ATEK Drive Solutions
‘You rarely get the chance to do everything from scratch’
Sebastian Sturm, Managing Director of ATEK Drive Solutions GmbH, on both the merger of Deutsche van Rietschoten & Houwens GmbH and ATEK Antriebstechnik Willi Glapiak GmbH and how to grow as a new system provider for drive solutions.
You're always smarter with hindsight – what do you know today, after the successful merger of the two Obermark companies, that you didn't know before?
Sebastian Sturm: We should have done everything much faster. We took a lot of time for planning. But then a lot went differently than expected. We wanted to implement the merger slowly and sensitively to make it easier for employees and not overburden them. In hindsight, it would have been in everyone’s interests, including those of the employees, to have acted more quickly.
Anything else you didn't expect?
The significance of the company names – after all, we have merged two traditional companies, each with a long history, into a new company. The questions of what the new company should be called and what would happen to the old names kept us incredibly busy. We were convinced that both our customers and employees would have a strong attachment to the names and that we would therefore have to act with great sensitivity.
That wasn't the case?
To be honest, no. Information was far more important to everyone involved, which was also a learning experience. At the beginning, we assumed that it would be better if we only wrote brief newsletters about the merger with the thinking that nobody wants to read long texts. But that's not true: the people who work with us want to be informed in great detail. They are interested in what is going on with the company, and they are more than willing to read long texts to find out.
Why was the decision made to merge the brake manufacturer, Deutsche van Rietschoten & Houwens GmbH, and the gear manufacturer, ATEK Antriebstechnik Willi Glapiak GmbH, to form ATEK Drive Solutions GmbH?
The market situation is undergoing a profound change. Demand is moving away from individual components towards comprehensive system solutions. Our customers are looking for solution providers for the entire industrial drive train. As a manufacturer of brakes, gears, and motors, we can occupy this competitive position. A second important reason was that we want to be more attractive as an employer as well as for our suppliers and customers. The size of the company and the diversity of our product portfolio play an important role in this.
Why is size an argument for customers?
Many of our customers want to negotiate on an equal footing. The merger will increase our turnover in addition to our growth potential. We are already seeing a gain in even more major customers with whom we can grow together.
What has emerged for you, as Managing Director of the two companies to be merged and the new company, as the most important task?
Communication with the employees. It was crucial for the success of the merger that we kept the team together. To achieve that, I had to ensure that I was in constant communication with all employees.
What concerns did customers and employees have during this process?
For customers, concerns certainly regarded the product quality, whether it would remain the same as before. The employees were most concerned about their jobs.
Demand is moving away from individual components towards comprehensive system solutions.
The merger
The first step was to merge Deutsche van Rietschoten GmbH & Houwens GmbH with ATEK Antriebstechnik Willi Glapiak GmbH. The resulting company was then named ATEK Drive Solutions GmbH. The aim of ATEK Drive Solutions is to increase turnover by around 50 percent to more than 40 million euros by 2029. The new company is based in Rellingen. There is a new building currently under construction on the site of the former ATEK Antriebstechnik. The workforce has grown to almost 90 employees.
What was the biggest legal challenge in the course of the merger?
Brand protection. For the first time, we had to make very specific statements about the countries in which we wanted to be active. We required feedback from customers on which product names they use and where they use them in order to enforce the protection of brand names in the right countries.
Are there already measurable results from this merger?
The development has definitely been positive. We have been able to recruit significantly more employees and more suppliers. We are expanding in Eastern Europe and successfully generating cross-sales. Our structures have also definitely become leaner and more cost-efficient, which is also a significant success.
What role did the owner, the Obermark Group, play?
Obermark Group has provided us with considerable professional support, with advice, training, and further education and training.
What did you personally find most exciting about this project?
You rarely get the chance to do everything from scratch. From the vehicle fleet and the telephone system to the warehouse and IT – we looked at everything down to the last screw and used the momentum of the merger particularly well to completely redesign many things, for example the product catalogue and the website.
October 2024
You rarely get the chance to do everything from scratch.
