SpeakUp

Privacy information SpeakUp for whistleblowers

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 identifying and clarifying misconduct within the INDUS group of companies. When you make a report, you are free to decide whether to do so under your name or anonymously. Please note that we may have to disclose your name to the person you are accusing due to legal requirements. Please do not include sensitive personal information in your report, such as racial and ethnic origin, health data, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health data or data on sexual life.

Legal basis
We process your personal data to protect our legitimate interests to obtain information about misconduct with respect to INDUS through a secure system. You have the right to object to the processing of personal data about you.

Recipients 
We keep information about you confidential to the extent possible and permissible. Your data may be forwarded to the management of those companies in which defendants are employed for further investigation. We may also be required to tell the defendant who provided the information about him or her. Further recipients may be authorities and other bodies, insofar as this should be necessary for criminal prosecution or to protect legal interests. In addition, service providers who provide or maintain our IT infrastructure may be able to view the data; however, they are separately obligated to maintain confidentiality.

Storage period
The personal data will be stored for as long as they are required for the above-mentioned purposes or 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.

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.