LTM : Are you, like other market players, considering spinning off the software division?
Baur: No, I don't see any added value in it at the moment. If I buy software, I either have to adapt my processes or adapt the software to my processes. This is particularly difficult for smaller companies and should not lead to a corset. In other words, our customers don't just see the software, but also our understanding of the processes.

LTM : What about the "steel", is the hardware a commodity?
Baur: In certain areas, in the standard program: Yes. A standard conveyor no longer sets a company apart. But if I can calculate and optimize the processes, then it gets exciting.

LTM: Has Swisslog's corporate culture also changed in recent years?
Baur: I think so. Our team has set out to take a leading position in the market and lead the way. In the past, Swisslog was a very down-to-earth company that was geared towards not taking any major risks and prioritizing customer proximity. Now we want to offer our customers additional new services. Even if they come from outside our comfort zone. When we do this, we generate enthusiasm and I can feel it when I visit my teams and customers. We have been able to establish ourselves as one of the leading global players that not only offers commodity solutions, but also significantly drives development, particularly in the field of robotics and software. This has also contributed to the development of our corporate culture. We have now adopted internal values such as innovation and passion. One thing is clear: we don't have to hide from any other company.

LTM : As CEO, how can you support the process with leadership?
Baur: In times of advancing digitalization, globalization and a fast pace of life, with ambidextrous leadership in order to promote both agility and innovative strength. This means preserving the strengths in the company and building something new. You have to manage the new things you build up differently to the existing business. This is also important, as some of our systems have been in use for decades.

LTM : You manage with two styles?
Baur: You try to do justice to both challenges. If you manage a research team, you have to deal with a different mindset, a different attitude and way of thinking than the employees who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the business. Taking responsibility for these different mentalities and orientations while being motivating, regulating, able to deal with conflict and optimistic is the basis for good leadership. The future lies not only in employees under thirty. Getting the generations to work together is just as important. Employees can be motivated by visions that are not just written in a letter from the boss, but by visions that everyone lives by. Managers need to understand that employees can no longer be enticed by the prospect of a company car alone.

LTM : What makes good leadership?
Baur: I want to act as a good leader and make no distinction between what I expect from my employees and what I expect from myself. I also need to promote talent and support those who are motivated so that they can develop further. If you are not well positioned in the project business, not only in terms of capacity but also intellectually, you have no chance.

LTM: Is a vision alone enough?
Baur: I also need a brand that employees can identify with, that they can fight for and learn to accept defeat from time to time. And you have to recognize and use the potential that exists at the respective locations worldwide. You also need sustainable programs that make your company really attractive to talented people. At Swisslog, we offer attractive career paths for young newcomers through to experts. This helps us to retain and attract the best.

LTM : What else can Europe contribute to this overall game?
Baur: The core of Swisslog lies in Europe. We are a Swiss company. There is enormous logistics expertise here. Here, too, it is important not only to rely on employees from outside Europe, but also to see that European colleagues with extensive experience are fully involved in the company and pass this on. This is an important factor in being successful and productive. But it also helps us that logistics is a cross-sector industry and that we offer a product that will also be needed in the future. We don't build combustion engines (smiles).

LTM : Logistics also has numerous interfaces with politics and society, a fact that also led to the conception and founding of LT-manager. A population that is pushing into urban centers is also changing logistics. How are you responding to this?
Baur: The topic of consumer behavior is central to the question of what a logistics center must be able to do in the future. How will material flows work in the future? This leads me to pick goods cleverly and reduce the number of goods movements to the consumer as much as possible. There won't be enough space in the sky in cities for parcel delivery by drone. This led us to develop a concept that sorts goods intelligently. For example, with the QTainer concept study. These are standard shipping containers with logistics functionality. They can be stacked on top of each other like containers to form a pick-up station in a parking lot, for example. The whole thing is small, flexible and temporary. This brings logistics closer to the consumer. What will definitely no longer work, however, is that the shipping of products will remain free of charge. If we could manage to encourage consumers to use pick-up stations with a bonus system, that would help logistics a lot. However, both the municipality that operates the infrastructure and the shipper need to come to an agreement. Of course, we can't do that on our own.

LTM : Will you soon have to employ a sociologist at Swisslog?
Baur: Good question - it's all about constant contact with our end customers and understanding them. When a customer buys from us, they must find us to be an adequate discussion partner.

LTM : What are your personal plans for the end of the year and for 2020?
Baur: We want to further develop not only our technologies, but also our organization. We want to become even faster and find solutions tailored to our customers. Being cleverer and faster is what it's all about. Our portfolio will continue to expand in 2020. I believe we are only at the beginning of this journey. And it is important that we remain an attractive employer and maintain the good atmosphere in the organization. Our employees are the key to our success.

LTM : That makes it exciting for managers and journalists alike. You continue to develop, we report on it - thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Baur!

The interview with Christian Baur was conducted by Martin Schrüfer. The two met at the development and technology center of Swisslog's parent company KUKA in Augsburg.

About the person:

Dr. Christian Baur has been Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Swisslog Group since February 2015 and in this role is responsible for areas including operational excellence, M&A, quality and purchasing. Since August 2015, he has also been Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Logistics Automation division (previously Warehouse & Distribution Solutions). From 2013 until he joined the Swisslog Group, he was Head of Corporate Development and M&A at KUKA AG. Prior to that, Baur held management positions at various companies, including in management consulting. Dr. Christian Baur studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and earned his doctorate at the Technical University of Karlsruhe.