INTERSCHUTZ 2022 | Live-Talk mit den Vorständen der Deutschen Messe AG und der Drägerwerk AG

Welcome to the eighth edition of Mission Safety Digital, live from Hall 27 at Intershutz in Hanover. Great that you're with us again. For those who are new: the stream you are watching is being recorded; you can join again later and watch it again. We want to communicate with you, so use the chat functions available on your stream page to share your ideas, feedback, and questions. Today we have the CEOs of Deutsche Messe AG and Drägerwerk AG, Mr. Dräger and Dr. Köckler, here on screen. At the moment you see the timeline for the coming week, until Saturday evening. We'll be broadcasting here until 4 PM, with many exciting topics. We're glad you're already here in such numbers. We want to start with a poll to prepare this live stream well. I ask the director to show the poll box. We want to know from you: will digitalization sustainably change the fire department, the workplace, etc.? You see the questions on your screen, you can also use your phone with the QR code. I'll leave it up for a moment so we get as many answers as possible. We discussed this in the studio in the preliminary meeting, and we're curious about the result because there are certainly different pictures. We'll also hear from Raimund Bücher from the German Fire Protection Association later. In the background, you can already see the activity at our Dräger stand in Hall 27, where we'll switch to shortly. But you know this format: every morning at 10:30 we have an exciting topic, and it always starts with a social media update with Nele. I'm already looking over at Nele, who is there. She always brings interesting guests. Now I'll go over to the nice sitting area and say to you, Nele, good morning.

Good morning, Werner. I'm glad I can be here every morning. With our café we can start. Yesterday I was a bit disappointed - yesterday I wanted to have a studio guest at noon, but we didn't have one here, but incredible stands. How does it look today? Well, today we have someone with us: Jan-Erik Hegemann from the Feuerwehrmagazin. Hello, Jan-Erik, nice that you're here.

Hello Nele, thank you for having me. I'd like to show a photo, the picture of the day. Perhaps we can show it and I can tell you what we see. We see the glass editorial office of the Feuerwehrmagazin here on the exhibition grounds, right in the middle of Hall 27. We created the trade fair newspaper there, for the first time. It's really live here on site, from our insights from visiting the stands, demonstrations, expert programs, etc. Great.

Exactly, on our table next to the pretzels you can already see the trade fair magazine. We got it today, hot off the press. It comes out every two days. We have three editions for the six trade fair days, always for two days. Tomorrow will come the one for Friday and Saturday, which is 32 pages strong, while the other two were 24 pages each. We had the ambition to make the best trade fair newspaper ever, because often these newspapers have little value for readers. It was important to us to give tips and tricks - what's worth seeing, what's new among the huge range. With limited time, it can help to not miss anything and not regret later.

Now I have a burning question before we go to tomorrow's topic. Jan-Erik, the Intershutz is finally back after seven years. We'll soon hear from Dr. Köckler about how it all went. How do you feel about the fair itself, and especially the journey there? That was quite exciting.

The journey was very bumpy. Almost everyone knows that at the beginning of the year it was very close - it was really not sure if it would take place. They held on through the pandemic, the Ukraine war, many obstacles. Ultimately, the decision was made to go ahead. I have to say that Dräger also had a certain standing, and Heike Mußmann from Rosenbauer must definitely be mentioned. They clearly said we stand by the fair. I think the decision was absolutely right. Anyone walking through the halls sees only happy faces. I've been to a few fairs, even if you can't tell, and it's really true. Usually there are always some who grumble, but I haven't met any here. People are really happy that the fair is happening. I think we did everything right.

Now we want to prepare the conversation with the two CEOs. Can we show the poll results? The question to our viewers was about digitalization. You can see the advantages for rescue teams. Digitalization is digitalizing everything possible. But not to that extent, Jan-Erik. How do you see it? Does this result surprise you? You are here every day and discuss many digital topics with customers and suppliers.

I definitely believe in it. There are examples like robotic vacuum cleaners - you know if you're at home, the fire department doesn't know. Many household appliances are digitalized, or your coffee machine knows you haven't used it for seven days, so you're probably on vacation. The fire department comes and doesn't know all these things. Through digitalization, you have the chance to know these things: how many people live there, maybe one is registered but seven live there. The mobile network operator knows, the fire department doesn't. These are all insights that can come together in the digitalization age, where the fire department really has advantages.

Then let's go down to the hall now. But before I hand over to Kim, you have to tell me: we've met every morning here. Tomorrow we'll meet again. What do you have for tomorrow? Tomorrow is already Friday, the penultimate day. Who would have thought it goes by so fast? But tomorrow I'll bring another exciting picture of the day. I'm looking forward to coffee tomorrow. But tomorrow we also need to talk about numbers - I'm really interested in which topics went down well. But we'll have a big recap on Saturday. For now, thank you both for being here this morning. You have to go back to the glass editorial office to get the newspaper out on time. Dr. Köckler has a great interest in that. I'll go back to my usual workplace. Thank you.

And we'll see if Kim is already present with our two CEOs down there.

Yes, I'll hand over to Kim. I'm looking forward to an exciting conversation with our two guests. Kim, please.

Thank you, Werner, and greetings to the Dräger Intershutz studio. You said it right: I have high-level guests here today. With me at the stand is Dr. Köckler from Deutsche Messe AG. Welcome, nice that you're here.

Gladly, thank you.

And he takes Stefan Dräger, CEO of Drägerwerk AG, with him. Nice that you also took the time to be with us today. It's a pleasure. I would say your time is short, so let's start right away. Actually, we wanted to remove 'corona' from our vocabulary, but we heard in the studio that it's still present for all of us. How was it for you, Dr. Köckler, when the fair was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic? It's actually the class reunion, an absolute special situation.

We first postponed the industrial fair in March 2020 after 75 years, or 73 years, and then canceled it. We kept hoping we could do a fair quickly. Now we realize that only when you have a situation with a variant that doesn't cause so many severe illnesses can you do a fair with a clear conscience. Especially Intershutz, as Hegemann from the Feuerwehrmagazin just said, who has followed us as a neutral journalist. It's his job to ask critical questions: will it take place or not? There were arguments against it, especially in this hall. But we can all be very proud that we set up a tent camp for refugees so that they could feel welcome here from the first moment. There were other arguments. I am very grateful. First of all, a big thank you to Mr. Dräger, as was already said, and to Rosenbauer here in the hall, a company that always said: if we have the chance to have Intershutz, let's think in opportunities, not risks. It was very tight. Now on the first day, I was still unsure how many visitors would come. We have great internationality, we have the joy of people meeting again. Intershutz is simply rescuers, helpers, a very special clientele. So a roller coaster ride. Now I hope it's not just a roller coaster, but with a view to Intershutz 2026. You can't see it, but I've been involved in this topic for 12 years. We have a lot of politics here; I'm proud of our state government, the cabinet meeting, the minister is here every day, that we really tackle the topics and show that the fair works again. Despite that, we don't want to set an example that can't be followed. In the end, it's a mix: we will hybridize it. Those who can't be here, we need to bring the world together at one point, have the relevant topics, inspire people in the halls, and stream them. So a great relief, as you can see on my face. And a huge thank you to those who believed in us. We are only platform makers; we can't do it without the exhibitors.

That's a nice statement. Thank you, Mr. Dräger. We work for the same target groups: fire department and rescue service. How did you, Dräger, experience it when Intershutz was canceled in 2020, the most important fire department fair in the world, which only takes place every five years? When it had to be canceled, we were very sad. Not only because the stand team had already worked towards it and prepared everything, but also because of the much greater impact on our entire innovation pipeline, as we call it, the roadmap and product development timelines. They are aligned so that we want to set off a big fireworks of innovations and novelties that are shown to the public for the first time. Then we sat there and thought: what do we do now? We can't wait arbitrarily long. Maybe a year, but not indefinitely. So we had to see how to deal with it. Overall, I would say the main thing was composure. We have to take some things as they are and work on the things we can influence. In our over 130-year company history, we have come through many crises. So we first had to see how to proceed.

How did you personally approach it, Mr. Dräger? The pandemic also caused changes in the personal environment, work life changed. What changed for you personally?

How was it for you? You just said you are the platform provider here, the class reunion. What did that do to you personally, Dr. Köckler?

Clearly, for us the business situation was dramatic. You can't say it any other way. Contact restrictions are the opposite of bringing people together. For almost three quarters of a year, we could hardly generate any sales. Like many trade fair companies, we are owned by the city and state. So I personally quickly sought exchange. There is often policy bashing, but in Lower Saxony and Hanover it's great because we are a true trade fair city. Everyone knows what they have in the fair, regardless of party affiliations. Then we carried out a restructuring, completely reorganized our company, and tried many digital things. I can only recommend that to everyone. That's why we are now back with physical fairs because our attempt to make the Hanover Fair purely digital with 1,800 exhibitors and 90,000 participants, in the end, the chairman of the advisory board said, 'You were great in Hanover, never do it again.' So what we are doing now with digital supplements is excellent, but at its core it doesn't work. And for me personally, I, like many, came into the trade fair business by chance as a project manager. I ran the agricultural fair here for 13 years, which grew tremendously after the expansion of Eastern Europe. Everyone wanted to buy agricultural machinery here. Now I'm in my 11th year on the board. Great humility: what we are experiencing here today is not a given. Maybe I had thought Intershutz 2020 would be okay, you just do it. But the advantage is that I had to travel a lot, and suddenly I had no business trips. I used that to focus much more intensely. And what I had to learn is that we had to make many unpopular decisions. As a CEO in such a crisis situation, you are responsible for ensuring a future. I had to learn that in a restructuring you have to implement the right decisions consistently. We had great temporary consulting in-house, and I am grateful for the backing of the shareholders. But humility and gratitude that it's starting again now.

There are also opportunities. What changes in the world of work would you define as opportunities for your employees?

Very clearly, we learned very quickly to use digital tools to work together. We also learned in the interaction between employee representatives and employers that we can use them correctly. We now have a state-of-the-art company agreement on mobile working. I'm still a bit old-fashioned; I feel most comfortable when everyone is there. But if you're honest, it's only about the results. What matters is that the fair is successful. How you do it is an advantage. Regarding travel, I'm not so pessimistic about fairs. I'm on many committees; if it makes sense, we do an online vote, very focused. But to integrate new people, you will always have to meet. But overall, we will be more resource-efficient and sustainable, use more digital things. So the pandemic as an accelerator of change, and we have to shape it. We notice that demographics, not just at airports, also with us, mean personnel shortages. We will have to be very agile in our thinking. And we have responsible tasks, we have to be that, and that makes it fun in the end. We have to shape the future and take it into our own hands. I see many opportunities: that you no longer come to the office when you could be at home, but then work very consciously in teams in the office. So we will have a big change in the world of work, certainly different from production. As platform makers, communicators, service providers, there will be many positive things. And we also have to be an attractive employer so that young talents want to come to us.

How did we at Dräger deal with it when the pandemic started? Can you describe the world of work and what opportunities arose for us at Dräger?

Yes, I remember that very well. It was a smooth transition. MS Teams still allows us to stay in contact with everyone. Video telephony is something new that we couldn't have imagined 3-4 years ago. The topic of digitalization is a good keyword. On Monday we had Raimund Bücher from the German Fire Protection Association here at the stand and did a short interview with him. We recorded a video; let's watch it now.

We all already live digitalization. If 15 years ago someone said we could receive emails with our smartphone and do our conversations online or via Twitter, that would have been unthinkable. We live with it. Life is becoming digital. We will have to adapt. Not everything can be digitalized. For us specifically, digitalization in the broadest sense means applying digitalization where it brings process benefits, where it brings gains, where it brings relief. Then yes, but not just for the sake of digitalization.

We only saw half of the video, but maybe you can still briefly say how your companies deal with digitalization in general. Perhaps you can start, Dr. Köckler.

Clearly, for us it has two components: first, using digitalization within the company. I try to be a role model. I'm here for six days walking around the grounds with only my smartphone. The briefing is all in there, I press a button and it works wonderfully. That saves paper and is faster. My team doesn't need to prepare it. Even for committee meetings, we have decided that our supervisory board documents are sent digitally. That's one thing. I always appeal that it has nothing to do with age but with attitude: you should use what you use privately. For me, it's a positive aid. And we need discipline when we all only use digital tools. That's very positive. For our business, it's even more important: we must follow very closely. Intershutz is a classic world-leading trade fair. How can we supplement with digital tools? On the one hand, as I discussed with Mr. Dräger beforehand, because of the relevance and the seven years and in the future defined intervals of four or five years, to really bring an industry together at one point. That can be prepared digitally, extended digitally during the event. Since we are a stock corporation and a commercial enterprise, we also have to consider how to make money from it. At the industrial fair, we had 15,000 digital tickets, still free of charge. So someone from quarantine in Shanghai could follow the latest developments in automatic assembly or other discussions. So it's a huge topic for us. And I personally use LinkedIn a lot because of that. I only started it five years ago when our digital officer forced me to get an iPhone and LinkedIn. He said, 'Otherwise you can't digitalize.' Many thanks to Michael Müller, who wrote that in my book. At the time, I thought I needed a Blackberry with a thumb keyboard and that social media was for people with no appointments. If I wanted to reach Mr. Dräger, I could do it within a week by calling. But I use LinkedIn to learn how digitalization works. And if you look at how active we are as role models for our colleagues, that's great. The whole world can experience it. We do it that way. There will be ups and downs, maybe new networks will appear, but for us it's a huge topic that will be part of our lives. We should be positive and optimistic. I am grateful for the things that exist because they make my work life much easier.

What we are doing here also has to do with digitalization: a hybrid event format, something new that emerged from the pandemic. How does Dräger approach digitalization?

Thank you for both statements. Now we come to the conclusion. I would like to know: what was your most beautiful Intershutz experience, perhaps from the past or what you have experienced today?

I must confess that I attended Intershutz for the first time in 2015. It was already great to see how fire trucks were heading here on the high road. It's really a big class reunion of firefighters. I saw a familiar face in the outdoor area: a lawyer from the employers' association in Lübeck, in whose board I serve. He said, 'Oh, how nice to see you here. What are you doing here? How come? What is a lawyer doing on the fairgrounds?' He said, 'I am here as a volunteer firefighter from the Segeberg district to get an idea of the innovations that are moving us forward.' That was totally beautiful and unexpected. I still have it in mind, and I'm looking forward to what awaits me today.

And for you, what is your most beautiful Intershutz experience?

Thank you very much. It's still the class reunion here at Intershutz. We can say the first days have gone great. We are happy to be here and hope that we will have more beautiful and successful days. Thank you both for being here. Thank you for taking your valuable time. We are done here. I'll hand back to you, Dräger Intershutz studio.

Yes, thank you very much. That was really exciting from the studio, following this conversation. Honestly, the personal statements touched me. Really great to get a little closer to the board. Nice that they shared a bit personally. Kim, thank you for the moderation and preparation. We did it well. I can thank Nele and Jan-Erik for being here this morning. You have to go back to your glass studio now. We want to have a live edition for the next days. I can thank you all. The eighth edition of Mission Safety Digital has run. In the background you see the next step. We'll see each other here at 12:30 and then we want to protect the emergency forces. That fits perfectly with our claim: 'We protect you at all times in the fire department.' What that's about, we'll tell you at 12:30. This stream is available again on our platform for you to watch at your leisure. Please forward the emails, invite other people to this format. I think many information we send are exciting for others. Well, I'm almost done. I hope to see you at 12:30. My closing statement is always the same: password up.