CONNECTING

We live in the age of interconnectivity.  Not least because digitalization will soon connect everyone and everything around the world, but also because social and entrepreneurial challenges can only be solved through collaboration. The INDUS Group companies are preparing for this new world and are using it to boost their competitiveness.

BALANCE THROUGH COLLABORATION

Wherever we look, the world is undergoing major changes. The restructuring is so broad and complex that even experienced ­observers are struggling to keep up. International power shifts, rising emerging markets, digitalization and the vast mobility of people and goods are laying open a path to a global culture that never existed before now.

We are seeing the unbridled growth of urban centers, while entire regions are being virtually abandoned. The global flow of goods has become a matter of course, while companies again turn to local markets. We are witnessing momentous wars and conflicts, while established intergovernmental organizations and trade agreements strengthen global stability. We are living in a world of contradictions, a place of both yes and no.

Despite this complexity, we can still keep the balance in our lives and the economy. And not just by luck or chance, but because we know how to reduce uncertainty. One way we do this is by cooperating with one another and making new connections. This leads to an increasingly connected world where the spheres of economy and politics, science and society agree on new rules for living together and starting down new paths together.

The constant changes that we face every day force us to leave our comfort zones. In the scientific arena in particular, this process produces new partnerships – with start-ups for innovative approaches and with established companies from mature industries. Previously independent industries are merging and infrastructure is becoming ever more closely connected, the construction industry is becoming smarter, machine construction more digital and mobility increasingly electric. The convergence between industries presents opportunities for more efficient and effective processes and encourages a number of business options through new alliances.

DIGITALIZATION IS THE DRIVING FORCE

The INDUS companies are looking to these business options and using the megatrends relevant to them to do it. One of these is digitalization. Without a doubt, hardly anyone builds machines like German SMEs. Software is increasingly providing them with a new tool that opens the door to new performance,  productivity and innovation spheres. Logistics are monitored non-stop with the help of high-performance sensors, and machines and equipment communicate with one another in real time. Vehicles move partially autonomously through traffic, energy systems connect with one another independently and manage the flow of energy highly efficiently. Sensor and measurement technology is a key success factor for this new reality. It is revolutionizing technical processes in countless industries and presents new opportunities for improving efficiency and innovative applications. It is also changing the role of people in many processes. People have become the managers of the managers. People are delegating their own work and gaining time and capacity to do what machines and software can’t. And that is still a whole lot.

Customers of the INDUS portfolio company JST – Jungmann ­Systemtechnik® also benefit from this development. The company from the south of Hamburg specializes in designing, installing and maintaining control rooms, centers and stations – for industry, traffic, or critical infrastructure, for example. The ability to react fast and act flexibly are naturally decisive when it comes to handling crises. With the central platform myGUI®, JST enables access to all control room applications from any location. The chief of the fire department, for instance, who has the best overview of a dangerous situation, could coordinate the response to a major fire on site, making use of all the resources available to him and without delay.

SUSTAINABILITY – THE TRANSFORMATION BOOST

Germany and many other countries have to reduce their carbon footprint to zero in the coming decades. An ambitious goal that can only be achieved through new forms of collaboration and new rules of engaging with one another. The benchmarks for business practices are changing. We need to treat resources differently and find new materials and new processes that we can use to invent new products and solutions for all areas of life. The circular economy is a group effort. It requires new partnerships that go beyond the value chains we know. The INDUS Group companies are bringing their core skills to these efforts. BETEK, a producer of wear tools, feeds its used carbides back into the production loop. OBUK, a manufacturer of door panels, feeds rigid foam back into the loop. Thanks to cutting-edge production methods, the Rietberg-based window manufacturer WIRUS produces windows that are 100% recyclable.

Becoming more energy efficient and reducing emissions is only possible with a new understanding of networking. “Self-sufficient on the outside, connected on the inside” – that is the new formula for the construction sector, which is responsible for a third of the carbon emissions in Germany. The construction of a building should be as energy efficient as possible, once it is built and being used, it should be climate neutral in the best-case scenario. The INDUS companies are also involved in making this vision reality. This includes SCHUSTER, a specialist in energy-efficient ventilation and air conditioning technology, REMKO, a heat pump manufacturer, and HAUFF-TECHNIK, a manufacturer of cable and pipe feed-throughs.

 

The latter has ­continually adapted its business model to the growing sustainability demands. Whether that’s for photovoltaic equipment on the roof, the wall box in the garage or smart lighting in the garden. The data cables need distributors and feed-­throughs – requirements that HAUFF-TECHNIK has the right solutions for.

Becoming more energy efficient and reducing emissions is only possible with a new understanding of networking.

INFRASTRUCTURE CONNECTS

Along with digitalization and sustainability, the megatrend of mobility and urbanization presents another important driving force for INDUS. This megatrend needs a solid infrastructure. Whether it’s data, radio or supply networks, transport routes or local transport concepts – the expansion of infrastructure aims to connect. Increasing interconnectivity requires a high-performance network infrastructure. This is where WEIGAND Bau comes in with its pipe and cable channels for fiberglass networks that are designed to ensure people in cities, but also especially in more rural areas, are connected. The megatrend mobility requires new infrastructure buildings such as bridges and tunnels. This is an area where ANCOTECH and BETOMAX and the most recent complementary addition QUICK Bauprodukte are involved. Finding solutions to mobility tasks is no longer possible without taking into account environmental aspects. AURORA has been doing just that successfully with its heating and air conditioning systems for electric buses for a number of years now.

LOCAL FOR LOCAL – WITH NEW ENTHUSIASM

Regional collaboration has always been a vital aspect of the INDUS Group’s tradition and that of its companies. Not just because of the short distances, but also because experience shows that a market is best built on local connections. Every market has its own peculiarities and only those integrated in local structures know them. Local for local is the principle by which the INDUS Group taps into international markets. A good example is the HORNGROUP subsidiary TECALEMIT Inc. in the United States. In 2013, the specialist for refueling and workshop technology got together locally with Lubrication Solutions Inc. Since then, the business unit has been independently developing equipment platforms for the North American fuel and tire filling sector. It is holding its own as a successful and highly flexible niche provider in a market dominated by big players.

The focus on regional networks has proven itself in the crises of recent years. These crises showed us that alongside all their advantages, global supply chains also pose a risk – they are susceptible to disruptions. Many sectors in Europe responded to these developments by boosting or rebuilding local supply chains. The hope is to create more security and resilience in times of crisis with this “revival.” An opportunity for the INDUS Group to ­revive old European networks and build new ones.

PROGRESSING TOGETHER

The rule “sharing knowledge delivers better solutions” also applies for collaboration within the supply chain. And better solutions keep the competition at bay and create new advantages. HEIBER + SCHRÖDER Maschinenbau GmbH, part of the INDUS Group since 2022, has mastered the principle of cooperating within a network. HEIBER + SCHRÖDER supplies special machines for the cardboard industry and supports its customers directly and comprehensively in configuring their packaging. The range of products and services spans from determining needs and planning to building the equipment and putting it into operation on site. HEIBER + SCHRÖDER’s expertise is in particularly high demand when it comes to developing sustainable packaging solutions. To satisfy this demand, the company set up a showroom at its new location in Atlanta. Packaging manufacturers can consider the packaging requirements of their (end) consumers from a ­product-oriented point of view, which gives them a firmer foundation for making decisions regarding their machine specifications.

Valuing connections, making new connections and maintaining them has been a ­fundamental principle of conduct at the INDUS Group for three and a half decades.

INDUS - FACING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Valuing connections, making new connections and maintaining them has been a fundamental principle of conduct at the INDUS Group for three and a half decades. This principle applies not only between the holding company and the portfolio companies, but in many ways also between the more than 40 SME specialists in the Group. They all benefit from the advantages of collaboration to their business. The world is becoming ever more complex. At the same time, the tasks to be tackled are much the same for many. Finding common solutions, for example through collaborative projects, is worthwhile. Everyone plays their part and brings their experience to the table. And in the end, the result is greater than the sum of its parts.

Accordingly, INDUS is an interesting option for manufacturing SMEs on the lookout for solid partners for their corporate development. Joining INDUS means becoming part of a group where everyone actively supports one another in their development. With knowledge. With networks. And with capital for future-oriented products and advantageous acquisitions.

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