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There is an enourmos Potential
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04-2007/1887
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Fuente: Mass-Rhine-News, Germany
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THE INTERVIEW: This TIME WITH ACHIM SCHULZ
About the markets of India: MRZ: Mr. Schulz, you have been working for many years as an entrepreneur in the Lower Rhine area. When did you decide to act internationally, too? And before that, what do you produce in Moenchengladbach? SCHULZ: Our family business has been active now in the fifth Schulz-Generation at the same spot, in the same branches, but already for quite a while not only in Germany. We produce still today repair-, maintenance- and production materials and systems for the whole of the metal working industries from foundries to aircraft building. My greatgrandfather produced the first foundry repair products already at the end of the century before last (1880), my grandfather widened the programme between 1920 and 1930 considerably. And my father again opened in the 50s the then Eastern Block Countries for our products. My cousin Dieter Schulz added all countries in Europa and with Japan already in the 70s the Far East. I then cared in the 80s until today for further exports to Northern America as well as to Near-, Mid- and Far-East countries. We had to follow the moving of the German metal- and machine industries to the East and had to reorientate, globalize and expand. MRZ: Your special hobby-horse is India where you have engaged yourself for years and also opened in the meanwhile a Joint Venture. How did this happen? How is your cooperation with the people in this country and what are you doing explicitly in India? SCHULZ: Well, you know, India is not my only hobby-horse. The USA, Canada, Mexico or Europe do attract me the same way. We also have Joint Venture partnerships in the USA, Brazil, Hungary, India, China (still within this year) and we plan the same for Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. By then we will have distributed our spear heads well enough for the future - we hope. Yet, you are right with India in as much as we had the fortune to get into a cooperation by mediation of DEG in Cologne (Fed. Ministry of Education) in the end of the 90s we got in collaboration with the Technological University VTU in Bangalore, Karnataka, South India. First of all training of last semester students of the faculties machine, construction, production engineering in our top modern production technologies. Later together with FH Darmstadt Institute for Tribology and today together with different institutes of the RWTH Aachen, the University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein and other universities in widely spread industries. The federal supports by the Fed. Ministry of Education BMBF and the BMWi, the Fed. Ministry of Economy and Technology, have well supported our efforts. I am personally fascinated by the high curiosity of many Indians to learn something new and to accept and realize without reservations new technologies. The missing dual education system like we had developped it in Germany long ago would be ideal (not only) for India. The Indo German Institute of Technologies, initiated by Diamant and supported by the Federal Ministries and India shall help in the near future to make Indian students and industrial workers fit for production technologies of today by targeted teaching and training measurements. This will be done in steps of a few days up to 3 months and be executed on a private basis which means that we will invite German consulting experts, professors, junior professors and the like professionals on requirements of Indian institutes and universities or industral enterprises to give papers and demonstrations After ten years of development and upgrading we have now two active Joint Venture enternprises, one commercial with our former representative and long term partner and one academic enterprise with diverse Indian institutes and universities amongst them the VTU, the IISc, the VIT, diverse IIT. Our bilaterally working ExportUNIon departments in Germany and in India add a lot for the goods exchange from and to India. Similarly, we are planning for this year corresponding departments for China, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. MRZ: How is the cooperation between German enterprises, organisations, county and federal governments and other institutions with India from your point of view? SCHULZ: You must consider that we are counted to so-called SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) which has a lot to do with public (i.e. federal or county-) supports, lobbying and holding hands, which normally a small enterprise cannot do. Nevertheless, we as the company Diamant have received federal supports without which we could not have allowed taking such steps in India as we have done. To make investments which a small entrepreneur would not have done so quickly. Also the cooperation with the Indo German Chamber of Commerce, IGCC, is helpfull as they support us on the spot on both sides. This engagement is unfortunately not found with the IHK main chamber for India in Duesseldorf. The good political and economical support by the Economical Support Department ESD of the Rhine County Neuss allowed us opening in last year the Indo German Office, IGO, in Neuss. And a highlight of support so far was given by the inauguration of the Indio German Office in January in Bangalore by County Commissioner Dieter Patt and his ESD-CEO Juergen Steinmetz. This is the form of public support which you require as a small enterprise. The IGO shall support SMEs striving to globalize to Far East, especially to India. MRZ: What must happen to use this network between India and Germany, especially North Rhine Westphalia - and that in both directions? SCHULZ: Here we are touching a still existing wound - historically, NRW judged India a third country until recently; one had not at all recognized the „drowsing“ potentials in India and is now running behind lost positions. Bavaria upfront, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Saxonia (!), Bremen and other German counties have their own representations in Bangalore, the Indian Silicon Valley, since years when NRW judged India still wrongly, despite numerous enquiries for support from our end. No NRW ministry considered a participation in the official inauguration ceremony for our cooperation with the Technological University of Bangalore during the visit of the South India Minster for Higher Education and Technology in Mönchengladbach in the year 2003. Since the NRW Minister for Economy, Ms. Christa Thoben, had visited India on a short trip in March 2007 they now try to at least avoid the sins of the past years. Let us wait. There has already been lost so much. Thus, it can only be getting better. Ms. Thoben got a good picture about IGIT in Bangalore during some speeches. The NRW economy has helped itself already as far as it was possible without political county support; we can see from the prime example Bavaria is giving how much such a support is helping, not only for German companies in India but also to get Indian enterprises to locations in Germany, or better, Bavaria! MRZ: You are visiting India regularly. What has to be done by local enterprises or Economical Support Departments to bring also such smaller enterprises into contacts with the rising industrial capacities in India? Finally, one cannot only prodcue in India, also numerous entrepreneurs are looking for logistically worthwhile places to present their products on European markets? SCHULZ: India is widely open for nearly everybody. Many bilateral contacts have been made but many have been lost to America, Canada, England, Netherlands, Japan and others. German competitors from the „Supporting Counties“ Bavaria or Baden-Wuerttemberg have made many good contacts already which are no more available for NRW SMEs. Nevertheless, India is a subcontinent with many potentials and downright hungry for - above all German - special products. It is here where NRW-SMEs can score high. India has still to march a long way to high technologies. There are few production technologies like we have them as standard. Many Indian enterprises would like to be „upgraded“ and only wait for applicable German partners. These, however, must make the first step and look around India. In January 2007 we undertook our third delegation trip to Bangalore with over 20 academic and industrial partners and we are planning further trips for German enterprises looking for partners in India for production, for trading or for a technological cooperation. MRZ: And how about the future of your own company? Is the German place still safe or will your products be soon made in foreign countries? SCHULZ: Flexibility is a must for us on ground of the fact that we are really dependent on continuous new developments. This we have transferred to our entire company and all our employees are trained in re-thinking, new way thinking, thinking differently. As the Smallest and Finest in the international round dance of European, American and Far East competitors we must be always 'alert'. This is complex and wearing but it makes sure that 'copy-makers' mainly form the Far East will not find it easy to copy what we do so well. The best environment for new technologies, new raw materials and their turning into new formulations is still found here, so why change a winning horse? We are getting here the academical supports where we require them. We have raw material sources of the best, we are not the cheap production place but one of tradition, experience, long established competence and high efficiency. We are are deeply associated with our location here and the real "rhineland" cannot be found elsewhere in the „rest of the world“. A German small entrepreneur has set his heart on this as long as he can afford it. Thde real "Alt, Koelsch, Pils, effe Gries (clear schnaps), Flönz (black pudding) and cheerful natures cannot be copied. Freek Scholtens interviewed CEO Achim Schulz |
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