Together with Alexandra Nikolaus, the granddaughter of the company's founder, Managing Director Stefan Bachmaier took over SHN STANZ SCHMIDT GmbH & Co. KG in 2017 and a year later acquired the company Redl from Munich, which has since been operating as SHN Feinblechtechnik GmbH.

The development and construction of punching tools are among the competencies of SHN STANZ SCHMIDT, as well as progressive compound tools, vibratory finishing, and assembly production. This is complemented by services for quality assurance and the documentation of measurement results. At SHN Feinblechtechnik, however, the focus is on laser cutting in combination with punching, nibbling, bending, the company's own locksmith shop, single and series production, as well as prototyping.

Broad Industry Mix

In 1924, Hans Willy Schmidt founded STANZ SCHMIDT and has since continuously developed the company. With the takeover of the business by Alexandra Nikolaus and Stefan Bachmaier, a new era was sustainably initiated, and the ventures were placed on a broader basis.

Another pillar is the printing of license plates and signs of all kinds, which is located in Starnberg. Today, the corporate group employs up to 90 employees and generates a turnover of ten million EUR. Shareholders with a stake of 50% each are Alexandra Nikolaus and Stefan Bachmaier. About half of the turnover comes from parts for the automotive industry.

Other industries for which SHN STANZ SCHMIDT works are railway, aviation, and medical technology. In addition, parts for ski bindings, kitchen appliances, and container locks are produced. Besides the DACH region, the company is engaged in Eastern Europe, with focuses in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland.

Quickly Successful

"We have experienced and good staff and after the takeover of SHN STANZ SCHMIDT we quickly became successful," describes Stefan Bachmaier key success factors. "We offer freedom and trust, all processes are transparent. I only set the guidelines, the employees drive themselves. I want the employees to develop further, sharpen their competencies, contribute and together we use the existing potential. Constant interaction with our customers and prospects is also very important for us. We need to orient ourselves towards sales."

Sales were somewhat neglected in the past, but a change of thinking has taken place. Stefan Bachmaier: "Our project managers now regularly contact our existing customers. We need to talk to the technician on site in combination with the customer's purchasing department. In this way, we try to pick up the customer where parts are needed." In addition, attempts are being made to open up new channels such as LinkedIn.

Environmentally Certified

With the entry of Stefan Bachmaier, a lot has also happened in terms of digitalization. "We have set up a new ERP system with CAM that reflects the workflow in the system," explains the managing director. "Moreover, we are currently setting up interfaces to our major customers. All companies are connected with terminal server solutions and some of our employees can work from home with laptops."

But not only in digitalization has significant progress been made, but also in terms of sustainability, the operation has done its homework. Thus, the company has been environmentally certified for two years and maintains a complete waste and disposal management. "We offer our employees constant training to reduce energy consumption. Additionally, we want to make our sales virtual in the future."

Sustainable Growth

Hardly any area of SHN STANZ SCHMIDT has remained unchanged in the recent past, as Stefan Bachmaier confirms again: "The whole company has culturally changed and we do things differently than before." Nevertheless, there are still further topics on the agenda. For example, the existing machinery is to be modernized and expanded with additional devices. And new applications are planned. Another important issue is the acquisition of qualified young employees who can develop within the company. "In the coming years, I want to achieve sustainable profitable growth. I am thinking of an increase in sales between 20 and 25%, the result should improve by 5 to 10%."