An Underdog in a Suit
Interview with Dustin Klein, Managing Director of Gebauer GmbH
They are the central nervous system of a company, the hub where all business processes converge, making them extremely important: ERP systems. Gebauer GmbH from Solingen is proficient in Enterprise Resource Planning. Their solutions are holistically designed, flexibly adaptable, highly functional, and represent an attractive value for money. With their ERP systems, Gebauer targets the manufacturing SMEs – and quickly became a peer-level partner.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Klein, when it comes to ERP systems, many automatically think of industry giants like SAP or Oracle. How has Gebauer, as a medium-sized company, managed to establish itself in this field?
Dustin Klein: We are indeed often referred to as the industry's underdog, known by word of mouth. The technology and its continuous development for the benefit of our customers have always been more important to us than marketing. The result are products that are faster and more agile, and unite all company divisions within one system, thus avoiding interfaces. This has made us particularly well-known among medium-sized manufacturing companies, which we have targeted as our audience from the beginning.
Wirtschaftsforum: What exactly has the company development looked like up until today?
Dustin Klein: Gebauer GmbH is a classic, owner-managed family business, founded in 1962 by Siegfried Gebauer and originally coming from the hardware sector. Boris Gebauer took over the company in 1990 and transitioned it into the software era, focusing on ERP systems. Besides this turning point, it was important that Gebauer always focused on the industry, specifically the manufacturing SMEs. In 1996, the company started to select individual industries, initially foundries, and later other sectors such as plastics processing, mechanical engineering, and electronics manufacturing.
Wirtschaftsforum: Were there any significant leaps in technology?
Dustin Klein: When we invested in Microsoft's latest technologies, specifically their newest product for Enterprise in 2016, it was an important technological leap. Today, we employ 200 staff, work with TimeLine ERP E3, have increasingly deepened the functional scope, serve 1,200 clients, over 20,000 users, and many locations.
Wirtschaftsforum: Gebauer has grown with the customers and technologies. What does the structure look like today?
Dustin Klein: Gebauer GmbH, still privately owned and headquartered in Solingen, intends to stay that way. Although we have various locations, there is no classic holding structure. There are 15 locations in Germany and worldwide with privately-owned companies in which Mr. Gebauer is involved. This ensures proximity to our customers. The entire development of a system is always based on ongoing development with the customers. All managing directors are also operationally active, familiar with the customers, their processes, and needs up close. Project managers often accompany clients for many years, there are fixed contact persons, ensuring long-term partnership relationships.
Wirtschaftsforum: Have crises like Corona or the Ukraine war influenced dynamic development?
Dustin Klein: The pandemic has fueled the IT industry; we also had many switches to our system. With the war came supply shortages that affected our customers, who are usually Tier-2 or Tier-3 suppliers. Tools for calculations, cost optimizations, the predictability of delivery times, in short: programs that combine everything were needed. At the same time, we felt that customers became more cost-sensitive and aspects such as risk management and cost control became more important. Currently, we see that decisions take longer, that one is more likely to invest in a machine than in a new ERP system.
Wirtschaftsforum: With which unique characteristics does Gebauer compete in the market in this context?
Dustin Klein: Our strength lies in the speed and flexibility of our product. Our credo is 'tailor-made suit rather than straitjacket'. We aim to provide holistic solutions around the system that are updateable and thus future-proof.
Email dispatch, calculation, operational data capture – all processes are combined in one system, everything is developed in-house, there are no external partners. We do not want to impose anything on customers – the customer decides, we respond. This 100% focus on the customer and the product, the cooperative partnership combined with an ERP system with high functionality and speed sets us apart from the market.
Wirtschaftsforum: Gebauer operates in a fast-moving market. What current topics are you dealing with?
Dustin Klein: One topic that no one can ignore is AI. In Version 16, which has just hit the market, we have included an AI module to support document recognition. It is important for us to generate added value for the customer through the use of AI, whether it is simplifying the ordering process or assessing emails. At the same time, we try to recognize problems beyond the hype topics to offer customers added value.
Wirtschaftsforum: What are the future plans?
Dustin Klein: Poland and India are prospectively interesting new markets. As a family business, we want to continue growing and profile ourselves as technology leaders in the ERP sector with highly functional solutions that add value.