100 years of Rudolf Chemie: expansion plans, crises and challenges
Created: 09/02/2022, 17:00
By: Doris Schmid
Headquarters of the company Rudolf Chemie in Geretsried.
© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss
The Rudolf Chemie company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Time for a conversation about expansion plans, crises and challenges.
Geretsried – The company was one of the first to settle in Geretsried after the Second World War.
385 people are employed at the headquarters on Altvaterstrasse, and more than 1,900 worldwide.
Wolfgang Schumann, Dr.
Oliver Kusterle and Human Resources Manager Cédric Duchemin about expansion plans, crises and challenges.
The Rudolf company is still a family business. Business succession is always a big issue. When did you join the company, Dr. Schuman?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
I joined in 2009 and have been Managing Director since 2010.
My brother Anton was with the company until 2012.
Managing Director Wolfgang Schumann (77) © Archive
Wolfgang Schumann:
My younger son wanted to be his own boss with something new.
He likes to experiment, has consulting companies and is successfully involved in technical textile companies.
Are there business points of contact?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
Yes, there are.
Are you still active in the business, Mr. Schumann?
Wolfgang Schumann:
I only have a small share in the company.
A funeral part, as I call it internally (laughs).
I would like to die an entrepreneur, not a pensioner.
Do you, Dr. Schumann, did you ever regret following in your father's footsteps?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
Not at all.
Wolfgang Schumann:
I notice every day that my son is having fun.
And that is crucial.
How can a family business in your industry stay on the market?
Wolfgang Schumann:
By investing the money in the company and not privately.
We don't have a sailing boat.
dr Oliver Kusterle:
Rudolf is probably one of the last family companies in our industry in which the owners are still actively involved in the business.
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
We are very close to our customers.
I still enjoy going to the customer today.
Cédric Duchemin:
Our employees are the ones who drive innovation, get involved and enjoy the trust of management.
If the management and the owners set an example, then it will be passed on.
What is the secret of your success?
Wolfgang Schumann:
We are hardworking people - everyone here.
How did you manage not to be swallowed up by a big company?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
We don't want to sell, so we don't even look at takeover offers.
We often receive very direct offers to sell.
For example at lunch, during which a sum is simply mentioned that makes you almost choke.
I don't think that's possible, that's why I'm telling you this.
managing director dr
Wolfgang Schumann (49) © Archive
In the past decades there have been repeated crises. Can you remember a situation like the one we have now with Corona and the war in Ukraine?
dr Oliver Kusterle:
With these distortions in the supply chains and such price increases for raw materials - that was new for us.
Older colleagues who have been with us for 30 or 40 years have told me that they too have never experienced a crisis of this kind.
How have you gotten through this time so far?
dr Oliver Kusterle
: Very good thanks to quick and flexible action, even though we have already felt the turmoil in the supply chain.
Suddenly there were delays in unexpected places, i.e. with things that are otherwise never an issue.
Basic chemicals such as acetic acid or citric acid, for example, could not be delivered on time.
That has now calmed down again.
Has production run normally over the past few months?
dr Oliver Kusterle:
Normal is something different, we juggled a lot.
An example: At the beginning of the Corona crisis in 2020, there was a lack of protective clothing and filters for medical professions in the western world.
There was a large excess demand.
We have a chemistry that is used in this area.
We were able to react quickly to meet this demand.
So we had good capacity utilization for a long time.
We got through the Corona crisis without a day of short-time work.
That was rather rare in the industry.
385 people work at the headquarters. Have you had major staff shortages due to the pandemic?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
It was an issue for us how to keep the company functional.
We started going into shift models very early on and dividing people up.
We didn't previously have a home office across the board.
In terms of infrastructure, we weren't designed for that.
But we were able to change that relatively quickly.
We have managed to always be approachable for our customers.
Cédric Duchemin: When
Corona was at its peak, we had twelve cases of Covid across the entire workforce.
What speaks for us is the fact that the people were not infected internally, we were able to trace that back.
This shows that our protection concept and communication worked very well.
Even before our 100th anniversary in July, we had a safety concept for our employees and international guests that everyone supported.
What are the three biggest challenges currently facing the Rudolf company?
dr Wolfgang Schumann
: The availability of raw materials is a huge issue.
dr Oliver Kusterle:
The energy prices and thus also the availability in the end.
And the increasing regulation of chemicals in Germany and Europe.
managing director dr
Oliver Kusterle (53) © Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss
You mentioned the new chemicals regulation that the EU wants to introduce in 2024.
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
This will mean that certain products will no longer be manufactured in Europe because it is too expensive.
This prevents further innovation.
Wolfgang Schumann:
The Bayer company, for example, invented the painkiller aspirin.
If it weren't imported, there wouldn't be aspirin anywhere in Germany because it's no longer produced here.
It is strategically important for a country to manufacture certain products itself.
Read the latest news from Geretsried here.
Industry, and especially the chemical industry, is an energy-intensive business. Do skyrocketing prices make you frown?
dr Oliver Kusterle:
We, but also our customers, need a lot of energy.
And our customers also need a lot of gas for their processes.
That worries us.
As far as our suppliers are concerned, like many specialty chemical companies, we also depend on the big chemical industry.
If it should be the case that gas becomes so scarce that BASF (a chemical company, editor's note) gets less than 50 percent and has to close as announced, that would have a major impact on us.
We would rather stand still for this reason than for lack of energy.
But it's not time yet.
For years, Rudolf researched a fluorine-free, renewable impregnation agent. The breakthrough came in 2021. Has it already become a box office hit?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
We are sold out and the delivery is at least eight or nine months behind.
I think we are now a market leader in this segment.
What makes the product so special?
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
Sustainable chemistry is on everyone's lips.
And that's exactly what happened here.
We also received a huge subsidy from the Federal Ministry for the Environment for this fluorine-free product.
The Rudolf company wants to expand: In order to connect a neighboring piece of land to the headquarters, a public road, Dieselweg, is to become a dead end. How important is the planned expansion for the continued existence of the company?
Wolfgang Schumann:
We have to grow.
If we can't expand the site here, we will grow elsewhere.
dr Wolfgang Schumann:
That's not meant to be a threat of emigration.
Our request is on the table and there is a lot to be said for us because we have strong research and development in Geretsried.
And that's exactly what we want to do on the property.
We would be very happy if we would get the approval.
Also read: The Rudolf company wants to expand - that's why the connection to the property would be the ideal solution
Would you leave Geretsried if enlargement is not possible?
dr Oliver Kusterle:
If a decision is made against us, that will not mean the end of the Rudolf company in Geretsried.
We will continue to exist here.
But growth and impetus would have to take place elsewhere.
We're at the limit here.
Rudolf employs 385 people in Geretsried. Who is the senior?
Human Resources Manager Cédric Duchemin (39).
© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss
Cédric Duchemin:
This is a very long-standing and deserving employee from application technology.
She has been with us for 46 years.
We have a total of eight employees with between 38 and 46 years of service.
In addition to the experienced colleagues, we also increasingly rely on in-house training.
In September, nine trainees will start with us in six different training programs.
In addition, we offer a dual bachelor's degree in textile technology, a master's degree and a trainee program to strengthen the next generation.
100 years of Rudolf Chemie
The Chemische Fabrik Rudolf & Co was founded in 1922 by Reinhold Rudolf in Warnsdorf and taken over in 1924 by Ernst Schumann from neighboring Reichenberg.
Two years later followed the expansion beyond the German-Czech border in Zittau.
In 1942 Ernst Schumann's son Wolfgang joined the company.
After the expulsion, the family ended up in Zittau.
In West Germany, father and son were looking for a way to restart the production of textile auxiliaries.
In December 1945 the Rudolf company received a work permit.
In 1946, the production of textile auxiliaries began in two former bunkers in Geretsried.
Plant expansions followed, and in 1984 the first overseas production site (South Africa).
In the period that followed, the company set up further locations abroad.
Rudolf is in China, Indonesia, Brazil,
Turkey, USA, Pakistan and India represented.
Today the Rudolf Group produces in eight countries, has 20 foreign companies and 30 agencies worldwide.
The company employs a total of over 1900 people.
At the top are the managing directors Wolfgang Schumann, his son Dr.
Wolfgang Schumann, Dr.
Oliver Kusterle and Dr.
Gunther Showerk.
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