In this interview, Solarlux CEO Stefan Holtgreife explains how the corona pandemic has impacted his company - and which strategies have proved successful in dealing with it. There was one thing that surprised him.
gw News: How has the corona pandemic affected the business of Solarlux so far?
Stefan Holtgreife: In the beginning, we had a moment of shock that we first had to recover from. Sales in the USA and the UK - both important markets for us - had initially slumped significantly. In other countries, however, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, the trend was very good. And in the meantime, the US market has also recovered. We are currently doing 20 per cent better than a year ago. However, we are observing that some of our suppliers are experiencing difficulties.
Have the way your work is organised and the company structures changed in the course of this crisis?
Definitely. Thankfully, we have been able to manage without state support so far - and it doesn't look like we will going forward. But working from home has clearly become more important. But this option was already quite popular with our employees even before the current situation. For this reason, we had already created the appropriate structures for this - wherever possible. However, some areas required a complete rethink.
For example?
Normally, we regularly invite our international sales team and important sales partners to spend several days on our campus in Melle, so that we can exchange ideas face-to-face. This year, these sessions had to take place only digitally for the first time. Connecting more than 120 guests around the world is a considerable feat for a medium-sized company. But the format has proven useful for us. The trade fair sector is going through a similar situation: More and more events are being offered online.
We have discovered that actively listening to the workforce can be effective.
How is the current situation affecting your production processes?
Our products require a great deal of planning - also in terms of logistics. Even within Germany there are different regulations concerning corona, and viewed globally, these differences are even greater. Quarantine measures and other regulations can also change overnight. For a company that operates internationally, it is therefore vital to keep up to date on the latest developments in this area in order to be able to react quickly and flexibly.
How do you make that work?
We have discovered that actively listening to the workforce can be effective: What can be improved? What are the hurdles? What is different and how does that affect us? We have therefore started a regular round table with a fixed team and changing employees from different departments. It is also essential to engage in good networking - not only with other companies, but also with public institutions, authorities and experts. In order to learn from each other which structures and measures are effective and to be able to cope with this challenging situation as a company. We also share this knowledge in order to provide our partners with concrete support: For example, only a few days after the lockdown, we organised digital seminars on topics such as digital formats, dealing with reduced working hours and and VAT reduction. Our partners needed quick answers here and appreciated it very much.
