Why do even the most important decisions in classic hierarchical organizations take so long? Why are the lists of open items getting longer and longer? And most importantly, why are many employees in some companies so dissatisfied?

The answer to these questions is becoming more and more urgent in many companies, projects or teams. Self-organization and methods like Holacracy or Sociocracy seem to bring a way out.

In this presentation, I would like to share our mostly positive experiences and the path to self-organization in our company.

• Why did we decide to take this step?
• How did we approach the change?
• What difficulties did we encounter along the way?
• What are the positive effects after almost 3 years - for employees and company?
• Why should more companies do this?

Between digitalisation and recruiting skilled workers, should the management culture also be adapted to the demands of the new era? Andrea Kunwald sees this as the key to ensuring the satisfaction of employees, customers and the growth of the company.

Her practical knowledge from several decades in business, supervisory boards and politics flow into the lecture "Leadership frequency respect: digitalisation and recruiting skilled workers need a new leadership culture". 

A new quality in leadership is imperative.

In her lecture, she shows how companies can successfully use all levers to recruit skilled workers, retain their valuable employees and position themselves well regionally. She offers strategies that can be implemented immediately for the challenges in the rapidly developing digital corporate world. Digitalisation. Skilled workers. Leadership. Solutions for a positive employer image and high employee satisfaction are so simple.

Technical colleges and universities educate the future customers, suppliers and employees we desperately need. In addition, many start-ups emerge from student projects that develop great products and grow into important OEM companies in our society. 

The only problem is that universities and colleges increasingly lack the funds to realise their projects because companies drop out or drastically cut budgets. When searching the internet for the cheapest supplier, many student teams end up with suppliers from China who generously entice them with free packages. If the founders and engineers were supported by Chinese suppliers, why would they later work with us in their business, even more so if they don't know our companies?

Our industry and hopefully our governments should support our student teams and students and see this support no longer as goodwill or nice marketing communication, but as a real investment in loyalty, trust and a shared future.

The ZVEI's Business Cycle and Markets division provides up-to-date reports (e.g. ZVEI Business Barometer, Business Climate, ZVEI Foreign Trade Report) on the economic development of the German electrical and digital industry. In his presentation, Dr. Andreas Gontermann will report on.

• the most important economic and structural data on the electrical and digital industry
• the development of incoming orders, sales and production
• the economic consequences of the Ukraine war
• the most important features and indicators in foreign trade
• the development of and fight against inflation 
• the outlook for 2024

If the last allocation has taught us anything, it is that the supply chain in the electronics industry is anything but efficient, automated and transparent, from the simple exchange of data to the fully automated connection of ERP systems.

The complexity of the components industry and the eternal mismatch of demand and supply urgently require better collaboration within the supply chain, from manufacturers to distributors and EMS to customers. This can only be achieved by engaging in greater networking and generating more efficiency and transparency by means of available data and transaction tools.

The presentation will use practical examples to show what this digitalisation of the supply chain can look like.

Resilient electronics are critical to ensuring the reliability and longevity of electronic assemblies. In addition to strategic component selection and manufacturing-ready design, resilient electronics require proactive supply chain management.

Meeting the requirements for optimal functionality, compliance, manufacturability and deliverability while optimising costs, time and sustainability can be an immense challenge for any electronic value chain. Modern software solutions and the targeted use of digital twins are now opening up unprecedented opportunities to proactively monitor this complexity and take countermeasures at an early stage. 

The lecture explores the multi-layered challenges, impacts and, above all, the promising opportunities in the context of resilient electronics. Real-life examples demonstrate how EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) can better manage their processes through the strategic use of digital solutions and seamless collaboration along the entire supply chain.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long since arrived in everyday private life, but what about in the industrial environment? Anyone starting out with AI has a lot of questions. What data does AI need, how do I get the data? What is the right data and how do you create an AI model? Is it even possible to do something like this myself and if so, which specialists do I need? What infrastructure is needed?

From the experiences with AI in recent years, answers to these questions are given and exemplary use cases are presented.

In addition to all the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence, however, it must not be forgotten that the use of AI is a change in the company. Trust in AI solutions must grow slowly, but at the same time, fail-fast must be accepted.

A lack of skilled workers or expertise because experienced employees have left the workforce to handle the complex processes involved in subassembly production can negatively affect the competitiveness of an electronics manufacturer in a number of ways. The consequences can be lower FPY (First Pass Yield) and thus higher quality costs, longer start-up times for new products or even restrictions on the necessary expansion of production capacity.

This can be actively counteracted with automated processes or decision-making.

• The programming of SMT process machines can now often already be carried out with AI support.
• The collection of (SMT) process-relevant data already happens automatically today, and this data can be passed on independently of suppliers via standardised interfaces. 
• For automated decision-making and process influence, there are available software solutions that can communicate via 'smart devices' with a smaller number of SMT specialists.
• Activities in/around SMT production that are still often manual, such as the feeding of consumables, can be fully or partially automated.
• In the future, data-based software solutions will determine the occurrence of status changes via probabilities and proactively influence them.

Such solutions not only have a positive effect against the background of demographic change, but also fundamentally improve the competitiveness of a company. Practical experiences of users prove, among other things, improved cost positions in production, shorter lead times for new start-ups and lower WIP (Work in Progress) throughout the company. The presentation will show these and other practical examples in detail.

Companies that secure the expertise and experience of their employees and generate new ones have a clear advantage. Compared to established classroom training for skilled workers in PCB and assembly production according to the international standards and norms, e.g. IPC, eLearning is clearly more segmented. 

Learning content can be tailored to employees with specific training needs, repeated as often as desired and shared. Learning modules impart specific technical knowledge based on and taking into account standards and norms.

A must are comprehensibility, a maximum of 30 minutes processing time, knowledge questions for self-assessment and short tests to confirm success with a certificate. But e-learning is not a magic pill, the contents have to be worked out. 

Every company sale offers shareholders opportunities and prospects, but also risks that are difficult to calculate. An optimally prepared and structured M&A process for company sales is essential. 

The sale of a company is a complex process that is divided into two phases:

• the preparation for the company sale
• the actual M&A process

The process of a company sale can be divided into its process steps like any other process. It is essential to know the individual steps and to prepare professionally for each individual step of the M&A process in order to implement the company sale in a structured, professional and successful manner.

By the end of 2025, around 120,000 of the approximately 3.8 million small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany will be interested in a successor each year. Not all of them will find a successor. The reasons for the failure of the search for a successor are complex. The search is tackled too late and often the complexity as well as the emotional, professional and temporal challenges of the search and successful handover are underestimated.

Important for a successful succession process are methodically structured and professional planning and implementation and their accompaniment by knowledgeable and experienced experts, also to ensure that the transferring entrepreneur still has to focus 100% on the success of his company, especially on the home stretch. 

External support is particularly important for the entrepreneur in managing the systematic process, finding a suitable successor in line with requirements and, of course, in answering the question of the company's value.

The lecture explains the challenges and opportunities of a company succession that is tackled in good time and with professional support in order to shape it as the crowning conclusion of the owner's entrepreneurial activity.