Report of the Supervisory Board of the MANN+HUMMEL Holding GmbH

Transform to perform

What do a tree and a (family-owned) business have in common? They grow. They change. They are part of entire ecosystems. They are deeply rooted. They provide a home. If they want to achieve something, they need to proceed strategically.

This list of attributes could go on and on. And yet there is a fundamental difference. A difference so big that it overshadows any nice analogy - loosely based on Gertrude Stein:

A tree is a tree is a tree.

No matter how hard it tries, a tree will always remain a tree and will never turn into a rose, for example. This may be extremely beneficial for a tree in its ecological niche, but it is fatal for a company. A company must constantly change in order to keep operating successfully and therefore sustainably.

That is why it is a misconception to think that today we are the first generation of companies and entrepreneurs that need to transform ourselves and our business. Let me remind you: MANN+HUMMEL’s roots are in the textile industry. A lot has changed since then.

What cannot be denied, however, is the sheer number and speed of changes we are currently facing. Their simultaneity and their fundamental nature may indeed have reached an unprecedented level.

If we look at the world from a Western perspective, we have to realize that this world is changing with an unknown intensity, which at least today’s generations have not yet experienced. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has begun to totter: fundamental certainties are suddenly no longer so certain. And this is eroding the basis of all the post-materialistic aspirations of recent decades. We are having to learn (again) that prosperity is not a given but has to be earned. If you want to put it drastically, you can also use the term “fought for.”

The big problem is that this insight has not yet been accepted across the board. This is where I believe companies and entrepreneurs have a duty: we need to move forward courageously and actively drive the change we want to see in the world.

However, it must be emphasized: We will not be able to do it alone. We need supporters, allies, and friends. We need understanding and trust. In and from politics and society. This is the only way to overcome rifts and achieve success together.

This requires the widespread realization that multidimensional transformations are here to stay. We need to be bold and willing to shape the future. Our future. We need to develop new products, new fields of business, and new markets. On the way there, however, we must not -  in the truest sense of the word - pull the plug on ourselves! We need energy at affordable prices, we need qualified young talent, we want and need to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization, and we need efficient social systems but not social transfer systems.

And for what? As an end in itself? Certainly not.

Nothing less than the future of our environment, our societies, and our economies is at stake. ESG, if you like. Or: real sustainability. On the way to a sustainable future, however, we must not make the mistake of prioritizing one of the aforementioned pillars out of misunderstood or ideological activism. Genuine sustainability is a triad. And a good triad is harmonious, balanced, in equilibrium.

This brings me back to my introductory words: a tree is a tree is a tree. It is a triad as well. But even though it reads well, it is imbalanced, one-sided, and therefore not very forward-looking.

We are aware that we as a company cannot be like a tree. We have to constantly change and transform in order to perform successfully. Or as Henry Ford once said: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Not very tempting.

We have to change and we want to change in order to be sustainably successful. Not only today, but also in the future. We have been following this path of transformation for many years and we will not tire of continuing to do so with great enthusiasm and full commitment. At MANN+HUMMEL, we are convinced that filtration in all its different varieties and applications is a key technology for the 21st century and we are happy to provide it.

We transform to perform.

Ludwigsburg, May 2024

Thomas Fischer

Chairman MANN+HUMMEL Holding GmbH