Company profilE - Neuman & Esser

Company profilE

Side by side with mafa Wurzen
The NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP (NEA) can tell one of
the positive stories about German reunification with its
take-over of MAFA Wurzen in 1991. Other examples of
West German companies taking over firms in the East
shortly after reunification often didn’t end as happily, as
tales of exploitation and asset stripping abounded. As
almost everywhere else in the GDR, the staff at MAFA
Wurzen felt insecure, explains Klaus Peters, Managing
Partner at NEA from 1974 to 2007, and current advisory
board member. Although he clearly stated from the
start, “We are a German family business and if we come
over here, then we mean to stay and invest!” This firm
resolution was carried out. NEA currently employs 135
staff in Wurzen, the town where the poet Joachim
Ringelnatz was born. The production site has long since
become an integral part of the group. Along with Übach-
Palenberg and Stassfurt, Wurzen is one of the three
NEA global production centers.
The future lies in the East
Alexander Peters has been Technical Director in Wurzen
since 2001. He and his sister Stefanie manage the NEA
Holding as Managing Partners, since their father retired
from operative business. When taking up his position in
Wurzen in 2001, Alexander Peters was able to celebrate
the 10 th anniversary of the production site as part of the
NEA GROUP the same year, and said at the time, “This
celebration is a signal to our staff, that our common
future in Wurzen is bright”.
NEA had already been doing business in Eastern
Europe since the beginning of the seventies. The first
systems and compressors were sold to Czechoslovakia,
Romania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. At that time, the
countries in the Eastern Block were members of
“Comecon”, the body for reciprocal economic assistance.
“The GDR was the main supplier of machine
tools in Comecon”, explains Klaus Peters. In spite of
this, NEA was unable to sell any machines from the
Wurzen site in the initial period following the take-over.
“No one wanted to buy anything made in the GDR”, so
machines were finished up to final assembly in Wurzen,
then tested in Übach-Palenberg and marketed from
there.
an exciting chapter
The most exciting moment for Klaus Peters, however,
was the phased take-over of the „VEB Kombinat
Grimma“, which was put up for sale in Jan. 1990. This
consisted of the production site MAFA Wurzen, an iron
foundry and the works’ kindergarten and central canteen.
On March 20, 1990, Klaus Peters signed a declaration
of intent to take over the infrastructure and staff at
Works III, which manufactured oil-free standard compressors
for air and technical gases. In order to become
economically viable and survive, it became necessary
to spin this off from the Combine and create an
independent company. As a result, MAFA was turned
into a limited company, of which NEUMAN & ESSER
owned 49%.
Klaus Peters began to renovate and restructure the company,
but not without first securing a guarantee of 10
million DM for the BV and V compressor series, should
the deal unwind.
In the autumn of 1990, West German companies were
given permission to take a 100% share in East German
businesses. NEUMAN & ESSER immediately took
advantage of this opportunity and renamed MAFA
Wurzen, the NEUMAN & ESSER Maschinenfabrik
Wurzen GmbH.
On Feb. 15, 1991, Klaus Peters completed the purchase
backed by 100% of the staff. He has never regretted this
move. He saw that there was a large reservoir of highlytrained
employees, to whom it was important to offer
opportunities, so that they would remain.
The catalyst for decentralization
After the take-over, NEA invested 14 million DM in buildings,
infrastructure, and tooling machines in order to
bring both centers in East and West up to the same level.
This intention was carried out, right up to the staff tennis
court. The work processes, order processing and cooperation
with suppliers also had to be adjusted to the
standards set in Übach-Palenberg. The relationship
between the plants is still being actively promoted to this
day, according to Alexander Peters, “and we continue to
invest. No customer should get the impression that they
are receiving lower quality goods from eastern Germany,
or our staff feel that their production center is less important
than those in the west. There has never been a
two-class society at NEA. We have always led the way
in this as a family-run business.”
The take-over of Wurzen, according to Klaus Peters,
was the spark that ignited the growth of NEUMAN &
ESSER, transforming it from a single company into a
global business group. Of course, one could have increased
the size of the plant at Übach-Palenberg, but
this was a faster method. From one day to the next, NEA
increased its production capacity by 70% and, over
night, was able to fulfill significantly more orders. In
1992, the first business on foreign soil was founded, with
the creation of NEA Italia S.r.l. in Milan. “This is when
the internationalization began, which had always been
our vision”, explains Alexander Peters. Since then, the
business has grown to include fifteen companies for
systems technology, sales and service, located in Italy,
Egypt, China, USA, Brazil, Russia, India, Thailand and
the United Arab Emirates.
STaSSKol another great decision
Following this success story, a second one was to be
written in central Germany. In the year 2001, Klaus
Peters initiated the take over of STASSKOL Kolbenstangendichtungen
GmbH in Stassfurt, a longestablished
industrial center in the Salzland. He quickly
recognized the resources this producer of piston seals
and spare parts for compressors had to offer. With an
investment of 6 million EUR, NEA built a new building at
a different site in Stassfurt, as well as a testing center
that is unrivaled by any in the industry, this year adding
a large materials center for materials production.
STASSKOL responded with highly motivated staff, who
managed to increase turnover six fold within eight years.
The company, which commemorated its 90 th anniversary
this year, has a further reason to celebrate.
Next year the administration building will be enlarged
by 360 m².
alexander peters Klaus peters
Excerpt from an interview with Klaus Peters, Zeitungsverlag Aachen, Oct. 2010