An instinct for change Linde&Wiemann

AN INSTINCT FOR CHANGE

Linde&Wiemann, an owner-managed, medium-sized company with several locations in the Czech Republic, has supplied the automotive sector with structural components and assemblies for over 70 years. Romana Moares spoke to the assistant vice-president for eastern Europe, Mr Xabier Ezkurra, about what makes the company unique, and why the brand is today considered a synonym for quality, reliability and safety.

Linde&Wiemann can boast a long tradition and today is well known for its unconventional thinking and know-how, gained through many years of experience finding the right solutions that are tailor-made to suit the most demanding of customers.

It is a well-established and renowned specialist in comprehensive component groups. With its components, designed as intelligent profiles and pressed parts in sophisticated sub-assemblies, Linde&Wiemann has achieved worldwide success. Product development and prototyping as well as mass production are contained in-house.

The company has approximately 1700 people in 15 production facilities throughout Europe and operates sales offices worldwide. Its production capacities are globally supported by its automotive alliance partners in America and Asia. Over the years, Linde&Wiemann has established a reputation synonymous with quality and trust. Consistent quality to the highest specifications and concentration on the essentials are always the priority. Maximum effort is spent on developing new products that contribute towards improving vehicle safety while, at the same time, reducing their weight.

Mr Xabier Ezkurra confirms this focus: “Our products are those parts of a vehicle which improve its safety and reduce weight. These include, to be more specific, side members, A and B pillars, front ends, instrumental panels, seats and suspensions.”

Global reach

As mentioned before, the company supplies its products exclusively to the automotive sector, which is currently growing. The management therefore expects further capacity increases and a stronger market position. This year, major investment is planned into new technologies and new projects.

Linde&Wiemann has three locations in the Czech Republic: Benatky nad Jizerou, Lysa nad Labem and Breclav. “Altogether, the company operates 15 plants worldwide: five in Germany, three in Spain, three in the Czech Republic, two in South Africa, two in China and one in Turkey – the last three being joint ventures with local partners. In the coming months we are planning to expand our capacity in the Czech Republic with a new factory and to establish our first

footprint in Mexico and USA with two new factories, one in each country,” says Mr Ezkurra, describing the latest expansion plans.

The company’s main market is Europe but the group’s management plans to develop and increase its presence in new markets further afield, such as Latin America and the USA. “Our key customers in those markets expect significant growth and are willing to count on us to support them,” confirms Xabier Ezkurra.

Green business

Product development is carried out exclusively in-house with the help of state-of-the-art CAE systems. This enables the company’s experts to cooperate closely with customers’ product development departments, in order to live up to its claim of being ‘best in its class’ in terms of performance, costs and weight.

Further development will continue to be focused on these three critical attributes: lower weight, greater safety and reduced cost. “Optimised safety standards, comfort and ecological awareness, statutory changes and new regulations regarding crash behaviour demand greater knowledge from engineers and a high level of quality when it comes to development. That’s why we employ top-class experts in this area,” says Mr Ezkurra.

Linde&Wiemann meets the strict requirements of the European EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) every year and has been awarded the EMAS logo. This commits the company to systematically improving ecological activities. For this purpose, the latest technologies and innovative operations are employed.

Going up

Given the combination of strengths and favourable market conditions, Mr Ezkurra is optimistic about the company’s future. “I expect our growth will come through organic expansion but we would always keep the doors open to interesting potential acquisitions,” he stresses.

“I am convinced that the company will be doing better than the market average and certainly better than over the past few years. We feel very confident with the customer/product portfolio, which is a solid basis for future development. And, last but not least, we have excellent employees, without whom any progress and growth would be impossible. We are very much aware of and appreciate their contribution to our company’s success,” Xabier Ezkurra points out.

He concludes by stressing that in the future Linde&Wiemann will continue to develop its core competences – flexibility, optimum customer solutions and an innovative approach, fully in line with the company slogan ‘Respect for the future means awareness of change’. n