materialfluss: Let's start with sustainability. Is that still the big thing for customers or is the term a little worn out?

Dr. Christoph Beumer: No, the term is anything but worn out, on the contrary!

mfl: Well, then I'm curious ...

Beumer: There is no topic that is more important to us as humanity. What we see out there every day, and almost everyone understands it by now, is climate change, changes in a global context. Humanity should have understood that swarm intelligence is also possible for them and that we can all correct things together. Then we would still have a chance. But in my eyes, what's happening today means we're heading straight for the wall. Why isn't anyone changing anything? Because we will then have to accept restrictions. It won't work without them, the standard of living can't continue to grow. Many people have not yet reached this point. Packing things in paper instead of plastic is not enough. That's why the Beumer Group adopted sustainability as a core value many years ago. We have worked on this and are still doing so today. I'll be honest: I would have hoped for a bit more in the past. In this respect, I am very pleased that the topic of sustainability is now so important in society that nobody can avoid it any more. Greenwashing, a few great headlines - yes, of course that also exists in many companies. However, we at Beumer, both as a company and as a family, take the issue very seriously. In the meantime, our customers are also driving us on, which I think is really good. Most of them do it because they have to demonstrate sustainability, but ultimately it doesn't matter what motivates us to do the right thing. This change in public perception gives the topic a significance that makes it relevant in day-to-day business. We can digitize all we want, but if we no longer exist in 50 years, it won't have done any good.

mfl:Let's be more specific, the question was perfect for warming up. What is Beumer doing to meet its own targets?

Beumer: We set up the Beumer Sustainability Index years ago as a self-commitment and self-certification to measure ourselves from the development process onwards. We want to offer ecological and economic solutions and fulfill our social responsibility. One example: In a mine, there is a lot of transportation of ore by truck. Overland conveyor belts can replace this. Of course, we use steel and rubber belts there, but the ecological balance is very positive compared to heavy goods vehicles. Our products are used in industries that are generally not considered sustainable. We want to make them more sustainable with our systems and solutions.

mfl: What were the limiting factors in the past? As the boss, you can exercise the determining function ...

Beumer: Sustainability was a topic that tended to take place on slides and in presentations. What's more, the topic was not exactly at the forefront of customers' minds. Let's take drives: there are normal and energy-saving drives, but they cost more. No buyer in the world would buy them because they were incentivized differently. Things have changed in the meantime, including in procurement practice. Sustainability is not an annoying topic, but a real asset that companies themselves have on their agenda. The Don Quixote days are over.

mfl: You announced more start-ups in the interview with materialfluss in September 2020. What has become of these plans?

Beumer: We have now spun off six start-ups in Berlin. It is fascinating to see that all of these companies are functioning on the market. This rate is extraordinary. We even have customers who want to invest in the start-ups or take them over completely. We are not an investor, but a strategic founder who promotes good ideas. Software will play a major role in the future and I believe that our company needs to expand its software portfolio. I am expressly not saying that Beumer is developing into a software company, no, but we are expanding our portfolio. A current megatrend is that the classic "software companies" are facing competition from intralogistics companies that are moving into this area. Offering software will also increasingly become a business model for Beumer - we will not only offer machines and systems, but also tools for monitoring and evaluating data.

mfl: In other words, you keep the start-ups with you and one day group them into a kind of Beumer software division?

Beumer: There is no definitive answer to that at the moment. When we founded BEAM in Berlin five years ago, our aim was to find solutions outside of our portfolio that would complement or disrupt our portfolio. We invest in start-ups that are relevant to our core business and also finance them so that we can take them over into our Group one day. Take the start-up Airsiders, for example, which deals with baggage services for passengers: An idea like that would not have come about in our company, of course, and we would not have been able to implement it at all. Conversely, of course, we open the doors to airports for these guys and can help. Perhaps the software will still be part of the Beumer range in five or ten years' time, together with other services that Beumer offers. That gives us the certainty that we will get more than one in ten start-ups through.

mfl: You don't want to part with your company children just yet?

Beumer: We don't invest venture capital to make a profit, but to expand the portfolio. So far, we have not sold any start-ups and have not yet allowed any external investment. However, we do not rule out accepting an offer for a topic that we cannot refuse ...

mfl: So BEAM will continue to grow?

Beumer: Yes, but so much!(laughs)

mfl: And software play a bigger role in your company?

Beumer: Not only for us. We still remain an intralogistics provider. Every piece of software needs a piece of hardware.

mfl: What do you think of the Hannover Messe taking place at the same time as LogiMAT? You have long been a strong advocate of CeMAT ...

Beumer(silent for a long time): I can only answer the clash of dates with a "quod erat demonstrandum". I was Chairman of the CeMAT Executive Committee at the time, and we realized that CeMAT had not reached its full potential. As a result, we initiated a longer-term strategy process and I was quite surprised to learn two weeks before CeMAT that the next CeMAT would take place within the Hannover Messe. I made it clear at the time that I did not consider this step to be sustainable in the long term and withdrew.

mfl: The discussion about the new development is in full swing in the industry ...

Beumer: CeMAT used to be part of the Hannover Messe; one year of the drive trade fair, one year of CeMAT alternately. At the beginning of the 2000s, the forklift manufacturers wanted a three-year cycle and succeeded in having CeMAT separated from the Hannover Messe. But you can't get a trade fair like that going every three years, it's too long a cycle. We tried to make the trade fair a success anyway, and then the forklift companies tried to reintegrate it into the Hannover Messe. So CeMAT was dead. We at Beumer have the motto "Long-term success before short-term profit". In my opinion, it would have been good to follow this motto when developing CeMAT.

mfl: Are trade fairs in general still in keeping with the times or have companies like Beumer long since found other ways to reach their customers?

Beumer: German industry has weathered the coronavirus crisis relatively well. Some have been able to operate well thanks to short-time working regulations and government aid, while others, and I include our company in this, have been able to save a large block of costs thanks to lower travel costs. I assume that travel activity will increase again after Corona, but perhaps we can permanently save half of the trips, for example. The same question applies to trade fairs: Do we really need to be at every one? In the 30 years of my career, I have experienced trade fair stands of all sizes and am no longer convinced that you have to spend big money at trade fairs. A middle ground will do. So if it were up to me, I would cut back a bit on trade fair activities. Virtual events can compensate for a lot, but they are not a complete substitute.

mfl: Mr. Beumer, thank you very much for the interview and the many exciting thoughts.

Martin Schrüfer, editor-in-chief of materialfluss, spoke to Christoph Beumer via video call at the end of January. The interview appeared in materialfluss 3/22.