Continual growth of the Hennecke brand, the acquisition of HENNECKE-OMS S.p.A in Italy and the related development of a joint international sales and service network have necessitated the creation of a unified brand identity which acts as an umbrella brand for all product portfolios: the Hennecke GROUP. The new corporate identity is much more than just a change in external communication: in the course of the realignment, the complex international Hennecke organization will also be streamlined and become considerably more effective. From September 2019, in place of a group of different companies, a network of clearly structured business units will provide for new synergy effects. Under the name "Hennecke 2.0", Thomas Wildt, the new CEO of the Hennecke GROUP, is actively driving the transformation of the polyurethane specialists towards a highly effective organizational structure, both internally and externally.
The new brand identity of the Hennecke GROUP comprises two fundamental aspects: a combination of the three independent product portfolios of the brands
- "Hennecke Polyurethane Technology"
- "HENNECKE-OMS"
- "Hennecke Roll Forming Technology"
and the global network of production sites and sales and service offices who supply the local markets with products and services from more than one brand of the Hennecke GROUP portfolio. "The core brands and the branding of the individual products and services are of course remaining and continue to be clearly identifiable", promises Wildt. Consequently, the organizational units that are responsible for the product portfolio of one individual brand in the group will continue their operations with this brand only. Particularly from the point of view of the international network, the unified brand identity enables considerable synergies as well as clearly structured communication with the global Hennecke customer base.
Wildt was appointed Chairman of the Management Board (CEO) of the Hennecke GROUP in April 2019. The business graduate brings to the company a wealth of experience from small and medium businesses, corporations and the private equity sector. “As part of the Hennecke 2.0 project, we will reorganize Hennecke and transform the company to be more effective in the future", explains the established expert in international machine and plant engineering. The decisive factor here is that the central corporate processes will now be organized decentrally. Divided into four Centers of Excellence, each site of the new Hennecke GROUP will concentrate on its core strengths. The advantage for customers: shorter delivery times for standardized products, individual metering machines and complex complete systems for polyurethane processing - all from one source. "Hennecke is decentralizing its organizational complexity. This includes the closure of two sites that up to now had taken on services for the system business of the core brands", stresses Wildt. "What was previously planned and built at several sites in parallel will now be produced at only one center of excellence. This will make the entire corporate group more competitive". Hennecke's broad spectrum of customers will particularly benefit from the resulting synergy effects. "We are taking an important step forwards with the Hennecke GROUP and concentrating on the things that have made us so successful in the past," explains Wildt. "This includes our excellent individual metering machines and extensive services. We will also integrate the individual companies more substantially into the Hennecke network."
Development, planning and manufacture of all high and low-pressure polyurethane machines and all available mixhead systems will be concentrated at the German headquarters in Sankt Augustin. The centerpiece of the entire portfolio as well as thousands of processing plants worldwide will thus continue to be "made in Germany." The site in Milan, Italy is concentrating on the business with comprehensive system solutions for the continuous production of sandwich panels. The site in Pittsburgh, US will be responsible for tank farm technologies for the entire systems business of the Hennecke GROUP. The Hennecke GROUP companies in Jiaxing and Shanghai, China are specializing even further in the development and production of the "dry parts" for the whole Hennecke GROUP. By dividing itself into different centers of excellence, Hennecke can - as one of the few PU systems manufacturers on the market - now offer its customers entire systems from one source. "We are regionally very diverse with Europe, the NAFTA region and Asia, and also in terms of the industry sectors of our customers," says Thomas Wildt.
Customer benefits are the top priority in every step taken by the Hennecke GROUP. All the companies are organized in such a way that they can better adapt themselves to the continual market changes in the future by adopting a self-learning approach. Wildt states: "a self-learning process organization is in a position to correct itself and to take the right measures to operate processes along the planned path with maximum efficiency." Standardized processes and tools will help to ensure successful implementation of these measures. The Hennecke Business System (HBS) has been rolled out globally at management level across the Hennecke GROUP. The managers and staff of the entire Hennecke GROUP are being trained with the help of process mapping and standardized problem solving processes so that in future all projects and services are provided on schedule to the highest quality standards.
Through the reorganization with Hennecke 2.0, the group will be characterized in global markets by greater efficiency and professionalism. The Hennecke GROUP will not enter into any high risk business: "The process orientation allows us to recognize potential technical and commercial risks at an early stage, to analyze these risks and to mitigate them together with our customers," emphasizes Wildt. In an increasingly unpredictable global business climate, this represents another important guarantee for long-term economic success in the future for the Hennecke GROUP.
