Networking and Knowledge Sharing at the io // Theme Day
“Planning used to be complicated. Today, it’s complex,” says Joachim Lutz, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. The reason: the ever-changing economy. Companies must meet the demands of fast-paced markets in order to keep up in the long term—across all areas.
Lutz served as moderator at this year’s io // Theme Day. Held for the fifth time this year, the event drew around 200 guests to the Gutshof Ladenburg near Heidelberg—io customers and partners who used the day for networking and engaging discussions while listening to the insightful presentations.
A total of 18 expert presentations were on the agenda. They were divided into three different sessions: IT & SAP, Logistics, and Factory and Production. For the IT & SAP session, speakers included Thilo Gros from PILATUS, Beate Schlegel from KLÖCKNER.I, Guido Reichow from ADM WILD EUROPE, Johann Schambeck from HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCHINEN, Michael Hoppe from KÖNIG + NEURATH, and Florian Kuchta from SAP. On the topic of logistics, Christian Balduhn from io, Dr. Matthias Bornhäuser from CERATIZIT, Franz Heigl from BMW, Stefan Sorce from HARIBO, Dr. Markus Weigandt from MERCK, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Nickel from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) gave presentations. And the session on factories and production featured Christian Erbe from Erbe, Florian Rudlstorfer from ENGEL, Oliver Pütz from A. NATTERMANN, Christoph Klaus from KLOSTERFRAU, Philip Menz from SCHUNK Sintermetalltechnik, and Bernd Hausler from IFM.
In addition to Joachim Lutz, Prof. Dr. Joachim Schmidt from Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Dr. Nicole Ondrusch from Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences were invited to serve as moderators. They expertly guided the audience through an exciting and informative program that included plenty of time for welcome breaks.
Inspiration, Strategies, and High-Level Dialogue
As diverse as the individual presentations were—simply due to the companies represented—they all had one thing in common: the realization that the signs of the times point toward a new direction. Anyone who wants to survive as a business must adapt to changes in the market and production methods—and in doing so, focus on transparency and sustainability. This includes, for example, identifying one’s own core competencies, as Christian Erbe of Erbe explained. It also involves the need to segment production processes, as Franz Heigl of the BMW components plant in Landshut acknowledged. And it means that automation and cloud solutions are indispensable. And that during transformation processes, “gurus” are needed for key interfaces, as Michael Hoppe of KÖNIG + NEURATH reported, referring to the planning experts at io. It would be futile to try to single out highlights from this wealth of informative presentations. However, the report by Stefan Sorce of HARIBO stands out as an emotional highlight. He recounted how he experienced the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley—and how, in the wake of this, the HARIBO headquarters in the Ahrweiler district quickly became the command center for rescue operations.
With logiklick.io, the Heidelberg-based planning firm also introduced a new product at the io // Theme Day. The website is a free and independent comparison platform. It helps users find suitable solutions for logistics and production and offers use cases for warehousing, order picking, packaging, and transportation to optimize existing processes. The presentation of the online tool was the icing on the cake of an event that received universal praise. The event was a huge success for everyone involved. Incidentally, the date for the next io // Theme Day has already been set. It will take place on September 24, 2024.
