Managing Partner and CEO, Schüco International KG
Metallhandwerk 6.2017: Interview mit Andreas Engelhardt von Schüco
Profilsysteme: Wie spart der Metallbauer Nerven und Zeit? Wie kann er seinen Betrieb wachsen lassen? Wie sieht innovative Kundenberatung aus? Sehen Sie im Interview, was der geschäftsführende Gesellschafter von Schüco, Andreas Engelhardt, antwortet.
About Andreas Engelhardt
Andreas Engelhardt, Managing Partner and CEO of Schüco International KG, has been promoting the company's "Value Up" campaign, which focuses on building renovation and circular construction. In a March 2025 interview, he described existing buildings as "the raw material depots of the future" and stated that Schüco offers solutions ranging from minimally invasive improvements to full circular deconstruction and recycling. He emphasized that collaboration with metal fabricators is essential for the industry's development and that he personally works on developing a logistical system for taking back and recycling installed materials. Engelhardt has also discussed his background and political views. In a February 2025 podcast, he noted that he became personally liable partner of Schüco with a secondary school leaving certificate and described the role as involving unlimited personal liability. He has criticized Germany's high construction costs, stating that "37% are state-induced." Regarding sustainability, Engelhardt has long advocated for Cradle to Cradle principles, arguing in 2017 that products should be developed to "100 percent go back into the cycle" and that Germany should use Cradle to Cradle as an "export hit." He has also called for public procurement to prioritize sustainability over lowest-price bidding.
Transcript (19 segments)
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Andreas Engelhardt0:00
We support the metal fabricator with complex work processes in their operations. For us, it's important that we work individually with the metal fabricator and offer solutions regardless of whether it's a smaller, medium, or large operation. They decide what help they need—whether it's production planning and control, the entire production workflow, the machine park, logistics, or all digital capabilities, from goods receiving all the way to machine control. Importantly, we tailor these packages individually.
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Interviewer0:41
How important are workshops, training, and seminars for the fabricator?
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Andreas Engelhardt0:47
That is the be-all and end-all. The constant willingness to have your own team trained and to continue your education—whether using our facilities in-house or at the Schüco Campus—brings more quality and more security, and distinguishes the fabricator from others. That's a big topic for us, and that's why we want to double the capacities we currently provide.
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Interviewer1:11
What role does company size play when deploying the various Schüco services?
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Andreas Engelhardt1:18
That's an important point—individual solutions for small, medium, and large operations. We naturally want our customers to grow with us at every level, so that the small operation doesn't stand still but rather progresses within its capabilities and as it wishes. That's why the solutions we offer are precisely tailored to that.
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Interviewer1:38
Mr. Engelhardt, what new services are you planning for the fabricator?
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Andreas Engelhardt1:40
We want the fabricator to be able to focus on their core competence. We want to make their work easier with different service modules so that they are responsible for quality in production and on the construction site. Everything in the daily routine that can be annoying—it costs time, data security—from design all the way to delivery, we want to make that easier through digital solutions. I always say it should come down to pressing a button: the paper or the data should be transmitted and secured.
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Interviewer2:14
How do you assess the importance of BIM for the facade builder?
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Andreas Engelhardt2:17
Very high—for facade construction, it's almost a must, but also a great opportunity, especially for architects and investors.
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Interviewer2:27
What role does your technology center play in your development and testing?
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Andreas Engelhardt2:33
Our technology center plays a very large role in the creation of our products because it ensures through extensive testing that the right quality is perceived at the right place. No product leaves our facility in series unless it has passed these numerous tests itself. By the way, we are also an independent testing laboratory—we could theoretically perform tests for third parties—but we are so busy with new products that we are fully occupied ourselves.
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Interviewer3:01
What significance do the Schüco showrooms have for you and your fabrication?
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Andreas Engelhardt3:05
We want to be close to the customer, close to the architect, close to whoever wants to experience our products live. That's why we do this internationally as well. Here at headquarters, where our heart is, the flagship store shows all products, all systems, all machines, all digital features—everything you'd find across the entire process chain. In our showrooms around the world, we mainly display our systems and products in application.
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Interviewer3:37
You are now also offering textile facades. What application possibilities do you see with that product?
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Andreas Engelhardt3:41
The textile facade is a complement to our entire system. We can very quickly, very easily, and with frequent changes alter the external appearance of a facade, all the way to printing with advertising or motifs. This gives the investor a very fast way to change a building, and the architect a great deal of design freedom.
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Interviewer4:10
What innovations will shape the facade industry in the coming years, and how will you respond?
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Andreas Engelhardt4:14
The largest surface on a building is the facade—the building's skin—and that skin will come alive. Facades will experience much higher and more intensive sensor capabilities, responding to environmental influences, to healthy living and working in the building, to fresh air exchange and ventilation, and to building automation that adjusts to internal and external conditions. The facade as the building's skin will have a high priority, and sensors will play an essential role.
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Interviewer4:51
How do you as a manufacturer handle your responsibility for the sustainability of your products?
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Andreas Engelhardt4:56
For us, sustainability is not a trend but an attitude. We are a family-owned company, and we have our own responsibility for how we handle our resources, how we produce, how we develop, how we live, and how we enable our employees to work. Our products and systems have the great fortune of using aluminum—a raw material that can be recycled repeatedly throughout its lifetime. We documented all these topics in our first voluntary CSR report, which we presented a few weeks ago. The emphasis is on voluntary, but we do it gladly because we want to take responsibility and be accountable. We also openly state where we are not yet where we want to be. When we reach those goals, they are verifiable, and we set an example. That's why it's especially important for us.