Wirtschaftsforum: Mr Geiler, J. Schneider Elektrotechnik has recently undergone a change of ownership. What does this mean for the company?

Marco Geiler: We definitely have a major change to make – due to the sale and with me as the new managing director. What's special is that we were sold to the Huber family of entrepreneurs, our neighbours at Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau. Not a financial investor, not a large corporation, but a family-run business that we have known for a long time. That was very well received. We are family-run and will remain family-run.

Wirtschaftsforum: Mr Anti, you have been with the company since 1989 and have been managing director since 1999. How has J. Schneider developed during this time?

Rolf Anti: The development has been enormous. We have built up three business areas: the traditional business – the repair and maintenance of electric drives – now generates around EUR 8 million in sales with 50 employees. The largest division is transformers, with a turnover of EUR 80 million and 200 employees. We have come a long way here: from a small control transformer manufacturer to a supplier of medium-voltage transformers weighing up to 10 MVA and 20 tonnes. We work with renowned customers – market leaders in the wind and photovoltaic sectors, but also with Siemens, ABB, Hitachi and GE. The third area is electronics, with a turnover of EUR 40 million – secure and constant power supply, so-called UPS systems, which are indispensable in safety engineering and mechanical engineering.

Wirtschaftsforum: How do you manage to win such big players as customers?

Marco Geiler: The transformer itself has not changed – it converts electricity. But customers always have specific requests, and we go into development and fulfil them. Our strength lies in this niche: we do not produce huge series, but work as a specialist machine manufacturer. This requires not only high quality but also a spirit of innovation. We work closely with our customers to develop products that are optimised for the market.

Wirtschaftsforum:What are your strategic goals for the coming years?

Rolf Anti: First of all, we need to calm things down a bit in terms of change. The strategic direction is clear: we are going along with the energy transition and want to benefit from it. Transformer construction will be one of the core issues, also in the future. We are investing heavily in new capacity to meet demand. There is talk of several hundred thousand transformers being needed over the next ten years because the energy transition has created huge demand. We want to get our share through high-quality work.

Wirtschaftsforum: Mr Anti, in which future technologies is J. Schneider active?

Rolf Anti: We are involved in many new things. In the field of e-mobility – not with cars, but with trains – trials are underway with battery-powered trains, and we are participating in these. Hydrogen electrolysis is a big topic that is currently stalling somewhat, but has a lot of potential. It requires transformers. Then there are the many data centres that are springing up around the world and require a lot of energy and security technology. We are involved in the electronics sector there, as we are in all these future-oriented areas. Strategically, we decided early on to focus on renewable energies. The story of grid expansion is continuing, and the prospects for success are long-term.

Wirtschaftsforum: How do you attract skilled workers?

Marco Geiler: That is indeed our biggest challenge. We have a lot of employees who have been here for decades – 20, 30, 40 years. You wouldn't believe how many anniversaries we have. That's what Schneider stands for: consistency, a family-run company that is employee-friendly. Of course, we are working on employer branding and other things that make us even more attractive to employees. We are also in this big shark tank of skilled labour shortages. We have a very strong economy here in the Offenburg region and have to hold our own.

Wirtschaftsforum: You want to grow to 600 employees by 2030. Where do you see further growth potential?

Rolf Anti:  We need more space and, logically, more employees. The production of transformers and the servicing of motors involves a great deal of manual work. This cannot be automated. We currently have four locations around Offenburg, which we will reduce to three at the beginning of next year because we are gaining more space. We are also considering opening another location. In any case, we will remain in the region.