Podcast „Alles neu...? Aus dem Maschinenraum“
Episode#27: Emese Weissenbacher and Thomas Fischer
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Podcast Episode 27
Emese Weissenbacher and Thomas Fischer | MANN+HUMMEL: „As suppliers, we drive innovation.“
Emese Weissenbacher is Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer and Thomas Fischer is Chairman at MANN+HUMMEL.
Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Episode Description
There are many specialists in the automotive industry, and the family-owned company MANN+HUMMEL is a particularly noteworthy one. With filter technology for engines, interiors and other parts of the vehicle, the Ludwigsburg-based group has become a supplier that can hardly be dispensed with, with 23,000 employees at 80 locations worldwide. Now MANN+HUMMEL wants to expand its business model and penetrate other areas where filters are needed. "We want to make a quarter of our sales in non-automotive filtration in the next five to six years," says chairman Thomas Fischer, a grandson of the company's founder, in the podcast "Alles Neu...? Aus dem Maschinenraum." Given a current car share of 90 percent, that's a big step. The CFO, Emese Weissenbacher, even has an approach in mind that goes far beyond that: "At some point, we can imagine offering clean air as a service. The market isn't ready for that yet, but it's a trend we're preparing for," she says. One means of getting closer to that is data - data about the filters used, but also data about the interplay between filters and the space in which they are used. MANN+HUMMEL, a company that was an early adopter of digital innovation, also sees itself as a pioneer here. "As suppliers, we drive innovation," says Emese Weissenbacher. She and Thomas Fischer talk about how frustrated they are with politics in Germany, why MANN+HUMMEL is benefiting from the electric car trend, and what to make of the term work-life balance. In the podcast - with Tobias Rappers, managing director of Maschinenraum, and Capital editor Nils Kreimeier.
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Emese Weissenbacher und Thomas Fischer
After completing her studies, Emese Weissenbacher joined MANN+HUMMEL in 1994. She starts as an intern in the HR department, and after a few months she gets a permanent position in the company's controlling department. In 2000, she takes over as head of air filter production at the Ludwigsburg plant. In 2010, she is promoted to Group Vice President Europe, where she is ultimately responsible for seven plants and around 3,000 employees. In 2015, MANN+HUMMEL appoints her as Chief Financial Officer.
After a traineeship as a banker at Deutsche Bank and studying business administration at the University of Mannheim, Thomas Fischer worked for twelve years at various ITT Automotive locations, most recently as General Manager "Electric Motor Product Line". He then took over the CEO position at Hasco Hasenclever in Lüdenscheid. He has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board at MANN+HUMMEL since 2002 and holds various supervisory and advisory board mandates.
About the podcast
How can the origin and future of Mittelstand companies be courageously united? What are the challenges facing family businesses and what experiences do they gather in digital transformation? These questions are answered by "Alles neu...? Aus dem Maschinenraum", the interview podcast for German Mittelstand*. Once a month, Tobias Rappers, Managing Director of Maschinenraum, and Nils Kreimeier, Senior Editor of the business magazine Capital, talk to thought leaders and makers from the heart of the German economy and focus on the personalities and their motivation.
*The podcast is in German.
For more episodes of „Alles neu...? Aus dem Maschinenraum“ please click here!
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