On July 14, the group of participants went to the southwestern part of the region, more precisely to Kömmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH in Pirmasens.

Since 2017, Kömmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH has been part of H.B. Fuller, an American company for the development and manufacture of adhesives, sealants and other specialty chemical products based in St. Paul, Minnesota. H.B. Fuller employs over 6,000 people in 70 production facilities worldwide.

Dr. Knut Göke, Head of Product Management & Marketing at H.B. Fuller-Kömmerling, welcomes the group and first leads them through the production halls, where almost all production steps up to the finished product can be observed. With a little imagination, the first steps and the machines used are reminiscent of a large bakery, although adhesives and sealants are produced here: the delivery of the raw materials, the weighing of the individual recipe ingredients for the different products, the mixing to the final product, the filling into the finished packaging also possible with individual customer logo and design and finally the storage. During the plant tour, not only the size of the premises that are being shared with profine GmbH was impressive, but also the range of industries served by H.B. Fuller-Kömmerling. From wood, transport, glass, automotive, electronics, renewable energies to aerospace, everything is covered - at the latest here it became clear to everyone: adhesives are really needed everywhere.

In the subsequent leadership discussion round, Mr. Göke, Dr. Gert Heckmann (Vice President Engineering Adhesives EIMEA and Managing Director Kömmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH) and Birgitt Nord (Human Resources Management H.B. Fuller Engineering Adhesives EIMEA) were joined by other executives from H.B. Fuller-Kömmerling. Interesting for the participants was the question about the corporate strategy: How does H.B.Fuller-Kömmerling define a strategy to serve more than 30 different market segments?

With this quantity, it is essential to manage and minimize the complexity of the processes and to develop a clear strategy in order to be able to maintain the quality standards and their USP "customer service". The global strategy is set by H.B. Fuller, and a separate strategy is developed for each market segment. How does H.B. Fuller-Kömmerling adapt to this?

Once the global strategy has been defined, the regional managers are involved. They act according to the principle: "Global strategy with regional accents." However, it must also be based on other factors, in particular the cost structure: production costs, labor costs, etc. And another crucial factor must not be forgotten: Efficiency. A clearly defined strategy is very important to avoid drastic strategy changes later on. Since that would also mean something was done fundamentally wrong from the beginning on. Small changes, on the other hand, offer (new) opportunities.

An important part of H.B. Fuller's corporate strategy is the acquisition of other companies as well as investments in e.g. India or other parts of the world. But these also bring cultural challenges, such as the integration process of the acquisition, understanding the people and the corporate culture. At the same time, one can also learn from these companies: What do they do differently and why? Why are they more successful? The basic principle here is: "It's not right or wrong, it's different".

H.B. Fuller attaches great importance to ensuring that all employees are aware of the company's vision, mission and corporate values. The Group also invests in the further training of its employees and offers them a special program: "At your best", in which H.B. Fuller managers with special additional training travel to other sites as facilitators to train the employees there. This program focuses on organizational and corporate culture. How is culture defined and why is it beneficial to shape corporate culture to support business goals? To this end, a wide variety of components and factors influencing a corporate culture that is healthy and forward-looking are discussed in individual modules.

Feedback was also an important point during this meeting. Particularly against the backdrop of an internationally operating company, cultural differences and people's backgrounds must be taken into account - this is where empathy on the part of managers is required.

Finally, here's a quote that very much captures the tenor of the meeting and the attitude of the leaders toward the employees at H.B. Fuller: "My definition of leadership is that I create an environment for my employees that they enjoy working in." - And hopefully that applies to all leaders.

We would like to thank you very much for the interesting exchange and the insights into the production processes at Kömmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH!