​​Visibly enthusiastic - about the teams, products and reputation: Yves Andres, Managing Director of the Business Group Lighting. During a Meet the Board event with employees in Lippstadt, he talks about personal matters, the business and upcoming challenges.​

Thursday 2022-09-15

​How should we handle our customer portfolio in the future, can a universal production line in the Business Group Lighting work, what is the best approach to adapt to the current crisis situations? These were the kind of questions that around 30 employees from the Business Group Lighting put to Managing Director Yves Andres at the Meet the Board event at Café Light in Lippstadt. For Andres, it was the first event of this kind at HELLA and so he took the chance to introduce himself to the colleagues personally and hold an intensive discussion with them about current topics in the Business Group Lighting.

"We have to use our strengths more effectively and we need to move faster"

The main topic of the evening was above all how to best tackle the current challenges of the Business Group Lighting. For Yves Andres and the Lighting management team, four levers in particular are of central importance: Firstly, pricing with suppliers and customers in line with inflation; secondly, more intensive cooperation with non-European customers; thirdly, 'massification', in other words more volume through standardisation, simplification, smart distribution of products across plants and the introduction of universal production lines; and fourthly, a greater focus in customer development projects on core competencies and existing resources (see further explanations in the Top Talk video interview with Yves Andres).

"We regularly need to examine how to make even greater use of synergies internally, be it by improving processes or by building even more intensively on what we already have. Externally, i.e. in our dealings with customers and suppliers, we have to ensure fair pricing in view of market developments," says Andres. "We are already well on the way to achieving this, but we have to use our strengths more effectively and we need to move faster."

"There is absolutely no reason why we in the Business Group Lighting should keep a low profile"

Basically, Yves Andres sees the Business Group Lighting as having a strong position in the market: "We have very competent teams, fantastic, forward-looking products and, last but not least, an excellent reputation. I have never received such overwhelmingly positive customer feedback in a new role as I have done here at HELLA," Andres tells the participants. "There appears to be a kind of competition going on internally between the Lighting and Electronics Business Groups at HELLA. All I can say is: There is absolutely no reason why we in the Business Group Lighting should keep a low profile." To Andres, it was important once again to address the role of the Business Group Lighting under the FORVIA umbrella: "Lighting is important in all mobility scenarios, which is why the Business Group Lighting is and will continue to be an important cornerstone for FORVIA as well." Yves Andres also made this clear in his video message on the FORVIA vision and mission: "Every day, our teams are working hard to push the technical boundaries and give our customers more design freedom. This is how Lighting undoubtedly generates added value for our customers and end customers."

The Meet the Board format

The series of events entitled 'Meet the Board' gives HELLA employees and Management Board members the opportunity to meet regularly and exchange ideas in an informal setting. A member of the Management Board responds to questions from around 30 participants that are nominated for the event by their respective area.​