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Bergisch Gladbach, 17 July 2024

Social sustainability: INDUS relies on employees for the further development of the Group

- Social sustainability as the basis for corporate success
- Fourth issue of sustainability magazine SUSTA[IN] published
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive implemented as planned
- Criticism of excessive reporting obligations

Stock exchange listed INDUS Holding AG has published the fourth issue of its sustainability magazine SUSTA[IN], which presents social sustainability initiatives of its portfolio companies.

“Germany’s successful SMEs stand for resilience and agility,” says Dr. Jörn Großmann, member of the Board of Management of INDUS Holding AG and responsible for sustainability. “These strengths can only be developed in flexible organizations with qualified and satisfied employees. Especially in times of automation and AI, it is all the more important to rely on employees and to put human sustainability into practice in concrete projects. This is part of our INDUS DNA.”

The example of OFA Bamberg shows how companies successfully attract employees and offer effective human resources development programs. The INDUS magazine also focuses on starting points for more equal opportunities and diversity, for example by presenting successful women in technical professions at the INDUS portfolio companies BETOMAX, MBRAUN and SIMON Group. The air conditioning and heating technology specialist REMKO provides practical insights into how effective branding can help to strengthen an employer’s image and increase employee loyalty. Occupational health management projects place a focus on improving employees’ health.

Increasing legal requirements for SMEs

“The new legislation has clearly increased the requirements for sustainability reporting,” says Jörn Großmann. “We fully support this in terms of content, but we don’t think it makes any sense to impose excessive reporting obligations on companies. Reporting obligations such as the EU Taxonomy, the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the CBAM and the CSRD are particularly challenging for small and medium-sized companies.” SUSTA[IN] provides an insight into how the CSRD is being implemented in the INDUS Group with the support of the holding company. The magazine also provides a summary of the Group’s progress against key performance indicators. 2023 saw INDUS reduce its greenhouse gas emission intensity (Scope 1 and 2) by 36% to 49.21 t CO2/EUR million gross value added. “This means that we have achieved our interim target of reducing emission intensity by 35% by 2025 compared to the base year 2018 ahead of schedule,” says Großmann.

“We have firmly anchored “Striving for Sustainability” in our corporate strategy. Besides environmental protection and green innovations that offer great growth potential for industrial engineering, we attach particular importance to our culture of values, which includes responsibility, respect and recognition for the INDUS team”, explains Großmann. “After all, every single employee makes a direct contribution to the success of our Group.” The SUSTA[IN] sustainability magazine is available for download here.

Note:

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the current views, expectations and assumptions of the management of INDUS Holding AG and comprise known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. INDUS Holding AG assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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.