23 3 E DITION 2000 R EPORT Information for the staff of the KRONE Group Pioneering work with TrueNet KRONE India, established in 1989 as a joint venture between the then KRONE AG and the Keonics company, looks back over eleven successful years. We distributed the LSA-Plus system in such an effective manner that it is now the standard system in India. As early as at the beginning of the 1990s, we specialised in the manufacture of certain connection components in the AccessNET and PremisNET area. After initial successes, such as the orders for distribution boxes in the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, KRONE India now exports Multicom Plus and High Density MDF world-wide. Our factory at Peenya in southern India has a highly qualified and educated workforce. KRONE India abandons the country’s traditional training methods and replaces them with advanced, tailor- made opportunities. Teamwork is a particularly important form of organisation for the 120 people who work there. KRONE is particularly successful in the market because our seven distributors in the country co-operate with each other, selling our products throughout the entire country. Starting in January 2001, our new factory will enable us to increase our production capacity tenfold at times of peak load. KRONE India was the company’s first subsidiary to be awarded by Rheinisch- Westfälischer TÜV (German auditors) the ISO 9002 certificate as evidence of the company’s excellence in manu- facturing and distributing systems for voice and data networks. We were also one of the first countries within the KRONE Group to introduce TrueNet in November 1999. 38 percent of KRONE India is traded on Indian stock exchanges today - a clear sign of our success. In June 2000, we celebrated our 11 th anniversary in the presence of Mr. Manfred Schneider. S. Sivandan KRONE India Cinemascope on the PC KRONE has a new Internet presence Creative in London ISAN group seeking strategies Small teams in Berlin New products through innovation days Dear colleagues, You were already informed that agreement was reached for the premature termination of my work for the company. Effective as of the end of August 2000, I will resign from office as a member of the management of KRONE GmbH and take up new challenges outside the KRO- NE Group. Over the past two years, the company underwent tremendous change and had to overcome many problems. Through your personal efforts, you contributed towards the success in restoring a sound and attractive revenue basis for the KRONE Group and in launching new, future-oriented activities. I would like to personally thank you for this and for the trust which you placed in me in this respect. I am confident that you will successfully pursue this course - supported by the positive impetus from our parent company, GenTek - and continue to develop KRONE’s position in this highly attractive market environment. Wishing you all the best for you professional and private future, I remain Your ( Dr. Kay Michel, Managing Director ) E DITION 3-2000 / P AGE -2- KRONE R EPORT Running to full capacity Mr. Apel, how is the current production performance and the capacity utilisation rate? Production performance rose more than 20 percent compared to the first six months of 1999. Capacity is fully utilised, particularly for automatic assembly lines (3 shifts a day, 5 days a week). However, a significant increase in production is also felt in the field of manual assembly. Which are the consequences of this? A high availability of technical facilities and plants as well as qualified staff are indispensable. The workforce is responding to the current challenges in an exemplary manner, and immediately handling new tasks with a great deal of self-initiative. Utilisation rates due to customer demand are anti-cyclic when compared to the labour market. What kind of problems does this cause? Today’s market demands products at ever-shorter notice. New priorities must be set virtually every day. Without long-term framework agreements, however, it is difficult to guarantee the availability of raw materials, and that’s our problem. What sort of difficulties arise when it comes to reforming production processes? Our task in this field is to motivate the workforce who have to implement and support change. The complex requirements of advanced machinery require an ongoing education and further training effort for staff. Which plans and strategic projects were developed in the International Operations fields, also in co-operation with GenTek? Co-operation with GenTek is excellent. A uniform costing system was introduced for the production sites during the first half of the year, improving the flow of information and the working climate in the relations with KRONE representatives world-wide. Wilfried Apel was interviewed by Dr. Bernd Buhmann. Personal brief: Mr. Wilfried Apel joined KRONE in 1971 as a me- thods engineer. As a “genuine” Berli- ner, he can look back over an almost 30-year career during which he was also technical director of operating equipment design and tool construction before becoming head of production for various sectors. Since 1994, he has been director of the production and logistics division. He is married and has one son. Lost without PC and Internet Networking via intranet, the Internet and new media has changed work at KRONE. Employees have faster access to information. “But this also means”, notes Mr. Erhard Lipinski, the company IT manager, “that people have to organise themselves more and that they must be more flexible, accept more responsibility and make decisions independently”. Take, for example, development: the PC is used there as a time-saving and cost-saving tool for designers. The PC reduces the error frequency when designing samples and patterns, when making prototypes and when calculating production and machine control programs. Mr. Uwe Hanelt, sales engineer, handles almost all of his communications via the PC: “Our customers are located on the other side of the globe. Personal organisation via Outlook and e-mail enables me to communicate with them in a simple, quick and cost-effective manner. In this way, many problems can be settled directly in Berlin. Trusting the PC, however, is also risky. Mr. Ekkehard Schenk from the accounts- payable unit describes his greatest concern: “Without IT, there would be no information, evaluation or posting - a hardware or software strike brings the entire information system to a halt.” Mr. Michael Schlüter (In- ternational Innovation / Ma- nagement Connectivity) confirms this rising flood of information: “Too much information can be a burden for creativity, all the more so if people are unable to evaluate and reasonably use information with the help of the PC and the Intranet / Internet.” Lipinski is certain: “The future will bring global networking, and hence world-wide internal and external communications with advanced information and communication technology.” Technology will become more complex on the one hand, but easier to use on the other. Data and voice will grow together to form a single technical medium. Computer Telephony Integration (CIT) is the name of a system which will soon link telephone and computer. At KRONE, e-commerce will play an important role in the future. A team has already been set up for this new task. Sascha Ersel Contacts for the north The marketing campaign “Connectivity for the New Millennium” is designed to develop KRONE’s market presence in the Baltic states, in Scandinavia and the Bene- lux countries. For six months, Mr. Andreas Baitz, sales engineer for the Nordic countries in the EMEA profit centre, has been demonstrating our solutions to major network operators in co-operation with our agents and the subsidiary, KRONE Norway. The aim is to replace the traditional LSA- PLUS connection system (particularly the 2 series) with new connection equipment. “We are determined not to respond to the market, but to drive the market instead in order to stand out against competitors and copiers”, stresses Andreas Baitz. “Customers are eager to have made-to- measure applications, and that’s where our opportunities are.” Mr. Baitz has abs strips with him, the LSA- PLUS NT product series and the HIGHBAND series; these are the three pillars on which the campaign is based. First success has already been achieved; together with Latvian network operator LatTelecom, the use of HIGHBAND for xDSL applications is currently undergoing field testing. HIGH- BAND modules are already installed in the field for Tampere Telecom, a network operator belonging to the Finnet group. Telia from Sweden and Sonera from Finland also showed keen interest on condition that the HIGHBAND module is modified to withstand the outdoor temperatures prevailing in the far north. Flexibility and prompt response to customer requirements are needed here. LSA-PLUS NT is the focal point of interest in the Benelux countries. In Belgium, for instance, work is underway on integrating NT modules into Alcatel PABX systems. The biggest success so far was recorded in the Netherlands: shipments of NT-modules to the Dutch telecom, KPN, for specially adapted coaxial cable distributors started this year in June. Further demonstrations in Scandinavia are scheduled for this autumn. One of the aims is to have HIGHBAND modules and their accessories included in the framework agreements with network operators for the year 2001. in Working in the future at KRONE The editorial team Dr. Bernd Buhmann has been head of corporate communications since January 2000. He holds a doctorate in media sciences and previously headed the media and PR division of Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH. Mr. Buhmann’s responsibilities include external communications, media contacts, the Internet relaunch of the KRONE Group, KRONE.COM and the production of a new image brochure. Volker Röseler has been working for the company since 1979. He started in the development department and has been working there in the optical-fibre technology unit since 1983. Since 1993, he has been product manager with a focus on optical-fibre technology and closures. Mr. Röseler is a member of the works council and is the works council’s delegate to the editorial team in his capacity as spokesman for PR work. cd Germany Europe KRONE R EPORT E DTION 3-2000 / P AGE -3- a 51 percent share in GenTek which he also heads as Chairman of the Board. Deputy Chairman is Mr. Paul Meister who is also a member of KRONE’s Supervisory Board, as well as Mr. Richard Russell, President and Chief Executive Officer of GenTek. The telecommunications business, represented principally by the KRONE group, is a cornerstone of the holding which is increasingly gaining importance thanks to good performance and positive industry trends. In this field, GenTek’s senior management became interested in telecommunications through its affiliation with Prestolite Wire, another company controlled by Mr. Montrone. Prestolite Wire specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of copper and fiber-optic cable systems for the telecommunications and automotive industries. Recently, it was announced that GenTek will acquire Prestolite Digital Communications, the division producing cable systems for telecommunication applications, and integrate it with the KRONE group. GenTek, a technology- driven manufacturer of telecom equipment and other products, was established in April 1999. It originally belonged to the General Chemical Group, which has a 100-year corporate history. GenTek was spun off in order to allow the company’s management to focus on the activities of General Chemical’s faster growing segments and to ensure maximum operational flexibility. GenTek’s business focuses on three primary sectors: telecommunications, industrial manufacturing and performance chemicals. The holding has its corporate headquarters in Hampton, New Hampshire (near Boston - we reported in our Quick View Christmas edition last year), USA. Mr. Paul Montrone who recently visited KRO- NE GmbH (we reported in our last edition) holds GenTek – structure and activities News! Following a six-month term, the highly motivated participants in the seminar on “project-oriented and team-based leadership” made their final demonstration to management, the 1 st and 2 nd management levels and the works council of KRONE GmbH. The Human Resources Department has been offering this seminar since 1996 within the scope of its strategic promotion programme for young executives. It aims at preparing participants for new challenges resulting from changed organization, customer and production structures. They develop a clear view of leadership. Participants master the changes in their own fields of responsibility on the basis of a project. The seminar strengthens the ability to question things, to work in teams and to develop solutions. The results of the seminar are used for future planning by the different departments. The training seminar on “Leadership - leading - coaching” is based on the experience previously gained and addresses executives of the 2 nd and 3d management levels, as well as project and technical leaders. The training is aimed at enabling people to re-design their leadership role, to get to know the organization and the people living in it in an experience-oriented manner, and to develop trust and openness. The experience-oriented training is carried out in group of 10 to 12 members and focuses on handling their personal experience from everyday life at KRONE. This seminar will once again take place in September because of strong interest therein. A new, experience- oriented seminar which took place for the first time in June was titled “Fit for change”. On the basis of “Guiding - leading - coaching”, a comparable target group is given the opportunity to take up challenges which strengthen their personal capacities and hence make them “fit” to successfully shape organizational change. In order to handle their tasks, participants need a great deal of creativity, ideas, the ability to think and act in networks, as well as the courage and determination to accept new situations. Participants successfully solve problems, for example, getting a free three-course dinner for twelve people and to have this publicised in the local press. This seminar aims at handling situations which require people to abandon customary forms of thinking. KRONE’s future executives need this new way of thinking and acting. The crucial concept of all three seminars is to generate synergies and networks. This means that participants come from different hierarchies and departments. This creates interfaces which enable people to widen their line of vision. Candidates for the seminars are proposed by Human Resources after consultation with the heads of units. Martina Kubitz New careers for young executives Personal - News ■ Mr. Manfred Schneider was elected member of the Supervisory Board of the Business and Economy Promotion Council at the request of the Society of the Company Associations of Berlin/ Brandenburg, as well as the Berlin Senate. ■ Ms. Andrea Freitag, Mr. Dirk Beckmann (product manager PremisNET) and Mr. Jochen Bendixen, Mr. Andreas Hochstädt and Mr. Carsten Preßler (area sales manager) are new colleagues at the Berlin location. ■ Mr. Thomas Glockemann is the new head of the AccessNET components and systems department. ■ Corporate Communications in Berlin has its first webmaster: Mr. Thomas Schulte. The second business is the industrial manufacturing business. This division produces industrial components for various markets, including the automotive and appliance and electronic industries, and provides component testing services to other manufacturing companies, principally in the automotive industry. The third business is the manufacture and distribution of performance chemical products. This division’s diverse product portfolio serves customers in many industries, including pharmaceutical and personal care, environmen- tal services, technology and chemical processing. Including the acquisition of Prestolite Digital Communications, GenTek operates over 90 manufacturing and production facilities located in the US, Canada, Australia, Austria, China, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Ireland and Germany. GenTek employs a workforce of around 10,500 world-wide, and recorded total sales of over US$ 1.3 billion. cd, Matt Murphy (GenTek) Rejoice, users An experience like in the cinema: 16:9 broadscreen format. Contents like a library: more than 150 pages of information. Access: the world of KRONE. A globe with a graphic 3D effect so realistic that one believes it will leave the website - this is what users experience when they access the re-launched www.krone. com homepage. After months of planning, collecting material and implementing, KRONE now offers the up-to-date and attractive Internet presence which one can expect of a telecommunications company. Besides the web page of the KRONE Group, corporate communications has completely re-designed the KRONE Germany and additionally the EMEA presence. Our partner in implementing these pages was the Plenum New Media firm which a newspaper recently rated as one of the 20 most creative agencies. Apart from a new concept and new contents, many sub-items were given a much larger content. The graphic layout and the possibility to access even the fifth sub-level by a mouse click are brand new features. The new web- master enables us to update, improve and amend contents at any time. The next steps to come in- clude the presen- tation of a large portion of our pro- ducts from the digital library, as well as integration of an e-commerce solution. ape ■ The Ministry of Communications, Information Tech- nology and Arts has honoured KRO- NE Australia. This award is given to companies with outstanding achievements in the IT sector. ■ KRONE France won a LambdaNET contract for optical-fibre, copper and coaxial cables for First Mark’s transport network with a contract volume of around DM 1.8 million. Germany E DITION 3-2000 / P AGE -4- KRONE R EPORT Junior on the top The monthly profit of JUNI- OR KRONE rose 274%. When the 1999 annual accounts were presented, it became clear that the junior company has become an important service company which recorded revenue of some DM 4,000 for product sales and DM 14,600 for services. Sales increased because the KRO- NE GmbH departments recognised the fact that JUNIOR KRONE is a cost-effective supplier (DM 18 to 25 per hour). The market for products already on offer for some time - such as the “Berlin clock” - is saturated, whilst new products - such as “Roll a 6” - turned out to be best-sellers. 16 games were sold within four months. The enormous demand could be satisfied only in part, because the top priority of the trainees is “Education counts more than the Junior Company”. Sebastian Lehmann Our closure production at Gladbeck was shut down at the end of June. This unfortunately meant that many colleagues lost their jobs because the new owner of the production facilities at Gladbeck is not planning any further production activities there. KRONE will nevertheless continue to offer closures because they are an inseparable part of a complete supplier’s product range. Closures are the connecting elements for outdoor cables and will from now on be offered from the RXS/Corning Cable product range as shrinkage or mechanical closures bearing the KRONE logo. Shrinkage closures, which are almost exclusively used for copper cables, as well as mechanical closures protect and cover the wires once splicing has been completed. The physical and chemical properties of the material must be comparable to those of the cable sheath. Mechanical closures are used in copper networks primarily for high-pair (several thousand pairs) cable connections and branches. They are increasingly used in optical-fibre networks which are becoming more and more dominant as this application forbids the use of shrinkage closures because of the high temperature exposure due to the gas flame during the shrinking process. Parallel to these two closure types, we will offer our mechanical ECCON ® closures, particularly for optical-fibre applications. The new owner of the plant will act as an OEM supplier [Official End Manufacture] of the necessary parts which will then be completed to marketable closures under KRONE’s control. This is currently already done for a bulk order by TELMEX in Mexico. In Berlin, 3000 ECCON ® -SMPC 1-OF closures will be assembled and completed. Future orders of this type can be handled in the same way. vr In July, the first of a regular series of innovation days was held in Berlin. Mr. Axel Kahsnitz reported on the situation of markets, on strategies and visions for the profit centre Germany. Mr. Ulrich Winkler explained the use of an innovation map for selecting and shaping ideas or integration in the existing “ENP” (introduction of new products) development process. Thereafter, teams with around twelve members each from all areas of the factory in Berlin were set up for the AccessNET (copper), PremisNET (copper) and Fiber Optic areas. These teams are to convene for furt- her meetings and are expected to present work results. This pool is to help evaluate and find product ideas. Market prospects, customer benefits and implementation are discussed at the same time. The results will be presented to and discussed in a larger circle at quarterly innovation meetings. A strategy check was carried out already in 1999 during a two-day innovation meeting. As a result of this, a strategy room was set up in the future factory last autumn based on the KRONE UK model and supported by KRONE UK. This room is divided into the AccessNET, PremisNET, Fiber Optic and Services areas and serves as a methodological aid for the strategic orientation of the next four years. uw Think tank for new products Strategies for AccessNET ■ KRONE UK is to equip the cor- porate headquar- ters of Glaxo SmithKline where 3,000 people are located with the largest TrueNet installation world- wide so far. The order value to- tals around DM 10 million. Closures for Mexico News! Masterhead KRONE Report Information for the staff Publihed by: KRONE GmbH, Corporate Communication Beeskowdamm 3-11 D – 14167 Berlin, Germany Fon: +49-30-84 53 1701 Fax: +49-30-84 53 1355 krone.report@krone.com Redaktion: Arne Petersen, Internal Communications, and the editorial team International Sales AccessNET (ISAN) was founded in 1999 and is headed by Heinz Treudler, who in turn is supported by Colin Oakey. However, in reality, every person within the KRONE Group, who participates in the sale of AccessNET solutions, is by right, part of ISAN. The role of the function is part strategic, and part operational support. As an international function ISAN relies heavily on the commitment and ongoing support of its regional co-ordinators who are: Bill Mills (America), Dave Anderson (Asia Pacific), Uwe Hanelt (EMEA), Werner Grimm (Germany), Mike Parker and Mike Williams (UK). From a corporate sales standpoint ISAN contributes to strategic issues such as: Product Migration, Key Account Management, integration of Automatic Cross-connection systems and Cable & Wire Activities. The objective of which is to position KRONE more effectively in the Global Market place, along with a more comprehensive portfolio of AccessNET solutions. From an operational position ISAN provides a platform, and forum for discussion, for the Inter- national KRONE community. This extends itself to harnessing the collective competence and expertise of KRONE in a focussed manner, thus ensuring that customer focus is maintained at all times - the credo of ISAN is to ‘Think Global, but to Act Focal’! ISAN as a working group meets on a ‘need to meet’ basis to discuss issues of importance. The most recent meeting was held in the UK during June of this year. Participants were the co-ordinators mentioned above, representatives from Marketing and Product Management, KRO- NE GmbH, Berlin, and a number of guest speakers from British Telecom, and Con-X Cor- poration. Meetings are structured so as to maintain a balance of content, with tangible result being the main priority. The next ISAN meeting will be held in Sep- tember of this year. The main topic of discussion will be the strategic and tactical approach for dealing with the management of Global Key Accounts. Colin Oakey Germany ■ KRONE Indonesia and PT Telkom agreed upon a concerted education pro- gram in the first instance for one year. KRONE will equip eight trainee center with the necessary technics. News! . Masterhead KRONE Report Information for the staff Publihed by: KRONE GmbH, Corporate Communication Beeskowdamm 3- 11 D – 14167 Berlin, Germany Fon: +49 -30 -84 53. 3- 11 D – 14167 Berlin, Germany Fon: +49 -30 -84 53 1701 Fax: +49 -30 -84 53 135 5 krone. report @krone. com Redaktion: Arne Petersen, Internal Communications, and