Sonja Zimmermann on location challenges, the Indian spirit, and artificial intelligence
3 questions to Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board Sonja Zimmermann
Increasing bureaucracy, rising wage costs, and a shortage of skilled workers: The industry in Austria and Germany is currently struggling with declining international competitiveness. How do the Berndorf companies manage to face these challenges with confidence?
Indeed, Austria’s and Germany’s lack of competitiveness is the dominant issue in the industry these days. The increasing bureaucracy is a large burden, and the rise in wage costs has not helped to ease the situation. But our companies have two decisive advantages: For one, many of them are global market leaders in their sectors or, at the very least, at the forefront. For another, all of them are highly globally positioned, not by simply outsourcing production to other countries, but by producing directly in other markets for those exact markets. Asia, America, and Europe: We are present everywhere and welcome an expansion of this global positioning at all Berndorf companies. This helps to counterbalance the obstacles in the European market. At the same time, our companies face these challenges with innovation and efficiency. They are scrutinizing their processes and constantly strive for improvement.
A particularly fast-growing market is that of India. You yourself visited the subsidiaries and joint ventures in India together with CEO Dietmar Müller at the beginning of this year. How did you experience this trip and what opportunities do you see for the Berndorf companies in this country?
It was a very inspiring journey and a nice contrast to the economic climate in Austria. Everything you can read about its e conomic growth, we personally experienced ourselves. In Indian, there is a noticeable sense of optimism and a lot of positive spirit. In the course of one week, we visited the HASCO’s and Berndorf Band’s subsidiaries as well as the joint venture companies of HUECK, AICHELIN, and Pengg in different cities and regions of India. Our Indian managers are bursting with ideas, not only for their own companies, but also with suggestions on how they can support the group as a whole. Everyone is motivated and active. The companies have developed well here, and the growing Indian market offers us great opportunities.
You mentioned innovative power earlier. How do the Berndorf Group’s companies approach the topic of artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence accompanies our companies every step of the way – in a vast variety of areas. Some are using AI to make accounting more efficient; others are automating construction sites to save their engineers valuable time. The Berndorf companies are very open-minded and take different initiatives and approaches to outsource routine work with the help of AI and increase their efficiency. Personally, I believe the order of the day is to stay on track and engage with the possibilities. This is the only way we can remain competitive.
