"We have a lot to offer"

The GEA Farm Technologies WorldMeeting has just come to a close. What was the goal of the meeting, Mr. Hejnal?
Our strategic orientation and our activities are focusing on the "farm of the future". An agricultural enterprise which, without noise pollution, odour nuisances and environmental pollution would even be conceivable in the middle of an industrial area. And which, above all, operates in an environmentally-friendly and resource-saving manner.

What motivated the segment to focus on this?
The space available for agricultural use is limited. With the rapidly increasing population - especially in Asia - food is becoming scarce. This means that a worldwide change in eating habits will come about, as the costs for foodstuffs, meat and fresh water will increase steeply.

Does this pertain to Asian countries in particular?
China, India and numerous Asian countries, in particular, will encounter problems if nothing changes. We have to be prepared for this. It would be negligent if we did not attempt to predict what will happen there. We have to orient our concept and our products toward this ...

... and also utilise the Asian countries in order to be able to product more cost-effectively?
This issue caused a lot of waves with us. For several months now we have been transferring knowledge to China, where we introduced our new product on 1st April. In Europe and North America we have expensive manufacturing locations. We have to safeguard these locations if we want to be able to maintain our current standard of living here. To do that, however, we have to hand over easily adaptable work to Asia and simultaneously perform the highly qualified and specialised work in Europe and North America.

Could you give us an example?
The production of the MIone, for example, is an area in which we require special know-how. The process is highly complex and cannot be duplicated. That is why we have located the production in Bönen. In addition, the new production site which we opened in China at the beginning of the month, is primarily focused on production for the Chinese and south-east Asian market.

So Asia is an important factor for the segment's planning.
Definitely, yes. Asia is already the world's largest producer of milk, meat and grain. This development will continue in the coming years. We cannot ignore this.

What does this mean in concrete terms?
Establishing or strengthening local business units, strengthening our local market presence and the sales companies, establishing local production, optimising our cooperation with the joint-venture in Japan and also re-orienting our relationships with our partners in Taiwan and Korea.

Does this also mean investigating and identifying new markets?
Yes. We still have a lot to learn about the market potential in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Does this also mean turning away from existing markets?
By no means. We must not loose sight of the markets in which we generate most of our turnover. And those are Western Europe and North America.

What challenges is the segment facing now?
At times the agricultural industry consumes unbelievable quantities of fresh water. We have to reduce this and in doing this achieve the same effectiveness and productivity levels as today. We have to become more environmentally compatible. From a technical perspective the Farm of the Future is already conceivable today, but only through the use of chemicals and very expensive technology. We are now investigating approaches using cost-effective mechanical solutions. However, here the energy balance is an important factor.

How should these middle-term and long-term goals be implemented?
The sales release for the new generation of the MIone at the beginning of April was one important step. We have oriented our focus on industrial milking in the automated and semi-automated sector. This also means the development of completely new concepts. And here our business units play a major role as a supporting interface. In general we have to revitalise our innovation channel and distribute the regional facilities more evenly. This includes establishing more local production locations.

Austria is a good example ...
Yes. The success of the new chemical production facility in Austria shows that this was a fundamentally correct and important step. However, it also demonstrates that we could have optimised a number of aspects if we had made better use of the know-how which definitely exists within the segment. In terms of storage, formulation and process planning, for example. We will definitely repeat the Austria project at other locations.

Do the new plans and projects also mean a reorganisation within the segment?
It is more of an organisational adaptation. Up until now the BUs in the different regions had different structures. As such, the subsidiaries had to adapt to the unique characteristics of the specific BU, depending on the product line. At the same time the sales structure was organised differently in the different regions and so the BUs had to adapt to unique requirements of the particular region.

What does this new structure look like?
We now have an overall sales management with 7 areas which are generally managed by the managing director of a major subsidiary in this area. In addition we have three BUs, Interface and Support, Dealer Business Development, which has been expanded to include major global projects, and Marketing and Project Management, which primarily includes the relocated Innovation Management, and which have been strengthened in a global context.

Talking about innovation, are you relying on longstanding or new employees in the team?
Experience is important. And new does not always mean innovative. However, encouraging young talent is my professed passion. Last year we redefined how we support the trainees. I would like to identify our talents at an early stage. I want to give those who show initiative the chance to establish a career here. I am also prepared to invest money at a far earlier stage and utilise it to develop the next generation.

So early promotion and encouragement?
Exactly. In future we will continue to offer practically relevant projects. Using these, along with the new group tasks, we want to guide our trainees in specific directions which they can choose for themselves at the very beginning of their business career.

Does this only apply to the trainees?
No, definitely not. This also applies to those who have already established a career here. We want - in the spirit of the GEA Group - to offer development opportunities. For example the chance to change segments, to change locations and to take on advanced training opportunities.

We have a lot to offer those who want to develop. Here it is necessary in particular to provide support programmes during the first five years after young people begin work.