Monday 2023-07-03

The E-Café at Plant 2 on a late Thursday afternoon at the end of June. Outside rainy. Inside exhibits from a tech show on Electronics’ advanced engineering lined up against the windows and walls, with 25 selected employees from Electronics sitting in a circle in between.Jörg Weisgerber answering questions at the Meet the Board event. It’s his first since he took over as head of HELLA’s electronics business in April of this year.

"Chinese manufacturers are often two steps ahead of the market".

A major topic of the evening: the automotive market in China. Weisgerber was hardly in office when he had the chance to represent HELLA at the Shanghai Auto Show. "Chinese manufacturers are often two steps ahead of the market, and they are entering Europe with their innovations," Weisgerber reported. And also HELLA has to adjust to this, he said. And that means, making decisions faster, on the spot, and aligning them even more closely with the requirements of local customers.

"In the end, the result is the same, that's what matters".

In general, the topic of processes is an important one for Weisgerber. HELLA has somewhat forgotten to be a benchmark in development as some processes are so detailed that they obscure the essentials. Instead, processes need to be streamlined. Weisgerber uses an analogy: If you want to sell a beer, you can do it in three steps: Put the glass under the tap, tap, serve. Instead, he says, it can be described in much more complex terms: what temperature the beer should have, how high the foam should be, and how long the whole thing should take. "Of course, that's much more complex. But in the end, the result is the same, and that's what matters."

Weisgerber is aware that this is also a question of corporate culture and mentality. But even in large organizations, approaches can change, as Weisgerber knows from his time in the United States. Fifteen or twenty years ago, he says, the climate between large manufacturers and their suppliers was very rough, with high pressure on suppliers. "That has gradually changed. Mainly because it was also exemplified at management level. Today, even the big U.S. manufacturers are much more focused on partnership and collaboration."

​​"We're doing a lot right"​

Fundamentally, however, Weisgerber believes the Business Group Electronics is well positioned. "We are doing a lot right, otherwise our order book would not be so full.,". In this respect, he says, HELLA is also in a good position going forward to become more selective with new customer projects, not accepting every new order, but the right ones. This would also help the cost base, which is under pressure due to high inflation, among other things.

At the end of the evening, one participant asked what Weisgerber would wish for if he had a wish. The answer was that the topics of today should be carried further into the organization and that the thoughts of the evening should be passed on.

The Meet the Board format

The "Meet the Board" series of events brings HELLA employees and managing directors into a regular informal exchange. In a relaxed round table format, a member of the Management Board answers the questions of around 25 to 30 participants. The participants are nominated for the event by the respective departments.