The BEUMER Group from Beckum is the recipient of this year's Axia award. In Düsseldorf on Monday, February 6, 2012, the auditing firm Deloitte commended the intralogistics specialists for their sustainable corporate management.
According to Deloitte, this year's prize was awarded to medium-sized businesses with a clear strategic focus, as well as efficient and flexible controlling and human resources management. The importance of family businesses in this context was also highlighted by Harry Kurt Voigtsberger, Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy, Building, Housing and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia, in his welcoming speech.
"We think it's fundamentally wrong to view employees as a cost factor", explains Dr. Christoph Beumer, Chairman and CEO for BEUMER Group. "We can only achieve a high level of customer satisfaction and a sustainable, successful market presence when the whole team is involved in the corporate strategy in the long term. This is what we have been living since the company was founded more than 75 years ago, and it holds true for the future."
Deloitte considers BEUMER's "Strategy 2013" to be the "Best Practice" for the professional development of a corporate mission statement. Its key message is that the company's goal is not the short term profit, but the long term success. "That only works with excellently trained and motivated employees", says Dr. Beumer. Another key aspect of this corporate strategy is the commitment to the highest ethical standards toward customers, business partners, employees and society. "We view the diverse cultures in our global group of companies as a chance to learn from each other and strive to create a work environment in which everyone respects each other's individuality", stresses Dr. Beumer. "On this basis, we succeed in quickly integrating our new colleauges in the company, who have joined BEUMER Group in recent years."
In the past years, BEUMER Group has grown both organically and through acquisitions. Now, the company has over 3,000 employees worldwide, generating annual sales of 450 million euros. More than 700 employees work just at the office in Beckum. In mid-2009, BEUMER acquired, among others, the Danish company Crisplant AS. With this addition, the group counts among the international leaders in high-capacity sortation technology for airports, courier, express and parcel services. In Autumn 2011, with the takeover of the Indian company Enexco Teknologies, BEUMER strengthened its presence in the cement industry in one of the most important future markets.
Dr. Tom A. Rüsen of Witten-Herdecke University presented the study "Fit für Morgen - Effiziente und flexible Unternehmenssteuerung" (Fit for the future - efficient and flexible corporate governance) during the awards ceremony. In his estimation, family businesses are currently faced with the challenge of finding suitable qualified employees and managers. This issue is even more relevant to the companies interviewed in the study than the overall economic situation or concerns about another recession. "Family businesses are able to impress with their traditional strengths: high product quality and close contact with the customer", Dr. Rüsen pointed out. These elements are, in his opinion, the "DNA of success for family businesses."