Worldwide Business Review German Enterprise Awards 2017

German Enterprise Awards 2017

Also in this issue: WPS Management Dr. JC Kling & Cie. Bioanalyt Gmbh

GERMAN ENTERPRISE AWARDS 2017

Best for 4PL Control Tower Solutions 2017

Best Global Leadership Education Program 2017

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Recognised Leader in Package Sealing Technologies & Award for Innovations in Sealing Inserts g

Best in Transactional Financing 2017

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KERNDESIGN STUDIO

Welcome to the Worldwide Business Review 2017 German Enterprise Awards.

The 2017 German Enterprise Awards have been designed to recognise and celebrate the achievements made by the innovative firms and individuals from their respected industry. These awards aim to recognise the commitment and dedication shown by these leading lights from a diverse range of businesses.

As with all our awards, these awards are based upon merit and merit alone. Ensuring that only the most deserving walk away with one of our prestigious titles, is our dedicated in-house research team who rigorously, analysing the performances and accomplishments of each nominee over the past 12-months. Winners of this award can be rest assured that their win was truly deserved.

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, Contents 4. Procurus:

Best for 4PL Control Tower Solutions 2017

23. PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH WirtschaftsprĂźfungsgesellschaft:

Best in Transactional Financing 2017

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24. Katjes International GmbH & Co. KG:

Best Confectionary Product Manufacturer 2017

Global Leadership School: Best Global Leadership Education Program 2017

12. Wenko Wenselaar Gmbh & Co Kg:

Household Consumer Goods Retailer of the Year

25. KHL Tourism & Lifestyle Consulting UG:

Best Specialist Tourism Consultant 2017

14. WPS Management:

Best for E-Procurement Software Solutions 2017

26. Meyer Seals: Recognised Leader in Package Sealing Technologies & Award for Innovations in Sealing Inserts

16. Raymond James Corporate Finance GmbH:

Mid-Market Advisory Firm of the Year 2017 & Best Cross Border Transaction: Accenture/SolidServision 17. Dr. JC Kling & Cie.:

Tax Consultancy of the Year 2017 18. IFCO Systems: Leading Experts in Reusable Packaging Solutions 2017 - Germany 19. GERHARD D. WEMPE KG:

Most Innovative Family Owned Company 2017

27. ArgentinAbsolut UG: Best Specialised Travel Agency 28. ellis EVENTS GmbH: Best Corporate Event Solutions Company - Balingen 29. Carovus Communication & Finance GmbH: Leading Experts in Financial Recruitment Services 2017 Germany 30. West Trax Deutschland Ltd & Co. KG:

Best Business Systems Consultant 2017

20. Bioanalyt Gmbh: Award for Excellence in Nutritional Measuring Equipment 2017 - Germany

31. Petra:Hingerl Recruiting Solutions:

Best Recruitment Solutions Company 2017

21. Infiana Germany GmbH & Co. KG: Award for Excellence in Film Solutions 2017 - Germany

32. Dirk Daniels:

Event Management Firm of the Year 2017 - Germany

22. Kern-Design GmbH:

Best Interior Design Studio - Frankfurt

33. 3D-Micromac AG: Laser Micromachine Experts of the Year 2017 - Germany

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Best for 4PL Control Tower Solutions 2017

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Best for 4PL Control Tower Solutions 2017 Procurus Europa Ltd, a member of the Harrison C White Ltd, are a dedicated 4th Party Logistics provider who automate and eliminate redundant functions leading to reduced costs and improved visibility and traceability end to end. We invited Bryn Jones to share the secrets behind the organisation’s phenomenal success.

Established in 2009, Procurus understands the economics of the supply chain market and the diminishing opportunities for savings, but, through its specialist knowledge and use of advanced technologies, the company is able to leverage savings where others falter, as Bryn explains.

“Through dedicated, remote or onsite implants, here at Procurus we use innovative technology to provide clear lines of communications, faster response times and proactive solutions. Combining our blue sky, creative thinking and innovative approach through our bespoke ‘LINK’ software suite (supplier management tool / tender management tool / no touch booking platforms / inventory management processors / advanced invoice matching technology/master data capture and analysis) we are able to provide our clients with a more competitive edge to drive their business forward in achieving their strategic goals. This is achieved through leveraging EDI, OCR and Business Intelligence technology, which along with a highly experienced team of logistics experts, provides insights into the client’s business.

“As a proven Entrepreneurial Global Award Winning 4PL (Asset

Free, Carrier Neutral) Control Tower provider, our systems are designed to provide clear visibility across the client’s supply chain; identifying unseen bottlenecks and highlighting inefficiencies previously hidden within the clients own supply chain, in turn, empowering the client to make informed decisions whilst delivering measurable savings.

In addition, the highly automated invoice matching process allows client teams across operations and finance to be freed up to focus on value added activities within their businesses helping to further reduce operational costs.

Our client base is ever growing with our service provision not being restricted by commodity, we work alongside large global organisations with multiple subsidiaries through to singular organisations who believed at first they would not fit into our working scope.”

The firm is incredibly proud to win this prestigious award, which Bryn attributes to the dedication and hard work of its committed team.

“This award compliments the awards recently received for Quality of Management and Quality of International Transport by the Global Trade Leaders Association. It is an indication to staff at all levels that their work is not only appreciated from within our own organisation but

it is recognised from an external body. This is fundamental for all employees to understand this evaluation which consequently brings not only a feeling of achievement but a feeling of pride in what they conduct.

These staff are central to our success; their drive, commitment, knowledge and focused approach ensure that the VOC (Voice of the Customer) is upheld in all they do. Our staff are proactive, multilingual, communicative “multidirectional”, advisory and agile in reaction, which provides the customer with advanced capabilities to make informed decisions.”

The importance of staff cannot be underestimated, and as such Procurus are committed to ensuring that they always receive the training and support they need, as Bryn is keen to highlight.

“From onset whether our staff are grown within or onboarded they are embraced by our driven family culture, they are provided not only the physical tools, but the soft skills and support to excel in what they do. We develop our staff to become effective managers and leaders which will drive our business forward to achieve our strategic goals.

“Educating our staff through understanding the concept of culture and how it effects the organisation, we are creating

motivated individuals to enable the organisation to flourish in such a dynamic environment, our strong culture aligns to the environment in which we work and allows for an adaptive cultural base. We thrive through inspirational leaders, managers and employees – traits of which we embrace are passion, loyalty, integrity, curiosity and multilateral thinking, this in turn allows our staff to perform to the best of their ability which is to the customer’s benefit.”

“Leaders navigate and guide the organisation through transformation, and employees at every level have faith in the vision provided and thus follow the proven cultural change management systems in place.”

Remaining at the forefront of emerging industry developments is particularly crucial in the fast paced logistics market, and as such Procurus are fortunate to be in a position where they possess active memberships with numerous Chambers of Commerce, and cooperate with governmental organisations and international law offices, which provides the firm with access to future plans and pending laws applicable to our business, thus passing advance knowledge to our customers, allowing them to proactively aim off. Bryn explains how the organisation, which operates across Europe,

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Best for 4PL Control Tower Solutions 2017

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Company: Procurus Europa Contact: Bryn Jones Contact Email: brynj@procurusgroup.com Address: 9 Summit Business Park, Langer Road, Felixstowe, IP11 2JB, UK Phone: +44 1394 799052 Website: www.procurusgroup.com/supply-chain/control-tower-4pl

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is constantly seeking to ensure that clients receive cutting edge support and service.

“As our name indicates Procurus Europa Ltd are not solely based in Germany, we have a pan European, CIS/RU seat and our Procurus USA Inc and Procurus Asia seating provides us with the comfort of knowing we can call on the larger geographical footing of the Harrison C White Holding to the benefit of the customers within. Our focus is our customer and thus adaptive to customer needs.

“Germany is the leading European country per the World Development Indicator with a 4.54% market share of the Global Economic Chart to which Europe represents 21.37%.

The Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) from the Zurich Insurance Group also perceives Germany as a low risk country which works to the benefit of our customers. Despite this stability, our market place is continuously

evolving at an increasing speed, we recognise the need to ensure our own developments must maintain our place at the leading edge of supply chain logistics management, therefore we anticipate that our ongoing investments in ‘fit for purpose’ software combined with continual improvement and our drive for service excellence will enable us to remain at the forefront of supply chain logistics management. In addition, United States and the United Kingdom (Brexit) trade relations are currently being heavily monitored however due to our geographical presence we are best seated to adapt.

“Currently the demand for our services seem to be growing year on year (Est 13.5% on CAGR over next 5 years), however, we must not sit back on our previous achievements, but strive to deliver stronger, better and more efficient solutions for our clients.

Our ambition is not only to be the market leader but to continue to raise the bar and exceed the boundaries for the benefit of our clients.”

Alongside developing its service offering to meet the ever evolving needs of its clients, Bryn foresees an increased focus on sustainability moving forward which his organisation will be keen to focus on, as he proudly concludes.

“Over the coming years we expect our corporate footprint to increase not only within the German landscape, fundamentally this is due to individuals slowly understanding what a 4PL can do for their organisation.

“Procurus Europa Ltd’s strategy allows it to possess the agility and adaptability to adjust to the ever-changing landscape, our staff are creative in thought, they are given tools and are given access to information to create new insights and connected as cross functional teams to develop capabilities to ensure the customer has a competitive advantage.

“When dealing with organisations from onset Procurus Europa Ltd view the effects and impact of change management and build this into our BC (Business Case) thus providing clarity not only on the scope of operations but work alongside and in line with our and the clients core values.”

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Best Global Leadership Education Program 2017 Gerald Huesch is the creator of the Global Leadership School and the award-winning Leadership Education Program 2017. We invited him to tell us more.

When Senator Gerald Huesch received the note that he won the German Enterprise Award 2017 on Best Global Leadership Education Program he was just in the middle of one of his programs in Jinan with a global player in automation, and after the national holiday in China he continues his stay with some more leadership and collaboration days in Shanghai.

Congratulation Mr. Huesch.

When are companies approaching you, seeking your help and your HueschSystem on leadership and collaboration?

“Thank you so much. It’s an honor.”

“At the outset, with every new development, with every new business model, with every new merger & acquisition, with every transformational endeavor, corporations invest millions, even billions. The expectations are unfathomable and grippingly high: You must satisfy many clients, stakeholders and shareholders.

You are forced to develop so many products and solve so many problems and challenges at the same time, which have not been solved yet.

Bearing in mind, the leadership and the collaboration is the key to success, corporations that are calling me trying to answer these questions: How do we make sure that goals and tasks are clearly understood throughout the organization to avoid costly double-, blind- and waste-of-work? How do we align the right mind- and behaviorset towards these new goals?

How do we establish a most effective collaboration system across silos, departments, hierarchies, countries and cultures? How do we overcome the motivational resistance of our own employees? How do we make sure that problems rise to the surface fast and early enough before they become critical? How could we improve our decision-making process?

What do we do about our meetings where our people often must say: ‘What am I’m doing here?’, and ‘Again, we lost time as this meeting was not effective enough.’ How can we create a healthy high performance organization outperforming our competitor’s performance and outperforming our self imposes standards towards the internal and external customers?

CEO and board members and directors call me especially

because they want a reliable leadership and collaboration system that is solid and stable under pressure, intercultural valid and evidence based toward increased performance.

Project-managers of major corporate critical projects call me when there is a need of zero tolerance for misunderstandings in the beginning of an important endeavor - where a single step into the wrong direction would be not acceptable and waste of time and resources; where later corrections are too costly and time-consuming; where double-, blind- and waste of work at all management levels needs to be reduced significantly; where potential problems must come to the surface super-fast across all hierarchies and silos around the world - not like in the VWscandal, that could have been easily avoided with our system; and finally where people need to collaborate across hierarchies, across departments, across countries and across cultures and still remain with maximum effectiveness and performance under pressure and almost no time.”

How important and how emotional is leadership?

And what separates the leader from the manager?

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“All teams and all the people at all organizational levels investing unbelievable amounts of their personal energy, passion, conviction and time. Tons of hours with huge workloads, long days within often frustrating circumstances. They all bring their problems daily to the table, creating ideas and options to overcome all of them - and this for many months and years in countless meetings and struggles. They give all what they have and what they are into this one project, into this one moment, in which you finally present the results to customer.

This is a very important moment for the manager. No doubt. But for the leader far more important are all the prior moments that leads to the final one. It separates the leader from the manager.

To put it into a nutshell: The manager’s focus is on the final moment – ‘no matter how’! The true leader’s focus is on all the other moments which are leading to the final one! – For the true leader, the outcome of the last moment is only a positive sideeffect, when he or she did all well in the prior ones.

And then, when the client will tell you exuberantly: ‘This is better than I thought it would

be - fantastic!’ - a great feeling of proudness and happiness will arise, to have mastered something together that was important and difficult to the team and company. But the opposite often happens too: ‘I had imagined something quite different’, due to misunderstandings in the beginning, everyone involved will suffer a painful defeat. This could have been avoided at early stages – that is why we are called and why organizations need and ask for our system - to make sure that there are no misunderstandings in no meetings anymore.

We put a lot emphasize in the first moments and kickoffs of any endeavor, in clarity with no misunderstandings, anticipating problems, advanced-problemsolving, holistic-solution-finding and entrepreneurial-decision making and how to avoid what all meetings around the world are suffering and make meetings ten times more effective, more interesting and worthwhile, and how to accelerate the velocity of innovation and great outcomes.

This is more than being an agile organization - it is being fluidal organization – being able to adjust like all the abilities of water but with the perfect timing: Strong, soft, fast, slow, frozen, cold, boiled, extremely powerful, adapting to the environment in a perfect and fast way, ensuring the continuous life, etc.”.

‘The beginning creates the end’.

‘The magic is in the beginning.’

We not only share WHAT to

do – as many other programs do a very good job either; but then we go one level deeper and explain the HOW – as only few are offering it – but then the boot camp begins - we go even deeper to the Nano-level and train it STEP BY STEP, including non-verbal gestures, eye-contact, tone of voice (e.g.: Shark / Dolphin / Turtle), and how to use the given space available. That is why our program is considered as one of the toughest and most demanding – but the results and feedbacks are overwhelming.

Even years later.”

Judges’ impressions The judges appreciate that the Leadership Education Program of the Global Leadership School provides every top manager, board member, every CEO, all major project manager with their teams, and all who are interested the unique opportunity to see, feel and experience the levers and methods how to create as sustainable, healthy, repetitive, enduring, innovative highperformance climate in which all who are involved WANT TO BELONG and WANT TO GIVE THEIR BEST. Another unique element of the education program is that the Global Leadership School does not apply any business case studies like many other schools.

Huesch does not believe in business cases. He held several Executive-Leadership-Week programs at the Harvard Club in Boston. Harvard – the mother of business cases, he still believes these many hours that business

cases consume could be filled with more added value: “The most important business case is your own business case. You will work on yours solely. And with the peer-consulting during the program you get enough other business-cases of your peers but first hand who experienced it personally.” The learning curve is immense like this. ‘Added value at its’ best’ the judges believe.

What the judge’s impresses is that every manager is becoming an evidence-based set of tools and methods combined to a system that allows each participant a) to measure their own leadership climate and b) gives each one the measures to influence and improve it within their own organization – plug & play – meaning: today you learn it, tomorrow you apply it, natural and authentically.

Leadership is now measurable – evidence based. Participants increase their range of behavior systematically towards professional and personal growth.

Compliment. This is outstanding and holistic and all created by one person: Gerald Huesch, who stays humble and giving all the credit to others guiding him on this path.

You combine leadership, collaboration with a unique health part on every workshop day in your future program, could you elaborate on this?

“If you look at longtime depressed people – meaning at least 3 years and up to more than 20 years of heavy depression with one emotional breakdown at least once a month – the two dominant thoughts of a long-term depressed person are: ‘No matter what I am doing, nothing matters, nothing will change.’, and, ‘It is hopeless.’

Now, look at many changeprojects in organizations around the world. When you ask the people involved at all levels, and at the shop floor as well what do you hear often enough concerning the current change project? ‘No matter what I am doing and saying, nothing matters, nothing will change.’ and ‘It is hopeless.’. That means at the end of a day that we leaders often time create a situation where the people feel in a depressed mode. Burnout, depression, absenteeism – people stay healthy at home,

presentism – where people come ill to the working place. This is a global leadership problem of all organizations.”

The judges conclude: Every leadership program needs to cover this. Studies show one day of presentism costs the company 10 days of performance.

Therefore, we understood that leaders make or break the healthiness and the performance power of the organization. And that a healthy high performance organization is not a contradiction but possible. This is another important part of the Leadership Education Program of the Global Leadership School to be highlighted, to maintain their own personal equilibrium as well as for the organization.

The Global Leadership School uses state of the art assessment instruments for stress diagnosis and stress prevention in the Leadership Education Program, whereas the leakages for stress on the ship of every big size company will not only be analyzed – so to say to find out where the water is pouring in – but in addition with a solid plan how to prevent it and heal it very practically and very precisely. When the participants come home he and she is fully equipped with concrete points to address.

By law it is mandatory in Germany since a couple of years to facilitate a psychological stress-assessment of all employees of any size of any kind of organizations. Not many organizations and their board members even know it and even less have a digitalized solution at hand. The Global Leadership School solves this problem for the participants.

The Global Leadership School has the only leadership program the judges are aware of that offers a digital solution on such a scale and in such a depth.

More than 5 years of research went into a one of its kind health product for companies and organizations. To top this every individual will receive a personal stress-test and a 3-month personalized app-guidance to reduce their own stress professionally. ‘An amazing offer’, so the judges, as well as ‘a great achievement and benefit for every participant’.

Mr. Huesch is an investor and

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example of many:

“Within the last twenty years Gerald Huesch is one of the most impactful leadership experts with whom I worked with. I think I can evaluate that quite well.”

Dr. Jan Roy Edlund, Human Ressources International AG, Executive Education & Development

founding partner of the German Association of Stress-Diagnosis and -Prevention (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Stressdiagnostik und –Prävention mbh). Gerald is as well engaged in the health commission, as a Senator of the Senate of Economy, Germany.

What is your leadership definition in two sentences Senator Huesch? “#1 Leadership means to uplift others. #2 Leadership means to create a climate where all who are involved are proud to belong and wanting to give their best.”

How does leadership effects the performance?

“It can be easiest demonstrated with a reverse chain of the leadership cycle.

• At the end, the results count - for the internal and/ or external customers or market.

• Only if these results are outperforming the competitors the customers accept it with a “yes”.

• To achieve this “yes” of the customer, the teams and employees need to excel, need to give their utmost best, and often even outperform their selfimposed standards • In order the teams can give their best, the leaders at all levels need to create a climate where highperformance is repeatedly possible.

• The directors, board members and CEO are impacting this system, consciously or unconsciously, this

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influences the leadership and collaboration at all levels in the whole organization – to the good or the worse outcome.

Summary: Top Management Leadership has a direct and indirect impact on the performance at all levels of the organization through the climate and system they create.”

What is the constant factor leaders can influence?

“Again, the only constant factors, which can fulfil the new customer expectations, is the leadership and collaboration system installed as it shapes the behavior of all who are involved. The way we lead and collaborate determines how we approach the topics, how we can conquer resistance in the minds and hearts, how we communicate with or without misunderstandings, who and how we make decisions, how we delegate, how the problems arises in any kind of realm come to the surface quickly enough – at the right time to the right person.

How to improve daily - and all this shall not be left to chance.”

What the judges believe the Global Leadership Education Program from Gerald Huesch and his Global Leadership School sets apart from other programs in 2017?

What makes it standout to our judges. First and most importantly, what does participants and business partners say about the programs held by Mr. Huesch. Here is one

Hundreds of feedbacks and references from clients and business partners backing this and pointing out the most important: Again, and again they say that it was the best what they have ever seen and experienced about leadership, collaboration and transformation.

A hallmark even in comparison with programs from Harvard, Insead, St. Gallen and many more business schools and universities. “The precision”, “the real-life examples”, “working on own cases”, “the depth but easy to grasp and reduced to the leverage point” – makes it so special.

They not only report about “highly practical”, “personal relevant”, “truly inspiring”, “evidence based”, Senator Huesch has a “broad knowledge” of almost all industries and “leadership- and collaboration-related businessproblems across hierarchies, department, countries and cultures”, and gives “answers with such a depth and delight”, with “thoughts so easy to understand”, “methods to stay on the golden path”, and “skills for an unparalleled professional and personal growth”. When people say, “he walks his talk” – he even humbly admits to not being perfect and missing often enough as well what a teaches and therefor needs to work harder and learn as well from own mistakes.

communication in business. My dad who was the first person who astonished me immensely what leadership can accomplish.

My brother Peter, who taught me countless lessons of being helpful and non-egoistically.

And very importantly more than 10’000 managers and teams I had the privilege to meet, train, coach and guide, who shared with me their toughest problems and challenges, from various industries, corporate levels, and performance problems with the request for a scalable and impactful solution, granting me their countless and invaluable feedbacks what worked and what doesn’t. Professor Dr. Beate Hanson who introduced me to evidence-based medicine to measure the leadership methods against their scale of evidence in medicine. And of course, Madame Nicole Rapp - my rescuer, my Rock of Gibraltar of all back offices: Calm, fast thinker, doer and pleasantly friendly - no matter how strong the wind and waves are. She is five people in one. Without her all the achievements would not have been possible. And of course, my beloved wife – so joyful, so cute, so beautiful, and so smart using my own tools with me”. (He chuckles with joy).

To the feedback of participants and partners, the whole program is filled with so many ‘AHAs’, and ‘WOWs’, and ‘amazingly deep and joyful moments with such a depth’. Frequently the ‘unattainable is attained’.

Judges: “After the program the leader will be style-defining – ahead of culture and times – in his or her own personal way. It also allows you to quickly find back to the path, whenever you leave it owing to negative stress and work-overload.”

The judges mean: “That is walking his talk.” Gerald Huesch came already far – staying humble and uplifting others – not like a reflex but through a true conviction.

Painting the all facets of Senator Gerald Huesch we would need a gallery. But one dream of him we want to mention.

“I am standing on big and strong shoulders”, Gerald says. “Just to name some: Dr. Bradford Spencer, my most helpful mentor, the former partner of the giant Prof. Dr. David McClelland – the Godfather of motivation and former Head of the Psychology Department of Harvard. Dr. Taibi Kahler, former Consultant of the NASA and Bill Clinton. Michael Grinder, the Master of nonverbal

Between these developments, he prepares his long-dreamt masterpiece - a foundation for people in need - called “UPLIFT OTHERS”-foundation. With the specialty that not the foundation will help and deliver the money to the people in need – but the people in his leadership classes will do it personally. “I want you to see and feel it directly and personally. I want you to take real

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money from the foundation in your hand and knock on the door helping people in need - one to one. It will be you - you will see first-hand into their thankful eyes filled with tears - you will never forget this for your lifetime- true leadership – true uplifting others.”

This foundation will be financed with a veritable revolution on the business school market. Mr. Gerald Hüsch is to our knowledge the first person in the world who decided that he will not charge anymore any person participating in his world class leadership programs. “I always believedright from the beginning- that this should be free.” so Mr. Huesch.

Travel costs and accommodation will be still payed by the participants, as well some assessment tools, or the corporation that seeks his service. But there will be no fees anymore – after the foundation has been fully installed unbelievable. “People are free to give nothing or what they can, what they want, what they believe.” so Gerald Huesch. Yet, some are obliged to pay because of their corporate governance; but nothing goes into the bank account of him anymore but only into the ‘Uplift – Others’foundation. And from there it goes back to people in need, in the direct neighbourhood or in the world directly through the participants of his classes.

The foundation will need approximately 4-6 month to be installed. “That is a real complex matter, because ‘such a foundation is for the eternity’, my lawyer told me, ‘It will pass your passing.’” Gerald adds “It’s a ton of work and many nightshifts - but I am so grateful, overflowing with joy becoming so close fulfilling this personal inner wish”. An advisory board will be installed as well. Interested people can contact him anytime.

leadership development is heading from your perspective?

complex project. He still looks for the right software house to collaborate with him on this.

The future in leadership development programs belongs to evidence-based methodologies - more personal touch - more individualised approaches - more working on your own case - more peer-consulting - more outcome orientation - programs that are likely more working days than workshop days - bringing home more ready-made approaches, methods and ideas for solutions - more personal and more closer guidance before, during and after the training – having the option of having an additional training day with their own direct reports to learn and apply the methods immediately on a current project without delay - offering a next level training in a year’s time to continue the leadership path - a true certification process that testify the mastering of an ability and not only the course participation - a true and guided networking methodology during the programs - a personal and corporate health-improvement - combining leadership with charity in a unique and touching momentum - and leaving the programs with knowledge, ability, joy and inner strength.

But once it is finished the estimations are sky rocking as it would have the ability and power to change the leadership understanding and behaviour of the whole world in shortest period. NGOs, and governmental organizations could profit from it.

The next future trend that Gerald is looking forwards is the digitalization of his methods, and therefore his next goal after the establishment of the foundation is to put all his methodologies and tools into one app. A very

Summary This German Enterprise Award 2017 goes to Senator Gerald Huesch because his Global Leadership Program 2017 proofs that he already lives the future mentioned above. Gerald touches and galvanizes each person and so many people he meets with his unparalleled ability to connect and uplift - deep and constructive, empowering in its true sense – one person up to 200 people on a single day – still staying humble knowing his weaknesses very well, and still striving to learn, to grow becoming a better person in life for his family, his participants and students. Many of his participants and student’s recall being able to find their own inner calling and to learn how to follow their path, motivating, enabling and aligning people and organizations with them to a performance level that they did not imagined before, that this would have been possible. All above - all participants share that his methods help them to improve their personal and private life as well.

The Global Leadership School is a private business school.

His strategy is not to hire other consultants and grow his company on headcounts, but to equip and train other with his system to grow and create a more powerful network of leadership experts.

The Campus is where the organizations are. Certifications derived from the own standards the Global Leadership School created. They are not state-certifications like from Universities even the certification process is tougher and with higher ambitions.

Gerald Hüsch will start a Trainthe-Trainer-Program – this year.

“As well for free.” he said. fulfilling his credo with same minded consultant to: “Uplifting others.”

Congratulations on your achievement Mr. Huesch and thank you for your time answering our questions and sharing your thoughts and believes and more over providing a program for better leaders in this world.

You are more than welcome. I am grateful for your award which I dedicate to my brother Peter, to my father, to my wife and all my teachers and friends.

Company: Global Leadership School Contact: Gerald Huesch Contact Email: geraldhuesch@globalleadership-school.com Address: Unter den Linden 16, Berlin, 10117, Germany Phone: 0049 30 4081 73403 / +49 172 44 88 511 Website: www.Global-Leadership-School.com

“Now I feel an overflow with joy and thankfulness that I can announce: There will be no charges for any open leadership class anymore – around the world.”

20 years he worked towards this goal, founding and investing in two other companies growing them successfully to ensure the safety of his family for the next decades to come.

Where does the future of

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Household Consumer Goods Retailer of the Year Wenko is an owner-operated medium-sized family business selling products for the ranges bathroom, living, kitchen and laundry in more than 80 countries. We profile the firm to find out more and explore the secrets behind its success so far.

Wenko, founded in 1959, became one of the most innovative companies in the categories above all around Europe. Each year the firm bring to market around 450500 new products, offering clients both variety and quality.

Currently the firm has 5000 products which it is selling through retail business, in particular DIY stores, but also alimentary stores, as well as mail order and e-commerce stores, making it a one stop shop for all its clients’ needs. All of the firm’s products are developed with the aim of being innovative, making the consumers life easier and pursue Wenko’s motto “The Better Idea”. Therefore, the company has a vast product management team and work with trend scouts and designers all over the world to ensure that products are always at the cutting edge of the latest market trends and developments. Many products have patent protection so that clients can rest assured that only Wenko provides these innovations.

The slogan “The Better Idea” is about improving life, with clever ideas which make its clients’ day

to day lives easier. For example, the firm brought to the market the first bathroom series which is fixed to the tiles with a vacuum pump (Vacuum-Loc), additionally there are gluing systems (PowerLoc) and self-adhesive products (Turbo-Loc), e.g. shower corners.

This innovation and others have led the firm to become the market leader particularly in the fixing without drilling sector. New series will shortly come up also for storing purposes in the kitchen.

As a family-business Wenko keep the hierarchy flat so the communication is straight and products can be developed quickly to react on trends or market/consumers needs immediately. This ensures quality and excellence for the customer, which is vital in such a service orientated market.

Within the wider consumer good market currently, Amazon and its disruptive sales models are changing the entire European landscape in many ways.

Suddenly not only Chinese factories find a way to access the European market by managing their businesses from home.

The full effect of globalisation is shown in this situation.

Left to Right: Philip C. Köllner, H.-J. Köllner, Niklas Köllner

Due to this, building and investing in the Wenko brand has become increasingly important, so that clients understand that they can rely on this dynamic and innovative company.

Recently Wenko invested in a new warehouse, which will be

ready by beginning of August, with the idea in mind of becoming even quicker and more efficient in supplying its clients. Besides innovation the firm see logistics as one of its core competences and are keen to develop this and build upon it even more going forward.

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Best for E-Procurement Software Solutions 2017 WPS Management offer purchasing departments professional products and services that fulfil all the requirements of the procure-to-pay process. We invited Markus Reinhardt to talk us through the firm and the reasons behind its phenomenal success.

Based on more than 20 years experience in digital procurement WPS Management has brought together different experts in they fields of business process digitization, electronic purchasing, and networking of people and systems. Together we aspire to support firms with the implementation and digitization of their purchasing strategies through innovative technologies and methods.

“The speed of innovation in B2C has outpaced the B2B sector. Today, consumers pick their relevant apps on a single platform for satisfying their needs.

Innovation and competition create remarkable market dynamics.

Meanwhile in enterprises, departments make decisions in silo structures, just for handing over the implementation tasks to their internal IT. Then, in turn, IT pick solutions from their preferred suppliers, which significantly decelerates the application of new technologies and business models.

“We identified that in almost all areas of B2B relationships specialist providers are far ahead of established ERP solution providers in their respective market segments.

Moreover, it is observable that current technologies aim to make processes more efficient, but ignore providing ways for collaboration of business partners to a great extent. This blocks

firms from making full use of innovations. B2C platforms show which dynamics can be achieved from great quantity structures. Many B2B firms fulfill these factors, but mostly they do not consider establishing an own platform or they lack the respective technology that embeds the paradigms of digitization.

“Overall, our mission is to support firms with implementing their digitization strategy based on an open platform and, this way, with combining latest innovations and new solutions in the context of IoT and Industry 4.0.”

The firm has now developed its innovative product, wescale, which supports firms to master the digital transformation in procurement. Therefore, wescale provides applications and features that ingeniously help to define and implement their customers’ digitization strategy through integrating internal and external applications, partners, and suppliers within a global collaboration network. Markus explains how this innovative solution ensures excellence for clients and the firm itself.

“The digital transformation in procurement is in full swing and fundamentally changes markets, business models and organizational structures.

Purchasing departments face an in-depth paradigm shift on all levels and are required to develop, strengthen and

proactively advance their digital core competencies. Firms have realized that the required systems and tools can no longer be provided by a single vendor alone, because the single-vendor concept does no longer meet the upcoming challenges. The key task is the vertical and horizontal integration of applications, employees, suppliers, partners, and business models. Firms with a diverse IT landscape and obsolete silo-structured solutions will no longer be able to compete in the race of digital procurement.

They will not only lack a sufficient degree of agility, transparency and information exchange – most notably they will no longer be able to meet their employees’ increasing expectations towards usability, guidance, and functionality.

“Addressing these challenges, wescale as an open business integration platform opens the door to unite all apps in one place, offers comprehensive solutions for operative purchasing, guided procurement, and strategy management, and allows to integrate any number of different applications and business models. Through this approach, wescale sets the basis for mastering the digital change towards the future of procurement. The open Business Integration Platform with over 300,000 user accounts in ca.

50 countries will soon reach the mark of 200 integrated business applications across all areas of purchasing.

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“With wescale, multi-national enterprises can realize their own platform. WPS Management takes care of the integration of partners and applications, evaluates relevant specialists, and develops customer-specific applications for the platform, if needed.”

Markus is incredibly proud of this creative solution and is keen to explain how it supports enables companies to take the next hurdle in digital procurement.

“Fundamentally, wescale supports firms to master their digital transformation. At the same time, purchasing departments increasingly become valued partners for the management and their internal customers on a more strategic level. This requires the ability to adapt to current and future technologies, to make use of new vertical business development approaches, and to strike out into new directions of collaboration and networking with partners and suppliers. The only way forward leads towards intelligent and open platforms. Besides networks and collaboration, scalability becomes the key ingredient for managing costs and risks efficiently. Purchasing departments need to be able to manage content channels, suppliers and assortments actively. Strategies need to be implemented into systems, but more importantly, they need to be steerable in real-time.”

Ultimately, wescale is a truly unique and innovative solution which meets the needs WPS Management’s clients, as Markus proudly concludes.

“In its professional conception, its functional specification and its technical realizations, wescale is unique in the market. Knowledge of more than 20 years of e-procurement development and the expertise in trailblazing technologies constitute the fundamentals of wescale. The key aspect is that technology offers the way to combine the digital enablers big data, algorithms, real-time and collaboration across all suppliers and to provide them to the respective users in the relevant contexts on a single interface.

This way, various applications and business models can be interconnected seamlessly within a business and technology roaming scenario.

purchasing processes – from sensors attached to machines and the identification of appropriate suppliers for wear parts up to master agreements for maintenance and the shipping coordination of the respective logistics service provider. The fields of application are unlimited.

“Finally, wescale allows users to implement horizontal platforms

that can seamlessly integrate internal SAP systems and supplier systems, e.g. web shops or marketplaces, for building a central B2B shopping application.

This combination leads to a network of various applications and business models – from sourcing and simple order processes up to linking logistics and payment. wescale is open and flexible for the integration

of additional services and applications.”

Company: WPS Management Contact: Markus Reinhardt Contact Email: markus. reinhardt@wps-management.de Phone: 0049 5251 290 390 Website: www.wescale.com | www.meplato.com

“Compared to monolithic systems like SAP, which aim to serve as a one-stop provider for complex end-to-end systems, wescale offers a platform for digitizing supplier relationships at a fraction of the implementation costs and time.

“With wescale, central open platforms can be implemented in multi-national enterprises within less than a year. Conversely, based on technology from ERP solution providers, this would lead to projects that are much more cost- and time-consuming.

The decisive competitive element for our customers is the direct and agile access to innovations. wescale allows firms to make instant use of newest applications from any provider, instead of being forced to wait ages for comparable functionalities to be implemented by the own ERP solution provider. “wescale offers the chance to combine different vertical procurement platforms. As an SaaS platform, wescale is designed for a maximum degree of scalability. In the context of Industry 4.0, wescale sets the basis for the digitization and automation of all end-to-end

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Mid-Market Advisory Firm of the Year 2017 & Best Cross Border Transaction: Accenture/ SolidServision Raymond James European Advisory advises privately held companies, corporations and financial sponsors on cross-border transactions. We spoke to Melville Mummert, Head of European Investment Banking at Raymond James, to find out more.

At Raymond James, the advisory offering covers all phases of the transaction process from defining strategic goals and negotiating financial terms and conditions through closing. Melville discusses the firm’s offering in more detail and outlines how it works to ensure that clients receive the very highest standard of support and service at all times.

“Here at Raymond James, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients, especially in relation to mergers and acquisitions, financings, restructurings and secondaries.

Our firm has dedicated teams in Europe in a variety of sectors including technology and services; industrials; health care and consumer and retail.

“As a part of Raymond James Financial Inc., a very successful and worldwide growing U.S. investment bank with a dedicated mid-market focus, more than 350 bankers and deep industry

knowledge in all major industries, we are able to leverage their expertise to support our clients.

Raymond James Investment Banking is one of the market leaders in the U.S. and was awarded the titles of “Investment Banking Firm of the Year” by The M&A Advisor and “USA Middle Market M&A Investment Bank of the Year” by the Global M&A Network. This is a strong track record to leverage in Europe and we work hard to use it to the best of our advantage.”

Overall, the firm’s goal is to become a recognized leader in mid-market M&A advisory in Europe. Following the acquisition of Mummert & Company Corporate Finance GmbH by Raymond James Financial Inc. in 2016, its European advisory team has grown. Raymond James hired bankers on both junior and senior levels, expanded its Advisory Board with several renowned industry experts and have announced the opening of offices in Frankfurt and London.

This will help the firm to meet the ever evolving needs of its clients

over the months and years to come, as Melville concludes.

“Looking to the future, we expect more M&A activity and a growing demand for Corporate Finance advisory in the years to come.

Those German mid-market companies who want to grow from a local champion to a global champion, will automatically think about cross-border transactions.

They also need growth capital – money that neither the Deutsche Börse nor the banks are typically willing to provide. Since the European financial crisis in 2008, Germany has become an even more attractive market for

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inbound investment, particularly for American and Chinese investors. As such, Raymond James intend to take advantage of this and support an even wider range of clients going forward.”

Corporate Finance GmbH Contact: Melville Mummert, Head of European Investment Banking at Raymond James Contact Email: Christina.

Bertholdt@RaymondJames.com Address: Theresienstrasse 1, Munich, 80333, Germany Phone: 0049 8923 23 77 70

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Tax Consultancy of the Year 2017 Dr. JC Kling & Cie is a society comprising charted accountants, lawyers and tax consultants, which covers all the areas of consultation in legal, tax-related and economic environments. We invited Jan-Christopher Kling to tell us more.

Dr. JC Kling & Cie is an auditing, tax consultancy and law firm focused on medium-sized businesses. Besides the classical sectors the firm also offer asset management, consulting, mediation and coaching, and can thus assist with consultation for the entire scope of business management, as Jan-Christopher explains.

“Here at Dr. JC Kling & Cie our approach is to have an overall observation of the type of consultation required. It is not only the legal solution or consequence of a case that is presented, but rather a consideration of the overall economy. We in particular check the possibility of gaining advantages from the resulting problems and finding a solution without large legal disputes, which leads to the business basis remaining in place, and the clients and their opposing party can continue with their business relationships, which mostly have been in existence for many years.

“The major areas of activity of our company are tax configuration consultation, also with tax expertise, the accompaniment of tax audits and representation in fiscal court proceedings, the complete support of companies, from foundation, purchase and sale, configuration and succession advice. In this

“...we differ from our competitors because whilst in our understanding we have the same broad specialist knowledge, we can act at lower cost and shorter processing times because of our structure.” context, we of course also carry out due diligence checks for our clients, the majority of whom are managed by their owners and particularly appreciate the individual assistance of consultants, who accompany them over many years. We also advise internationally globally

operating stock-exchange listed companies. Moreover, we are also active in the area of the public sector, particularly in the areas of non-profit organizations and research institutions.”

Overall, Jan-Christopher believes that his firm’s versatility and dedication to client service is what sets it apart from its competitors.

“Ultimately, we differ from our competitors because whilst in our understanding we have the same broad specialist knowledge, we can act at lower cost and shorter processing times because of our structure. In particular, medium sized companies value this ability, that we are not focussed on

providing the maximum number of consultation hours, but focus on the goal in order to manage the mandate on the long term and in the best case be a companion and contact person for all legal, financial and tax matters for decades. For this purpose, we have a matrix structure in the company which enables the client to get an appropriate contact partner and further employees in the team who can accordingly act for them.”

Company: Dr. JC Kling & Cie Contact: Jan-Christopher Kling Contact Email: kling@jckling.de Address: Fischerstraße 11, Kaiserslautern, 67655, Germany Phone: 0049 631 362 390

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Leading Experts in Reusable Packaging Solutions 2017 - Germany IFCO is the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh foods, serving customers in over 50 countries. We invited Wolfgang Orgeldinger, CEO of IFCO to tell us more.

Founded in 1992, IFCO, a Brambles Company, operates a pool of over 270 million Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) globally, which are used for over 1.4 billion shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, bread, and other items from suppliers to grocery retailers every year. The firm’s RPCs ensure a better fresh food supply chain by protecting freshness and quality and lowering costs, food waste and environmental impact compared to single-use packaging. Wolfgang outlines the firm’s mission and how it works to differentiate itself in this competitive market.

“Here at IFCO, our mission is to provide solutions that make our customers’ supply chains more efficient in every way. This means we constantly look for ways our containers, systems, and solutions can reduce costs and protect foods better while reducing impact on the environment. We continuously review our product designs, service center network, container pool, and technical capabilities in order to stay ahead of our customers’ needs.

“What truly sets us apart is that IFCO is the largest and indeed the only truly global provider of reusable packaging solutions for

our customers. Being the largest means we have the broadest product range and greatest footprint in addition to the largest production capacity and pool size. We have rigorous food safety standards and a globallystandardized wash process at our more than 80 service centers around the world.

“Additionally, we are a member of the Brambles family of companies. Brambles is a leading global supply chain logistics company and is committed to environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and corporate compliance and ethics, so our customers can rest assured IFCO operates with the very highest of standards.

Perhaps most importantly, IFCO has 25 years of expertise and focuses our entire business around the needs of our customers, giving us the in-depth knowledge necessary to offer our customers the very highest levels of service.”

intercultural skills. As such, IFCO will be continuing to grow its huge service offering and international base in order to continue to support its clients, as Wolfgang concludes.

Moving forward, the world is becoming more and more global and changes faster and faster.

Proven business models are constantly challenged by new and disruptive competitors.

German companies have to adopt to this trend by becoming truly international and by building up a culture which supports innovation, agility, flexibility and business acumen combined with

“Looking ahead, IFCO will continue to expand our solutions for fresh foods. Today, the vast majority of our business serves the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, but our customers are increasingly asking us for solutions which can bring the same benefits of lower costs, lower environmental footprint, and better product protection to other fresh foods. These include

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meat and poultry, eggs, dairy, seafood, and baked goods. In addition, we will continue to expand geographically to meet the needs of our customers around the world.”

Contact: Hillary Femal Contact Email: Hillary.Femal@ifco.com Address: Zugspitzstraße 7, Pullach, 82049, Germany Phone: 0049 89 744 91 0

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Most Innovative Family Owned Company 2017 Wempe is a successful family-owned German company with long tradition and experience since 1878 and a leading jeweller with 32 branches worldwide. We profile the firm to learn more and explore the secrets behind its success.

Drawing on its vast experience in the jewellery market, Wempe manufactures watches and jewellery in company-owned workshops located in Germany. The firm’s international clientele is fascinated by the timeless design and precise craftsmanship of its jewellery items and watches.

To ensure that they enjoy the very highest standards of support and service, the firm offer competent customer counselling as well as first-class after-sales service, and its employees highly esteem the positive and motivating company culture of a long-standing family company.

Ultimately, Wempe - a familyowned company discovers the threefold path to success: reliability, exclusivity and continuity. Moving forward these principals will remain at the forefront of the firm’s focus as it seeks to build upon its current success. Moving with the times is by tradition: because Wempe we not only believes in their own passion and ability – but in equal measure in the talents of the employees, which they both support and challenge. So they

can achieve their potential and help shape the success.

“...because Wempe not only believes in their own passion and ability – but in equal measure in the talents of the employees, which they both support and challenge.”

Company: Gerhard D. Wempe KG Contact: Negar Nazemian, HR Manager Contact Email: negar.nazemian@wempe.de Address: Steinstrasse 23, Hamburg, 20095, Germany Phone: 0049 40 33 44 8189 Website: www.wempe.com/de-DE

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Award for Excellence in Nutritional Measuring Equipment 2017 - Germany BioAnalyt develops and markets mobile labs to measure nutrients on the spot. We invited Dr. Simone K. Frey to tell us more about the firm and the innovative solutions it offers.

BioAnalyt offers innovative solutions which are changing the face of the nutrition industry, as Dr. Simone K. Frey is keen to highlight.

“Up to now, measuring nutrients is time-consuming, expensive and often not possible. Along the food value chain, the ingredient producers and the food producers want to make sure that the products they offer are safe and nutritious and contribute to a better health of the consumer.

“In order to make sure food is safe and nutritious, constant quality controls are needed. This is done with lab service providers – and these are our competitors.

Using their service means taking a sample, sending it to the lab, waiting for the result for at least a week and paying a high price. But this does not answer the need for immediate result. We offer the opposite: Taking a sample, measuring it with the ready-touse lab and having the result instantly at a fraction of the price.

The food landscape is changing quickly and various players are investing heavily in mobile testing solutions. Companies need to adapt and we can help them to do this by developing these solutions. Our products and services help companies and organizations in 80 countries

to ensure food quality and safety easily in places where it is needed most. Ultimately, we make sure the food that we, the consumers around the world, eat is safe and nutritious. Our clients include leading food and ingredient producers such as DSM, BASF, Nestlé, Fonterra, research institutes as well as organizations like UNICEF and WFP.” These innovative solutions are in line with the firm’s mission, which revolves around transparency and honesty, as Dr. Frey explains.

“...we provide workshops on quality assurance of foods for both industry and government, helping to implement reliable food control systems.”

“Our mission is to make food and nutrition more transparent.

We do this in two ways. First, we develop and bring to market easy-to-use food testing technologies. By doing this we make food testing accessible and affordable.

“Second, we provide workshops on quality assurance of foods for both industry and government, helping to implement reliable food control systems. In the last 10 years we have gathered extensive expertise and market knowledge, all in relation to mobile testing along the food value chain. We believe that by making measurement available from farm to fork, all the way to the human, food will become safer and more nutritious, having

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a positive impact on human health.”

Moving forward, BioAnalyt is looking forward to a bright and prosperous future, as Dr. Frey concludes.

“Looking ahead, there are new developments planned in the direction of IoT and smart technologies which will provide us with many great opportunities for growth.”

Company: BioAnalyt GmbH Contact: Holly McKee Contact Email: holly.mckee@bioanalyt.com

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Award for Excellence in Film Solutions 2017 Germany Infiana has a long tradition and experience in the development and manufacturing of engineered film solutions. We explore the secrets behind this innovative and proactive firm’s success.

Over 160 years ago, the brothers Morgenstern had an innovative idea.

They founded a factory for mirror glass and tinfoil in the town of Forchheim. No one in Forchheim really believed that the vision of these two men would succeed, but today, Infiana continues to develop, produce, and convert films for a wide range of industrial and consumer applications. Infiana employs approximately 800 employees at its three sites in Forchheim, Germany, Malvern, USA and Samutsakorn, Thailand, and is an expert in the production of release liners and specialty films for the processing industry.

Plastic granulates form the basis of all films produced by Infiana.

The granulates are melted and formed into films through an extrusion process. The resulting film is further individualized for various market applications through additional processing steps – siliconization, coating, embossing, lamination, printing, or a combination of thereof.

As an industry leader, Infiana is also championing environmental compatibility and resource conservation – and enjoining others to collaborate towards sustainable market evolution.

Infiana CCO Dr. Ingrid Sebald outlines how the firm drives sustainability forward through innovation.

“At Infiana, we have a clear strategic intent when it comes to

sustainability and how we can contribute to this increasingly important topic. We actively work to reduce the volume of materials used in our markets and applications, and develop more product solutions with ‘green’ polymers.”

The firm’s products are used across a wide variety of markets, including health care, personal care, building and construction, composites, as well as the pressure sensitive market.

The company has operated under the Infiana banner since January 2015. The name “Infiana” is derived from the combination of the words innovation, infinity and films.

Combined, these three terms symbolize the know-how and core competencies of Infiana as a company: a source of new thinking, a driving force for market innovation, and a films manufacturer who closely collaborates with customers to create products of the highest quality. Infiana also contains a reference to mythology: The name refers to Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt.

“Collaborate + Innovate” is the name of the special program Infiana uses to support its customers. Through this customer-centric process, Infiana works closely with clients to drive continuous progress in technologies such as thermal and ultraviolet coating or in multilayer film constructs. It also follows megatrends and evaluates how

to respond to them. Among products derived from these are specifically developed films for incontinence products that address the demand of an ageing society in developed countries. “The key is knowing our customers’ customers and staying ahead of market trends,” says CCO Dr. Ingrid Sebald.

“We engage as early as possible with the customers’ development teams to get an understanding of the final product requirements, and how an Infiana film could support those needs.”

Fundamentally, product innovation is a key factor for Infiana’s enduring success.

At the company’s in-house laboratory and pilot plants, employees continuously test new material combinations for novel film solutions that are capable of meeting client- and market-specific demands. This is supplemented by an internal appbased idea-sharing program that collects suggestions for products and product improvement from the entirety of Infiana’s workforce.

The Forchheim-headquartered company supports its global clientele through offices and manufacturing hubs in Europe, North America and Asia, which it sees as an increasingly strategic market.

Innovation can also be found in the company’s own processes, thanks to a successful Quality Management program that fosters the ongoing optimization of workflows across the entirety

of the organization. Infiana has been ISO 9001-certified since the end of the 1980s, and uses techniques such as Six Sigma and Total Product Management to deliver both consistent quality and continuous improvement.

In recent months, Infiana has taken the next steps towards becoming more global by changing the organizational setup. With its new global structure, Infiana is more targeted and effective. “Our manufacturing units are optimized to serve international and local customers, with the ultimate ambition of delivering the same quality across locations – as we aspire to become the preferred global partner in specialized engineered films,” underlines Dr. Sebald.

Infiana’s position as a global player in specialty film manufacturing was born from an innovative idea over 160 years ago. And while its success was something the people of Forchheim could have scarcely imagined, in the end, the Infiana vision became reality.

Contact: Peter Kuhmann Contact Email: Peter.Kuhmann@infiana.com Address: Zweibrueckenstrasse 15-25, 91301 Forchheim, Germany Phone: +49 9191 81-0 Website: www.infiana.com

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Best Interior Design Studio - Frankfurt KERNDESIGN.STUDIO is a Frankfurt based interior design studio dedicated to creating fresh, innovative solutions for its clients. We profile the firm to learn more and examine the secrets behind its success.

Founded in 1986, KERNDESIGN. STUDIO offers a unique approach to design. Rather than simply building rooms or spaces, the firm uses observations of peoples living and application habits as well as findings on basis of the limbic system in our work. This way room designs and tailor-made interiors are created, which combine all the things that define KERNDESIGN.STUDIO; a puristic sense of aesthetics, a passion for technology and the highest standards for quality in the craftsmanship and themselves.

Everywhere in the world there are people with a high standard of design when it comes to their living environment. As such, Kern-Design work to offer a truly global approach. In western and eastern Europe, in the vibrant metropolis of London, Zurich, Madrid, Vienna, on Portugal’s southern coast Algarve as well as in Sputh Africa. Both private clients as well as companies such as LVMH, Dior, Bilfinger, Steigenberger Hotel Group AG, Thai Airways, Kenzo, Givenchy, Vila Vital Hotel Group, Pearls of Kuwait Real Estate Company, Capella Hotel Group etc. put trust in the KERNDESIGN.STUDIO´s experience and creativity and are not disappointed.

To ensure excellence and client satisfaction, this holistic design

“Rather than simply building rooms or spaces, the firm uses observations of peoples living and application habits.” process starts where good design should always start: with people.

The firm analyze the clients’ needs, habits and everyday routine and draw conclusions how architecture and object have to interplay perfectly for you.

Together with them and through extensive discourse they will reach the outcome that gives them a sense of 100% well-being.

Looking ahead, this holistic, client focused approach will remain KERNDESIGN.STUDIO´s ongoing focus as it seeks to build upon its success and support even more clients in creating their ideal space.

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KERNDESIGN STUDIO

Company: KERNDESIGN.STUDIO Contact: Sabine Kober Contact Email: kober@kerndesign.studio Address: Walter-Kolb-Str. 9-11, Frankfurt am Main, 60594, Germany Phone: 0049 69 789 54 33 Website: www.kern-de-sign.de

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Best in Transactional Financing 2017 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is the leading accounting and consulting firm in Germany with more than 10.300 employees and a revenue of 1.91 billion Euro. We caught up with Partner Daniel Judenhahn to learn more about this multinational finance giant’s work in Germany.

At 21 locations, PwC Germany provides support to clients from all sectors to enable them to obtain their objectives – thanks to our worldwide network, the opportunities are boundless. PwC advises groups and family-owned companies, industrial and service companies, global players and local heroes, the public sector, associations and NGOs. The firm’s service offering is spread over three divisions: Audit and audit-related services (Assurance), tax and legal advice (Tax & Legal) as well as deals and consulting (Advisory). Daniel explains how the firm’s vast expertise across these areas enables it to offer clients the solutions they need.

“Here at PwC, our experts in the respective divisions work together to enable comprehensive and long-term assistance to be provided to clients. Our work would be inconceivable without integrity, objectivity and a professional approach. Our clients benefit from decades of experience, extensive sector knowledge and expertise.

They can expect quality in all respects, as well as support and professional services provided across all borders.

“Because PwC Germany is an independent member of the global PwC network and is able to access the support provided by over 223.000 people in 157 countries throughout the world.

This means that we provide support to companies not only in all phases of their development but also at all locations.”

Fundamentally, it is this combination of expertise and dedication to excellence that marks PwC out as the best possible option for clients around the world, and helps the firm to adapt to the ever changing finance market, as Daniel is eager to highlight.

“Overall, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. To achieve this, it is important to bring together our experience with innovative thinking. PwC is committed to providing the highest standards of quality - and to do so, we firmly believe that the solution to a complex issue is best achieved as a team.

Team spirit is at the core of our corporate culture, as are integrity, independence and a high degree of responsibility - towards our clients, employees and society.

“This spirit enables us to approach on of the major challenges of our time: digitalization. As a worldwide network of experts working together in interdisciplinary teams, PwC looks at the strategy, processes, technology and culture of our clients with a holistic approach and support them “from strategy to execution”.

To further expand our expertise in digital services, PwC acquired Cundus and Persicon, two leading consultancy firms for IT solutions and information technology security. PwC Germany will also invest up to 250 million Euro until 2020 in digitalization, Data & Analytics, Cybersecurity and Technology.”

As with any service based industry, staff are of vital

importance to success, and as such PwC works hard to provide a collaborative and supportive working environment, as Daniel is eager to emphasise.

“While corporate culture is derived from the people that create it, our people are at the heart of our business strategy and success. We focus on equal employment opportunity, diversity and inclusion in our recruitment process, making sure we attract candidates from all backgrounds, traditional and non-traditional.

Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems.

“To do so, it is important to provide our people with a variety of tools - enriching professional experiences, daily coaching, productive feedback - to help them make their professional lives productive and enjoyable in accordance with our values: Act with integrity, Make a difference, Care, Work together and Reimagine the possible. These values and their associated behaviors define the expectations we have for working together and with clients. Although we come from different backgrounds and cultures across the firm, they are what all PwC professionals have in common. They capture our shared aspirations and expectations, and guide how we make decisions and treat others.

The values are a full set – all equally critical to our success.”

Moving forward, PwC has a number of exciting opportunities in the pipeline which will ensure its continued success, as Daniel is proud to conclude.

“As we look to the future, at PwC we want to further expand our digital services and transform our business in order to take the next step towards an Integrated Digital Services Company. PwC Digital Services bring together already a community of makers around the world who help clients break down silos, unearth new value, and pioneer tomorrow.

The common goal is to transform business outcomes and results by delivering innovation to market.

“Therefore we work at the intersection of Business, eXperience, and Technology (BXT), which combines the best of PwC in a way that’s faster, more agile, and more accountable for our clients, from ideas to results. With the PwC Europe Experience Center located in Frankfurt we created an ecosystem of talent, environment, and solutions, combining the best of agency and consultancy to help clients create next-generation experiences for customers, employees and partners. The Experience Center team so far consists of 50 colleagues working at locations from Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam and Brussels, and is further growing.”

Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Contact: Daniel Judenhahn Partner Advisory/ Transactions & Restructuring Contact Email: daniel.judenhahn@de.pwc.com Phone: 0049 6995 856 976

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Best Confectionery Product Manufacturer 2017 Katjes International is a strategic holding company focused on participations in Western European sugar confectionery companies. The company grows both externally with acquisitions and organically through the brands and the companies which are part of the portfolio. We profiled the firm to find out more.

Katjes International is part of the Katjes Group together with its sister companies Katjes Fassin GmbH & Co. KG (Katjes Germany) and Katjesgreenfood. The firm’s longterm “Buy-and-Hold” approach is geared towards sustainable value appreciation. The strategy allows all participations to remain legally and organizationally independent after the takeover.

Katjes International has already established a track record in transnational M&A transactions within the Western European confectionery market.

the market leader in the segment of acid fruit gums in France. At its production site Bondues, France, Lutti has an annual production capacity of around 50,000 tonnes of confectionery.

Established brands including Lutti, Piasten, Dallmann, Festivaldi and Manner all are investments of Katjes International, supporting the continued success across Europe.

In Belgium, Katjes International has acquired the independent confectionery distribution company Continental Sweets Belgium. With its successful distribution strategy, the company played a key role in establishing Lutti as the number one brand in Belgium. In 2010 as well as 2014, the company was awarded as the best sales team in the Belgian confectionery market.

In addition to its well-rounded portfolio of distribution brands, the company also sells the brand Vicks cough drops in Belgium and the Netherlands since the end of 2015.

With sugar confectionery producer Lutti, the largest participation up to date, Katjes International owns the number two sugar confectionery producer in France and the number one in Belgium.

Nationally and internationally Lutti has established a reputation over its 120-year history for its sour fruit gums for example Surffizz and Bubblizz. With a market share of more than 40 percent, Lutti is also

The German company Dallmann complements the Katjes International portfolio of strong brands with its traditional products in the sage cough drop segment.

Dallmann’s famous drop is the number one cough drop in German pharmacies (by number of sold packages). Due to the high overseas interest for Dallmann products the company recently established an export division

focusing on the distribution of the products in the Asian market.

In October 2014 the Katjes Group became a 100% shareholder of Piasten, the largest producer of sugar-coated sweets in Germany.

The confectionery manufacturer produces over 30,000 tonnes of confectionery every year. In fiscal year 2015, Piasten achieved net sales of around EUR 100 million. The company is based in Forchheim (near Nuremberg), Germany, and has more than 90 years of history. The company generates more than half of its sales through its sugar coated products, including its brands Big Ben and Schokolinsen.

Last year Katjes International acquired the remaining 50 per cent of Festivaldi B.V. Since then Katjes International is now the sole shareholder of the Dutch liquorice producer.

The Harlekijntjes brand is the top-selling liquorice product by volume in the Dutch market. More than 30,000 tons of the product is consumed each year in the Netherlands.

In June 2017, Katjes International announced its acquisition of a c. 6% stake in the Austrianbased biscuit firm Josef Manner,

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the largest Austrian producer of confectionery products. The Manner group combines products such as the Neapolitaner wafers.

Katjes International is supportive of the company’s strategy.

Looking ahead, the group is keen to continue acquiring companies with a focus on strong brands within the Western European confectionery market. The opportunities for acquisitions in the market segment remain high due to the expected on-going consolidation process. To date, the industry is still dominated by many SME companies, including many family-owned businesses.

As such, Katjes International continuously observes the markets closely in order to identify possible partner companies.

Contact: Volker Weinlein, Chief Marketing Officer Contact Email: info@katjes-international.de Address: Kaistraße 16 40221 Düsseldorf, Germany Phone: +49 (0) 2822 601-700

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Best Specialist Tourism Consultant 2017 KHL Tourism & Lifestyle Consulting represents international destinations and luxury hotels. We invited Karl-Heinz Limberg to tell us more.

KHL works with a wide variety of clients including Destination Canada (through partner agency Travelmarketing Romberg GmbH), the Gran Hotel Atlantis Bahía Real*****GL in Fuerteventura/Spain, Palácio Belmonte***** in Lisbon, the Kinsterna Hotel***** in Greece and the incoming agency DMC Atlantica in Morocoo. Karl-Heinz himself also writes a travel and lifestyle blog in English and German to showcase some of the very best destinations around the world. Karl-Heinz discusses how he uses his firm’s small size to offer clients the very highest standard of service possible.

“Here at KHL, I work hard to make a difference for my clients. I always treat each client individually with tailormade solutions. I am constantly watching the latest tourism trends in Germany to give my clients the best possible advice.”

Within the global travel market there is a very clear trend towards safe destinations, given all the turmoil going on in the world and towards experiential travel. Short city breaks also continue to be very popular.

Luxury travel is likewise growing as a niche product, with a market share of roughly 7% in Germany.

Karl-Heinz believes that German travellers are open to explore new things.

“The main benefit of the strength of the German outbound travel market is the fact that Germans love to travel and to see new things. Many international stakeholders are very interested in promoting their products in the lucrative German market.”

Looking ahead, Karl-Heinz is keen to build upon KHL’s current success and grow even further, as he proudly concludes.

“Moving forward, my main focus will be to try to get a few

“...Karl-Heinz is keen to build upon KHL’s current success and grow even further.”

international luxury hotels and cities as clients, mainly in Europe.

My blog is now helping a lot since I can offer this as added value.”

Company: KHL Tourism & Lifestyle Consulting Contact: Karl-Heinz Limberg Contact Email: karl-heinz@khltourism-consulting.com Address: Kurfürstenstr. 8, Düsseldorf, 40211, Germany Phone: 0049 211 98 998 Website: khllifestyle.com and khltourism-consulting.com

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Recognised Leader in Package Sealing Technologies & Award for Innovations in Sealing Inserts Meyer Seals® has been developing and producing hermetic seals for the global packaging sector for over 130 years. We spoke to Nishan Goenka, Global Sales and Marketing Director, to learn more.

Established in 1879 Meyer Seals® has a company history that stretches back over 138 years, through the generations, the company whose roots originally lie in the production of cork stoppers for glass bottles. Meyer Seals® consistent year on year innovative product research and development program has developed and transformed the company into an internationally-focused market leader within the hermetic sealing inserts industry for both the aluminium and plastic closures on both glass and plastic containers.

Currently the firm supplies its products to over 80 countries worldwide across all continents.

Meyer Seals® are constantly investing in their people, manufacturing locations and new technologies, demonstrating its commitment to training, quality and continuous development of all their employees.

Between 4th and 10th May Meyer Seals® exhibited its latest innovation at the world’s largest packaging show at Interpack in Dusseldorf, Germany. Meyer Seals® showcased not one but three new product innovations.

Nishan outlines the importance of sharing the firm’s innovative products at such trade shows.

“Showcasing a brand-new product at the world’s largest packaging show, Interpack in Düsseldorf, Germany is very daunting - especially with the eyes of your fellow peers and competitors on you - but we are going full out this year, by launching not just one but three exciting new products, all on the same stand.

This is unprecedented within the hermetic sealing world.”

Among the firm’s core product offering, ALKOflex™ tab; is a revolutionary induction seal with an intuitive easy opening large grab tab. Extensive qualitative market research showed that

having the ability to match up the size of the tab to suit the container and the consumer, ensures that the opening process is ergonomic and consumer preferred.

Along with the elimination of any aluminium within the tab area the induction process is now purely on a circular aluminium base, with no protruding tabs to deflect the high frequency current. As a result, no ‘HOT’ or ‘COLD’ spots are generated during the sealing process, so no leakers.

In addition, having up to 6 colour print capabilities allows complete coordination and enhancement of the brand image.

odours inside the unopened wine bottle, thus preserving the wine’s precious aroma. The term ‘reductive flavour’ and ‘post bottling off-flavour’ are used to describe a phenomenon regularly reported by experts, when oxygen ingress has been significantly impaired, leading to the formation of volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs). This will result in the presence of a wide variety of undesirable odours inside an unopened wine bottle, an unwelcome consequence for consumers and producers, and the resulting commercial losses can be significant.

Additionally, ALKOvin™ active; recently proving its performance in a 12-month trial performed

by AWRI (Australian Wine Research Institute) to address a problem that regularly faces wine producers worldwide. ALKOvin™ active, with its unique acceptor layer, binds and deactivates the sulphur compounds (VSCs) responsible for undesirable

Finally, ALKOseal™ pierce ‘n’ peel; with its unique laser perforation that can be tailored to suit the size and shape of the container and work in harmony with the graphics. It is now possible for the consumer to pierce the foil and gain access to the products as intended, either remove the liner completely in a single clean action, partially

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, remove to leave just enough aperture to fit a spoon in, or leave a small opening to pour / sprinkle out the product, total flexibility for the brand and the consumer.

Nishan explained that “there are basically no restrictions on the functionality, as the laser perforation design of the opening area can now be configured to work in conjunction with the container size, ergonomic ease of opening and the branding.”

In addition, Nishan detailed out what it meant to his team and himself personally that Meyer Seals® had won the German Enterprise Award in two categories the ‘Recognised Leader in Package Sealing Technologies’ and ‘Award for Innovations in Sealing Inserts’. After the immense effort from the team at Meyer Seals® to launch three brand new innovative products at a single major show ‘Interpack’ then to follow that up with within a few short weeks by wining these prestigious German Enterprise Awards is very emotional. This is the best ‘Well done to the Meyer Seals® team’ I am so proud what we have all achieved. We have always strived to bring innovation to the market that our customers are looking for and this time we have achieved it three-fold.

To ensure the excellence of these solutions, when Meyer Seals® looked to position a new innovative and differentiated product within the hermetic seal market, they did not take this decision process lightly. Meyer Seals® believe that product positioning can only be defined in the minds of consumers when they have taken into consideration the rest of the market product offerings.

Obtaining the desired market position and understanding, consumer product perceptions must be researched in detail. The aim of any consumer research is to ensure that the perceptions of a given set of consumers reflect the company’s strategy for its products”. explained Nishan Goenka sales and marketing director for Meyer Seals®.

This was the goal when Meyer Seals® commissioned an independent research company

‘Consumer Link’ to conducted qualitative consumer research on a brand new easy open hermetic seal that Meyer Seals® had developed in January 2017, ALKOflex™ tab.

The consumer research was extremely through with in-depth one on one interviews lasting 45 minutes each. What are the primary motivations and perceptions that drive their packaging choice? Are respondents aware of different hermetically seals found in the market? What perception would respondents have when the hermetic seals graphics were now in sync with the brand imagery? was the opening of the new differentiated hermetic seal intuitive and easy to use? Finally, what did the new packaging say about the brand and its image?

It was great to see when the consumer research was concluded and all the respondent’s views and scores were collated that ALKOflex™ tab came out a clear winner over the established products that can be found in the market place today, with 80% of respondents interviewed saying that ALKOflex™ tab was the preferred package. This was a clear driver and motivator for Meyer Seals® and the consumer research was showcased at the recent Interpack packaging show in Dusseldorf along with the industry launch of ALKOflex™ tab.

Looking ahead, Nishan was keen to emphasise the importance of innovation and how this would play a key part in the firm’s future.

“Innovation is key within our industry and meeting the market’s needs. At Meyer Seals® we have a great technical team that are constantly looking at new developments, this will continue as we look towards an exciting future.”

Company: Meyer Seals® Contact Name: Nishan Goenka, Global Sales and Marketing Director Phone Direct: + 49 5181 8018226 Mobile: + 49 176 1280 1826 Email: nishan.goenka@meyer-seals.com Address: Hildesheimer Strabe 78, Alfeld (Leine), Germany 31061 Website: www.meyer-seals.com

Best Specialised Travel Agency ArgentinAbsolut UG is a small specialist travel operator for Argentina & Chile based in Hamburg. We invited Benito Barein to tell us more.

Founded in 2015, ArgentinAbsolut offers an innovative range of services that Benito is keen to highlight.

“Here at ArgentinAbsolut we see our mission in a different way. Our intention is to focus each tour on a specific area. It is important for us to bring our travellers people, culture and nature closer with enough time to see, feel and understand. We offer individual tours in Argentina and Chile with a best possible service. All our tours are the result of our personal experience.”

translations in Spanish, French and English to open our company to further markets and give people also in other countries the possibility to travel and really discover these interesting and wonderful countries.”

Looking to the future, Benito is excited as he discusses the developments that the firm is working on to drive it to even greater success.

Contact: Benito Barein Contact Email: info@argentinabsolut.com Address: Winterhuder Kai 18, Hamburg, 22299, Germany Phone: 0049 40 603 4400 Website: www.argentinabsolut.com

“Our website is still in German.

We are currently working on the

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Best Corporate Solutions Company ellis EVENTS GmbH ellis EVENTS GmbH is an innovative corporate events company offering a full service, from organisation through to completion of a wide variety of events and shows. We profile the firm to find out more.

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, For exactly 30 years ellis EVENTS has been organising, planning, controlling and managing conventions, congresses, trade fairs and incentives worldwide. The company was founded in 1987 by Susanne and Sam Ellis in Balingen.

Meanwhile their daughter Vanessa Ellis, after her degree in Congress and Event Management has also moved into a senior management position. With Vanessa leading the company, ellis EVENTS is celebrating its 30st company anniversary as well as its new office building which just has been completed.

“It’s always important providing room for new ideas and prospects”, says Vanessa Ellis putting emphasise on motivation and innovation.

Barcelona, Lisbon, London, Las Vegas, Madrid, Milan, Monaco and Vienna – this notable list of frequent global event locations is too long to quote in full. Yet the control centre of these worldwide operations is located in introspective Balingen-Erzingen – a village with not even 1000 residents. This unique rural location helps to keep overheads to a minimum, and also to preserve the characteristic of the company with its 35 employees: Indigenous, dedicated and sincere.

Even congresses with more than 12 000 delegates are always given a personal touch. No wonder that some clients from the very beginning up until now still trust in this flexible and familiar company.

Overall, it is the personal touch and dedication to excellence that marks this remarkable firm apart from its competitors, and looking ahead the firm will be seeking to continue to grow and prosper, working with even more clients to create events they can be proud of.

Company: ellis EVENTS GmbH Contact: Vanessa Ellis Contact Email: info@ellis-events.com Address: Frischlinstraße 25, 72336 Balingen, Germany Phone: 0049 7433 99910 Website: www.ellis-events.com

Leading Experts in Financial Recruitment Services 2017 Germany Carovus Communication & Finance GmbH is known as a specialist for independent asset management. Thomas Vogl talks us through the firm and the services it offers.

Carovus, was initially founded as a service and marketing platform for independent financial advisors and asset managers. Since inception the firm has grown, and communication, marketing, strategy development and in particular personnel recruitment now make up the company’s key business areas. Thomas discusses the firm’s focus on client service and how it works to ensure that its offering meets their individual needs.

“As a service provider, here at Carovus our clients’ success is what we consider our top priority, be it in personnel recruitment which we designated “Jobs for Financial Advisors”, be it in marketing or with regard to commercialization issues. Our mission statement is: “Support them in keeping their business running”.

Therefore, initially, we set out with a special CRM solution and established our personnel recruitment and communication services business. In addition, we also support Fintech companies which may be of interest to our group of clients.”

Ultimately, Thomas believes that the firm’s main achievements are its ability to innovate in its niche area.

“Overall, we operate in a very special segment of the private banking and wealth management business. Being able to find highly qualified personnel for employers in the wealth management segment although we are not operating as a classic personal recruitment agency – this is what we call our greatest achievement. We are ready to break new ground and try out innovative tools to pursue this objective.

“As a small business we are particularly proud of the fact that we were able to enter and conclude personnel recruitment contracts with numerous companies and businesses. This helps us to continuously increase our reputation as specialists in this segment.

“Looking ahead, we are confident that in 10 years from now our company will employ a staff of 50 and generate a great variety of services for businesses active in the financial services sector.”

Contact: Thomas Vogl Contact Email: thomas.vogl@carovus.com Address: Maria-Merian-Straße 8, 85521 Ottobrunn, Germany Phone: +49 89 66 07 88 00 Website: www.carovus.com & www.jobsfuerberater.com

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Best Business Systems Consultant 2017 West Trax is an international independent analyst specializing in the objective analysis of the SAP® system usage and the associated levels of value creation. We profile this dynamic firm to find out more.

Founded in 2003, West Trax is based in Germany and the UK with offices in Austria and Switzerland, and is privately owned. With more than 1,500 SAP analyses completed in 15 different industries the relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) in the West Trax benchmark database offer powerful comparison possibilities. The firm analyses provide SAP customers and service vendors with essential facts and information to support successful outcomes for all SAP related projects.

Especially in times of digital transformation, SAP projects are no longer purely IT projects. They require massive rethinking. The West Trax Maturity Assessment helps the client and its service providers to successfully combine various interests from management, areas of expertise and IT, and to coordinate all parties involved, internally and externally. The assessment is objective and supplier neutral, putting the entire SAP system to the test.

Based on the West Trax Maturity Model, the firm determines how fit a system is for the future, for example, whether it is already well positioned to implement the latest innovations and thereby generate added value. The Maturity Assessment provides comprehensive transparency for decision-makers, so that they can retain control of the future-

readiness of their SAP landscape and not be “externally controlled”.

The tried and tested West Trax methodology works completely offline, does not require workshops and requires only one hour of the client’s time.

Also, the question “SAP S/4HANA – Greenfield or Brownfield?” which appears to be a hot topic these days is addressed with the West Trax solution portfolio.

There are SAP landscapes that have evolved with a high degree of standardization that are suited to “Brownfield approaches” and there are heavily customized systems where a “Greenfield approach” may be justified.

Many decision makers only guess that their system is heavily customized. They do not really know if important business processes do make use of this customization or not. Very often it is even not transparent if parts of their critical business processes today happen inside or outside SAP or are already highly standardized. In this case “Brownfield” would be a good option. The West Trax Maturity Assessments delivers details and facts to justify the one or the other.

Among the firm’s satisfied clients is ArcelorMittal the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in more than 60 countries, opted for West Trax and its SAP optimisation solution KPI Scan® in order to reveal optimization potential in its major SAP

landscape. The main focus is on use of SAP standard functionalities and deploying best practices in its business processes. West Trax used DELL Services for analysing the supporting SAP instances and manual processes onsite. Mr Sunil Halbe, the Project sponsor from ArcelorMittal states: “We are delighted with the identified improvements in our SAP instances. We now have an opportunity to optimize the use of SAP standard functionalities, implement and adhere to best practices and better process efficiency with improved control environment”.

Ultimately, for many years, SAP software has been the number 1 ERP solution in many companies and it is unthinkable to not have it. It is integrated into most of the essential internal and external business processes and has significant influence on the efficiency of key business processes.

Yet many organizations fail to establish a usage and performance monitoring system as a process for ongoing quality assurance. This is the only way to ensure that the SAP system and associated investments continuously add value for the company. The West Trax methodology helps to determine whether an SAP system is being used efficiently and measures added value. It provides the strategic and operational decision-making bases which

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“...the firm determines how fit a system is for the future... whether it is already well positioned to implement the latest innovations and thereby generate added value...” help to make efficient longterm use of SAP systems and increase the effectiveness of SAP investments. Looking ahead the firm will continue to offer these innovative solutions to its clients.

Contact: Emil Bohr Contact Email: ebohr@westtrax.de Address: Amselweg 13, Hahnstätten, 65623, Germany Phone: 0049 6430 9 20 98 Web Address: www.westtrax.de and www.westtrax.com

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Best Recruitment Solutions Company 2017 petra:hingerl recruiting solutions is an innovative boutique recruitment firm drawing on over 10 years’ experience. We invited Founder Petra, who draws on more than 20 years successful track record in the HR consulting business, to tell us more about the firm and the services it offers.

Founded in 2003, petra:hingerl recruiting solutions main focus is in the Industry, Automotive, Construction Business and FMCG / Retail sectors. As such, the firm’s client base is mainly consisting of international medium-sized enterprises (between 1000 and 25.000 employees) and its regional sphere of influence is Central Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Thanks to the firm’s diligence and dedication 90 % of our business is pure headhunting and only 10 % is advertisement based recruitment combined with active sourcing. Petra outlines the secrets behind the firm’s success.

“Here at petra:hingerl recruiting solutions we are committed to excellence at all times, and as such we have a repeat business quote of over 85 % and new business is resulting out of recommendations from client and candidate side. My clients as well as our candidates know exactly, that we have a very high service understanding and our commitment is far away over the average. I do not promise what I cannot deliver. My assets include authenticity, engagement and professionalism.”

Being a small business, what sets Petra and her team apart is their dedication and doggedness, as she is eager to emphasise.

“As a small boutique firm you

“... we are committed to excellence at all times, and as such we have a repeat business quote of over 85 %...” cannot allow yourself to fail in a single assignment in comparison to big integrated firms. You have to be successful in every search mandate and I am the figurehead for the clients. I am pretty sure, that there are less competitors, who deliver such a high service level to clients and candidates in equal measure at any time and in every situation. We are going “the extra mile” in our efforts.

There are many consulting firms, which do a great job with comparable tools and services.

In my understanding the critical factor for success it`s the commitment and sustainability.”

Looking ahead, Petra and her team will be working to build upon this success and continue to grow and prosper.

Company: petra:hingerl recruiting solutions Contact: Petra Hingerl Contact Email: petra.hingerl@hingerl-recruiting.de Address: c/o Regus Business Center, Munich Airport, Terminalstrasse Mitte 18, D-85356 Munich, GERMANY Phone: 0049 89 970 07 292

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Event Management Firm of the Year 2017 Germany 5 LIVE GmbH is full-service event agency operating in Frankfurt, Munich, Kassel, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Wetzlar. We spoke to Managing Director Dirk Daniels to learn more about the firm and the services it offers.

Founded in 1992 as Dirk Daniels Entertainment, 5 LIVE offers unique and non-repeatable live experiences, as Dirk is eager to emphasise.

“Here at 5 LIVE, our events are based on creative concepts, a thorough research and preparation as well as a professional implementation.

“Creativity, high demand on quality, long-term experience and best references are our capital.

Paired with passion and a team of experienced specialists from the fields of marketing, event management and entertainment creation, we are able to provide the very highest standard of service to our clients. We are able to make messages come alive in a unique way: through extraordinary and tailor-made live experiences.”

It is the firm’s vast experience in the market and dedication to innovation that set it apart from its competitors, as Dirk explains.

“With more than 25 years of experience in the show business, I am able to draw on a large number of prominent contacts in the fields of sports, entertainment and economy. This network

allows the agency 5 LIVE direct contact to almost any celebrity our customers want to be part of their event or marketing communication.

“Furthermore, we are always striving to integrate the latest event technologies into our concepts. For example, we often use innovative 3D technologies at our events and we already had a wheel loader fly over the heads of an audience during a product presentation.”

Staff are vital to the success of any business, and as such Dirk is keen to cultivate a supportive climate for his employees, as he discusses.

“At 5 LIVE our working climate is characterized by a friendly and informal atmosphere. To ensure that our team stays motivated we provide benefits like extra spare time or incentives after a demanding project. In addition, we support our employees in further training so that they are always in a position to meet the constantly changing requirements.”

As he looks to the future Dirk is excited about the many opportunities that are in store for 5 LIVE.

“Currently we are a leader in the event marketing of shopping centers and will continue to expand this position in 2017. In addition, we are the exclusive sales partner in the D-A-CH region for an innovative product named TUBBO. “A TUBBO is a floor-independent construction, consisting of individual modules, with a patented design. The complex design and the high quality materials of the TUBBOs

32 WORLDWIDE BUSINESS REVIEW / German Enterprise 2017

guarantee a unique, innovative product which makes it possible to use outdoor areas all year round.”

Company: 5 LIVE GmbH Contact: Dirk Daniels Contact Email: dirk. daniels@5live.de Web: www.5live.de Phone: 0049 6441 67 13 10 Address: Domplatz 9, 35578 Wetzlar Germany Website: www.5live.de

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Laser Micromachine Experts of the Year 2017 - Germany 3D-Micromac is the leading specialist in laser micromachining. Mandy Gebhardt talks us through the firm and the range of solutions it provides.

3D-Micromac systems have been successfully implemented in various high-tech industries worldwide including photovoltaic, semiconductor, glass and display industries, micro diagnostics, and medical technology. The firm’s team of experts develop processes, machinery and complete systems at the highest technical and technological level. Mandy outlines how the firm works to ensure clients receive excellence at all times.

“At 3D-Micromac, we not only successfully provide our customers with high quality, reliable and userfriendly standard systems for all applications in laser micromachining, we also provide branch-specific solutions. Our products help increase production efficiency, optimize processes and lower costs in various areas of technology.

“Our expertise and engineering competency allow us to stand alongside our customers as reliable partners in technology and process development as well as in the development of OEM-manufacturing solutions and customer-specific systems.

Our innovations are built on more than ten years of expertise in laser micromachining. This

especially applies to the excimerand ultra-short pulse laser systems, as well as the roll-toroll laser machining of flexible substrates.

“To ensure satisfaction, we support our customers across the entire product life cycle, from process development and selection of a suitable machine design to commissioning and comprehensive servicing. As cooperative and trusting partners, we swiftly and reliably meet our customers’ requirements.

Our motivation is the ever-new technical challenges that make us grow.”

Operating in such a fast paced market, staying ahead of industry trends is vital both for 3D-Micromac and its clients, as Mandy explains.

“Industry trends toward increasing miniaturization and continuously increasing efficiency requirements of electronic components have driven manufacturers of semiconductorbased components to find new solutions. To be efficient and profitable, production equipment needs to stay up-to-date to meet these new requirements. Thus, 3D-Micromac develops futureoriented laser processes and system solutions to optimize existing production processes.

We provide production

equipment for the separation of semiconductor wafers using TLSDicing™ Technology.

“Additionally, microstructural diagnostics and defect analysis are deciding factors for the continued improvement of materials with special properties and the development of highperformance components. With the microPREP™-System, 3D-Micromac opens a new field of application for laser micromachining. The system also opens new avenues for laser-based sample preparation by significantly shortening preparation time and achieving considerable cost advantages regarding upkeep and maintenance cost.”

Overall, Mandy is keen to emphasise how 3D-Micromac is dedicated to providing exceptional service and will continue to do so as it seeks to build upon its current success and grow even further over the months and years ahead.

“Ultimately, Good service means being in good hands especially when it comes to production systems running 24/7. At 3D-Micromac we provide this peace of mind. Our qualified service team is available around the clock and worldwide offering fast and reliable service.

“As trusting and cooperative partners, our experts provide technological solutions from the initial idea to series production.

In the application laboratory, we model every step of processand-technology development, offering immediate support to our customers from pre-testing feasibility and prototype-andfunctional prototype development, to mini-series. We provide advice during the process developmentand-optimization, and together with our customers, find the most economic production solution.

“Along with delivery, assembly and commissioning, we offer user training as well as customtailored maintenance and service contracts. Reliability and competence are our strengths.

We remain the point of contact for our customers across the entire life cycle of the system and will continue to do so as we look towards a bright and exciting future.”

Address: Technologie-Campus 8, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany Phone: +49 371 400430 E-Mail: info@3d-micromac.com Web: /3d-micromac.com

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