More Modern, Interconnected and Innovative

Martin Becker has organized this unusual meeting to highlight how using the KNF Leitbild as a compass is still important and, given our rapidly changing world, is likely more vital than ever before. The jointly written Leitbild text is already ten years old and the trip to Majorca is also used to review it carefully to see whether it needs any updates. “The Leitbild and the associated culture of trust create a common basis for shared values which foster cohesion,” explains Martin Becker. It allows all the individual companies to act independently without ever losing sight of the KNF Group’s shared objective.

Though it operates across a wide range of countries and cultures, KNF has succeeded in preserving values that apply worldwide. These values are upheld very differently from company to company. KNF USA, for example, organizes community initiatives such as its International Day, while KNF China holds workshops and KNF Flodos in Switzerland hosts insider events, during which long-standing staff members provide new colleagues with insights into the company and its values. But regardless of where a new KNF employee comes on board, they are always introduced to the Leitbild and what it stands for. The values laid down in it act as guiding principles for interactions with other staff members, suppliers and customers. They serve as a framework that creates cohesion within the group. “After all, we are only successful together,” says CEO Martin Becker.

Retaining and consolidating KNF’s position as a technology leader is the common objective of the KNF 2025 strategy. Innovative competence centers that respond flexibly to customer requirements and the market are a key means of achieving this. Ongoing improvements to company processes are another decisive factor used to meet this goal. The path is set for this when KNF first gains ISO 9001 certification in 1996. The quality management system maintained ever since guarantees high quality and reliability by ensuring that transparent structures, traceable operating processes and ongoing auditing procedures are maintained. And there is greater emphasis on the closer-knit network between the group’s individual locations.

On a strategic level, the Group Board – which is established in 2012 and comprises the executive team led by Martin Becker – takes care of planning and coordination, but is involved as little as possible in the individual companies’ business operations. KNF introduces the first version of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in 2006 to map all business processes on a single platform. This marks the first milestone on the road to finding a simpler way to share information and helps to make workflows more transparent and efficient.

A core team of staff from Freiburg-Munzingen travels to the individual countries where KNF companies are located to help the employees there to implement the new system. Each location has its own unique requirements, making for a very exciting project. In China, for example, the system has to be adapted to work with Mandarin. And in the Swiss Sales Center, it has to cope with the huge quantity of data that has amassed there since 1979. Everyone pulls together to ensure that the switchover works. It quickly becomes apparent that the software is merely the technical means of increasing cooperation within the KNF Group. Like with the Leitbild, it is the employees who ensure the process ultimately has a good outcome.