SpeakUp

Privacy information SpeakUp for parties involved

Privacy information for parties involved in reports of misconduct and/or maladministration that is in conflict with with applicable law and/or our Code of Conduct.

We take the protection of your personal data seriously. We treat them confidentially and in accordance with the legal data protection regulations (GDPR).

Purposes of data processing
We process your personal data for the purpose of investigating and clarifying misconduct and/or grievances that are in conflict with applicable law and/or our Code of Conduct, within the INDUS Group of companies. For this purpose, you are currently listed as a party(ies) involved.

Legal basis
We process your personal data to protect our legitimate interests. These consist of investigating suspected cases of misconduct in relation to INDUS and its portfolio companies and clarifying reported incidents.

Source and categories of personal data
The personal data we process about you in this context originates either from a whistleblower (this may be, for example, an employee or business partner of INDUS or an INDUS portfolio company) or from our own research (e.g. by analysing IT system logs).
This involves identifying information (e.g. name, personnel number, IP address) and information describing behaviour during a certain period of time.

Recipient 
We keep information about you confidential; however, we may need to share it with internal and external parties (e.g. experts) for further investigation. Other recipients may include government agencies/public authorities and other entities to the extent necessary for law enforcement or to protect legal interests. In addition, service providers who provide or maintain our IT infrastructure may be able to view the data under certain circumstances; however, they are separately sworn to secrecy.

Storage period
Personal data is stored for as long as it is required for the above-mentioned purposes or for as long as legal retention periods require.

Your rights as a participant
As a data subject, you have the following rights, provided that the legal requirements are met:
- Right to access personal data, Art. 15 GDPR
- Right to rectification, Art. 16 GDPR
- Right to erasure, Art. 17 GDPR
- Right to restriction of processing, Art. 18 GDPR
- Right to data portability, Art. 20 GDPR
- Right to object, Art. 21 GDPR

Insofar as the data processing is based on a consideration of legitimate interests, you have the right to object to this processing of the data. For this, there must be legitimate grounds arising from your particular situation. You also have the right to complain about data processing to the data protection supervisory authority.

Automated decision-making
We assure you that we will carefully examine the case. Decisions are not made automatically, but are carefully weighed.

Person responsible and data protection officer
The operator of the whistleblower system is responsible for data processing:
INDUS Holding AG
Kölner Straße 32
D-51429 Bergisch Gladbach
Phone: +49 (0)2204/40 00-0
E-mail: indus@indus.de

The INDUS data protection officer can be contacted via:
fox-on Datenschutz GmbH
Pollerhofstr. 33a
D-51789 Lindlar
E-mail: dsb@fox-on.com

(“SpeakUp” is accessible on a secure, external server.)

Axel Meyer

COO Engineering
Axel Meyer (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since October 2017.

Until joining INDUS, he held various management positions at Schuler AG, most recently as Managing Director of Schuler Pressen and Head of the Service Division of the Schuler Group, Goeppingen, Germany.

Previously, Axel Meyer worked as a member of the Board of Management of the international management consultancy IMAGIN Prof. Bochmann AG, Eppstein im Taunus, Germany. He started his professional career in the Schuler Group's Solid Forming Division, initially in global sales and later as Division Manager.

Axel Meyer studied industrial engineering in Germany and the USA and earned a Master of Mergers & Acquisitions (LL.M.) at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management while working. 

Gudrun Degenhart

COO Materials Solutions
Gudrun Degenhart (German citizen, born 1970) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since October 2023.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the management and development of portfolio companies in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Before joining INDUS, Gudrun Degenhart was CEO for the German portfolio companies of the international service group ISS. She previously worked for the thyssenkrupp Group, including as CEO of the international business unit for special lifts and as CEO of Materials Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. She gained experience in medium-sized companies as a board member of the construction technology company Schöck.

A graduate in business administration, she began her career by building up the Central and Eastern European activities of the construction specialist Lindner Group. 

Dr. Jörn Großmann

COO Infrastructure
Dr. Jörn Großmann (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since January 2019.

Up until joining INDUS, he worked for the Dutch group Aalberts Industries, with his last position being the sole managing director of Impreglon, Lüneburg, Germany.

He previously held various positions at the Georgsmarienhütte Group, initially becoming managing director of Mannstaedt, Troisdorf, Germany and later managing director of GMH Edelstahl Service Center Burg and GMH Engineering. Before Dr. Großmann became the managing director of Buderus Feinguss, Moers, Germany, he worked as a development engineer and as a technical director for Doncasters Precision Castings, Bochum, Germany.

He studied material sciences and earned a doctorate in the field of natural sciences.

Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt

CEO
Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt (German citizen, born 1961) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since January 2006. He has assumed the position of CEO since July 2018.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt was previously the sole managing director of ebm-papst Landshut, Germany, a manufacturer of ventilation motors and fans. During his tenure there, his main achievements included advancing the development of new product platforms and the internationalization of production sites.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt began his career at Richard Bergner, a manufacturer of electrical instruments from Schwabach, Germany. He initially led product development before rising to the position of managing director during his 12 years at the company.

Schmidt, who studied mathematics, gained an engineering doctorate in mechanics from the Technical University of Darmstadt. 

Rudolf Weichert

CFO
Rudolf Weichert (German citizen, born 1963) is the CFO of INDUS.

Before joining the INDUS Board of Management in June 2012, he was a Partner at KPMG for nine years. He spent three of these years in Detroit, Michigan, United States, where he worked mainly with companies in the engineering, and materials trading industries.

Mr. Weichert, who holds a masters degree in business administration, worked for KPMG for about 20 years, primarily in the firm’s Duesseldorf office, where he worked mainly with multinational manufacturing corporations.