"MAINZ. Frank Heinricht has not only turned Schott on its head. In his eleven years at the helm of the Mainz-based glass manufacturer, he has also seen how many certainties in the industry have been shattered.
First and foremost: the end of cheap gas.
For an energy-intensive company like Schott, this is potentially an existential threat. He said he had "got scared" for a while. After the Ukraine, when it was not clear what would happen if the company's gas was actually turned off.
Schott avoided the worst case scenario, made do with expensive propane gas, is working on electrifying its melting tanks, and is testing hydrogen as an energy source. As he leaves, the 62-year-old physicist is nevertheless looking to the future with concern: he does not want to bash anyone, he understands the politicians and understands the circumstances, but the truth is also:
"At the moment, there are no argument for investing in Germany."
Above all, there is a lack of predictability for the energy transition, says Heinricht in an interview with the F.A.Z. Politicians promise but do not deliver. Listening is not yet the right thing to do. According to him, many companies are ready to face the transformation, "but at the moment the pace is overwhelming them." Today, industry can no longer adapt to the political requirements. "Trust has been massively damaged."
Heinricht cites the promised development of a hydrogen infrastructure as an example - a central component of the energy transition. As optimistic as the plans are, the reality is sobering. Practically nothing has happened yet. Nobody can tell companies today when and where they will get hydrogen.
A reliable plan is urgently needed when it comes to location decisions. He does not want to sound the whiner's horn, but bureaucracy is also a big problem. Schott has just handed over 22 DIN A4 folders with the same content to 22 government agencies for the installation of propane tanks.
Heinricht believes that simply passing on rising costs to customers will not work. "Customers will not pay more for a ceramic hob just because it is green."
Operating a melting tank with hydrogen instead of gas increases energy costs by four to five times.
Production in Germany is much more expensive than in India or China.
Russian gas has long helped to offset high personnel costs. But that is over now.
The only antidote is innovation. For Heinricht, the days of predictability are over. Change is the new normal, speed and flexibility are the means of choice, even if, as he says, hardly anyone can hear that anymore.
At Schott, Heinricht has restructured the organization and eliminated country responsibilities. There is now a person in charge for each of the 30 business units. The headquarters in Mainz only provides the "guard rails" - finance or law, for example. For Schott, with its decentralized portfolio, this is the right path. This does not automatically have to work for a "monolithic business area" such as that of car manufacturers. Heinricht has already warned car manufacturers in an internal slide. Schott must avoid this path.
Heinricht was a stroke of luck for Schott. When he was brought in by Heraeus in 2013, the foundation company was struggling. The loss-making foray into the solar industry consumed substance and self-confidence. Today, that chapter has been closed and Schott is back on track. The range extends from ceramic hobs to cell phone displays, glass packaging for medicines and syringes, to glass airbag igniters, glass parts for semiconductor production and huge mirror telescopes. Folding glass for Samsung cell phones, for example, or the largest mirror telescope in the world - all from Schott's range.
During Heinricht's term in office, sales rose by one billion to 2.9 billion euros, and the equity ratio rose from 19 to 63 percent. The foundation group has thus stepped out of the shadow of its sister company Carl Zeiss - both belong to the Carl Zeiss Foundation. In order to raise more capital for growth and the foreseeably expensive green conversion, Schott, under Heinricht's leadership, has brought a minority share of the subsidiary Schott Pharma to the stock exchange.
Heinricht has stayed away from the stages of the state capital. The family - wife and three children - remained near Heilbronn. He commuted. That was the right way to offer the children a stable environment, he says. Now it's over in Mainz. He has extended his stay for another six months, and Torsten Derr is coming at the turn of the year. The chemist with a doctorate is moving across the Rhine from Wiesbaden-based SGL Carbon." [1]
1. "Kein Argument für Investitionen in Deutschland": Der scheidende Schott-Chef fordert endlich einen verlässlichen Plan für die Energiewende. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 13 Dec 2024: 22.
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