Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Goldhofer, your company is committed to finding 'hidden solutions' for its customers – where exactly are these hidden?

Thomas Goldhofer: Coop Systems primarily focuses on two main business areas: plastics technology & cable assembly. In the field of plastics technology, we develop and provide solutions for elastomeric and thermoplastic applications. In the area of elastomers (elastic plastics), we deal with sealing technology, which includes custom rubber moldings but also extruded sealing profiles, molded hoses, and traditional hose technology. Meanwhile, there is also Coop Hose Technology® as its own brand. For thermoplastic (hard) plastics, we develop individual solutions, which can be produced using injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, or 3D printing. We strive to find the best solution for our customers, where the technical requirements are met at minimal costs. The second business area is cable assembly, which, in addition to the pure production of wiring harnesses, also includes the processing and assembly of electrical components. If one has been dealing with cable assembly for nearly 30 years, one inevitably also has to deal with the components at both ends of the wiring harness – such as sensors, lights, and antennas.

Wirtschaftsforum: How does COOP Systems differ from other market participants?

Thomas Goldhofer: In our company name COOP, the terms 'Consulting' and 'Operating' are embedded. This was also the original impetus that led my father to found the company in 1993. In his work for a Southern German automobile manufacturer, he repeatedly experienced how expensive consultants solve problems theoretically, then write hefty invoices and disappear, leaving the workforce with the problem and the supposed solution. He wanted to do better and implement the advice – the technical solution proposal – in practice, thus 'Advising & Doing'. To this day, we have remained true to this idea and are fundamentally an engineering office. Therefore, we maintain our own technical center with a 3D scanner, material analysis device, 3D printer, and digital microscope. We critically question our customers' components and examine which manufacturing process might be most suitable. Unlike a classical injection molder, we do not have to sell an injection molding solution if deep drawing works technically as well and simultaneously saves tool costs. We can develop solutions that are open to technology throughout the entire value chain – this sets us apart from many competitors. By the way, this service usually incurs no costs for customers, as it is typically included in our 'package'.

Wirtschaftsforum: How exactly does this joint solution development take place?

Thomas Goldhofer: Thanks to our many years of experience and the pooled know-how of our loyal employees, we can rely on a sound knowledge base, starting from component development in CAD, through the choice of materials and selection of manufacturing processes, to international series logistics. Incidentally, this approach is ultimately sustainable, because pure capitalism forces companies to design components and products so that they can be transported and stored as efficiently as possible from A to B. Translated, this means that already during the design phase, we coordinate with the customer on how parts can be designed to use as little material as possible, be nestable where possible, to save freight and storage costs, and ultimately require minimal packaging volume. These challenges are incredibly motivating, as the key cost drivers are defined in the development.

Wirtschaftsforum: Which industries do your customers primarily operate in – and what problems do your 'hidden solutions' solve there?

Thomas Goldhofer: Our highest revenue comes from components for the international construction and commercial vehicle industries, as well as plant and machine construction. We are of course also active in all other well-known sectors and are trying to expand these further. We supply components for aircraft tugs, warehouse vehicles, tractors, tracked vehicles, and many other special vehicles, machines, devices, and applications. In recent years, we have increasingly supported our customers in the electrification of vehicles, for which many molded hoses and cable harnesses are needed, where we can provide broad support and thus score points with our customers. For vehicle windshield washer tanks, we supply ready-to-install systems, consisting of plastic tanks, pumps, seals, lids, hoses, and cable harnesses, saving our customer assembly work on the line. Thanks to long-standing experience and diverse technical solutions, we can often propose optimized solution concepts to our customers that ultimately pay off when considering the big picture.