees and junior staff, and to cultivateeven stronger relations with universities and colleges.
edag newsletter: How high do you rate the willingness of the staff to continue working forEDAG ?
Dr. Hüls: I am utterly convinced – and here I amalso drawing on my experience in other companies– that EDAG is an exceptional company: in thepositive sense of the word. But even top companiesexperience hard times, and for us, the last year wasone of these times. Naturally, the image of theemployer has not emerged unscathed, and wemust now work to make ourselves “more attractive”to our staff again. Openness, transparency, interesting projects, reasonable rates of pay, lessbureaucracy, and last but not least corporate success are all attributes to which we need to payheed, and against which management and staffalike must measure their strength.
edag newsletter: Within the branch, EDAG is wellknown as the leading partner to the internationalautomotive industry. On a broader scale, however,the company is little known to the general public.Does this make it more difficult to acquire newstaff ?
Dr. Hüls: Of course, the automobile and aircraftmanufacturers are generally better known, by virtue of their high profile names and trademarks,and this means that they have a good chance ofarousing the interest of graduates.
However, graduates are well aware of, and honourEDAG’s offer of allowing new entrants to the jobmarket to take on responsibility at an early stage,to become involved in diverse complete develop-ment projects, or even gain international experienceat one of our international subsidiaries.
In a recent survey carried out be the renownedeconomic journal “Wirtschaftswoche”, EDAG wasselected as one of the top 100 employers amongstudents and graduates of technical subjects.
We were pleased at that. I am sure that, at EDAG,we have attractive personal and technical careerdevelopment opportunities. We will place agreater focus on our offer for long-term technicaland management careers. There are many graduateswho do not yet know that, by joining EDAG, theycould be working not just for practically everyinternational automobile manufacturer, but alsofor the aerospace industry. The development ofEDAG’s new rail and shipping fields will open upmore extremely interesting career opportunities.
In addition to this, we will be targeting efforts atincreasing the extent of EDAG’s fame among graduates; “false modesty” would be absolutely
uncalled for here, seeing as graduates are knownto be strongly influenced by how well a companyis known. We have noted, for instance, that competitors listed on the stock exchange have ahigher recognition factor here.
edag newsletter: : What significance does thesubject of training have in your personnel work ?
Dr. Hüls: Due to the ever-increasing requirementsEDAG has for specialised and highly specialisedstaff, it is essential that we train our workforce oftomorrow ourselves. This is why we will next yearbe taking on twice as many trainees and apprenticesas we did in 2006. I am pleased that EDAG, andparticularly our trainees and apprentices, havebeen gaining top marks for over 30 years. Justrecently, Thorsten Kiefer received the distinction ofbeing nominated the best builder of car bodiesand vehicles by the Hessischen Handwerkstag (thetrade commission of the state of Hesse). Five otherapprentices and trainees gained top results in theirfinal examinations. These results strengthen ourresolve to continue our hard work in the area oftraining, keeping to high standards, in terms ofboth quality and quantity.
edag newsletter: Thank you very much for this
interview!
– 4 –
InformationTop exam results (“very good” and “good”)
Everything’s DifferentThe first days of a branch secretary inSindelfingen
“Which company are you going to?” asked colleagues and friends at my old company. “EDAGin Sindelfingen, a provider of development servicesand constructor of manufacturing plants thatworks for DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, Airbus andco.,” I answered irritably. “And what do they do?Make mirrors?” “No. They do everything, fromdesigning vehicles and production plants throughto low-volume production.” “Oh right, they sellknow how.” OK, so that says it all: the companyproduces nothing, so it is nothing. Nevertheless, Istill went ahead and started my new job as branchsecretary, gaining my first impressions. For me, thefollowing rules emerged: First of all, everyone usesthe familiar “du” form, when speaking to eachother; if there is anyone who doesn’t, then youdon’t ask the reasons why. Secondly, you can saveyourself a great deal of work if you know who toask about things.
The staff survey, which can be read in the Internet,provides food for thought. The fact that I am asecretary and not an engineer has also turned outto have its advantages. In Sindelfingen, peoplecome up to the desk for a few hasty words, “Hi.My name is …., I just wanted to say hello, eventhough I’ll be in South Africa tomorrow.” Stephan
Graw, our controller, a really pleasant colleague,will be leaving for Australia in December. And evenif colleagues are not going to live on a differentcontinent, they are still always travelling withinGermany. Travel planning has turned out to be oneof the central tasks of an EDAG secretary.
Colleagues’ humour can make a new member ofstaff feel much happier. Christoph Horvath allayedmy fears about not being able to find him in theFulda office by explaining, “You just go in, listenfor a moment or two, and as soon as you hear aloud male voice, follow the sound of that voice,and you’ll find my office straight away.” It worked,too.
Dr. Klaus Blickle is not often seen in Sindelfingen,usually only in the Internet. I had barely set foot inFulda, when I saw him dash by. I didn’t want tostop him, the people who work for EDAG arealways frantically busy, with plenty to do; I expectthat this applies to the executive board, too.
My first two weeks were spent in Sindelfingen,Fulda, Rüsselsheim and Ingolstadt. One thing iscertain: if Fulda has the most beautiful scenery, it isalso the most hectic of the four offices. One otherthing: in Fulda, there are fleet managers. It has notyet been decided who exactly will be in the crew,but if there is to be a Captain Kirk, then I’m switching to Fulda
Sabine KochBranch secretary in Sindelfingen since September 2006
EDAG: Exhibitions and Shows
At the very beginning of the new year, EDAG willbe exhibiting at a number of international shows.The first we will be exhibiting at will be the mostimportant automobile exhibition of all, the DetroitMotor Show in January 2007. In February there willthen be the Car Symposium in Bochum, before theworld premiere of EDAG’s latest concept car at the
International Show in Geneva in March.
As part of its university marketing programme,EDAG will have a stand of its own at the companycontact market at the University of AppliedSciences in Hamburg, where we hope to secureconnections with students of vehicle technology.
It is a well known fact that EDAG’s staff are able todevelop motor vehicles perfectly and in the shortestpossible time. That they are also in a position tomove quickly on four wheels was amply proved bythe 11 colleagues who took part in the go-cartrace which has been hosted by PS:Design since1999. The challenge: In one night, the EDAGracing team was to complete 666 laps of the go-cart track in Limburg (almost 1,000 km) in as shorta time as possible. The opponents were OEM
teams, such as Opel, who finally won, and sub-contractors. EDAG’s hobby drivers were upagainst stiff competition, as among the 210drivers, there were even a number of racing pros.Thanks to their driving skills and box technique,took the 10th place from a total of 20. Our congratulations go to the team, and we hopethat they will be back at the starting line for EDAGnext year, where they might hopefully repeat theirgreatest success so far: In 2005, they took secondplace.
EDAG Concept Car Keinath Takes the KeyRole in TV Thriller
After the EDAG concept car “Keinath GT/C” waspresented to the public for the first time ever at theGeneva Show in February 2001, it will be celebratinga second premier next year – namely as the secretlead in the TV thriller “Erlkönig” currently beingmade for the ZDF channel by Colonia Media, asubsidiary of Bavaria Film GmbH. It is to play therole of the new model of a fictive automobile
company, and will have a central role in the 90-minute film. The plot: A mysterious hit-and-runaccident on the motorway, the search for the carof the future, an investigator who finds that theinterests of her insurance and those of the automotive industry clash with each other – all theclassical ingredients for an exciting, entertainingTV film.As well as the “Erlkönig” – designed by EDAG –the film will also feature well known Germanactors and actresses, such as Silke Bodenbender,Henry Hübchen, Axel Milberg, Felix Eitner andMichael Brandner. The film equipment crew wereso taken with the EDAG concept cars that they arenow looking into the possibility of using ourCinema 7D in a different film, by means of computertechnology.As yet, the date of the TV premiere of the twoEDAG studies has not been disclosed.We will keep you informed as to the date of theshowing of the “Erlkönig”.