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Interview with Hans-Julius Ahlmann, Managing Partner of the ACO Group
“A company is always about bringing tradition and modernity together.”
During The Ocean Race Europe, the "Carmelan", a traditional sailing ship that was restored with the help of ACO and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, will be moored at the Reventloubrücke. Hans-Julius Ahlmann, partner at ACO, tells us about this almost personal connection and what a traditional ship and a family business have in common. Through swarm intelligence, philosophical skills and the value of "enthusiasm", we come to the really important thing: Make the world a better place.
Hans-Julius Ahlmann
Managing Partner of the ACO Group
The "Carmelan" and ACO have a close connection. How did this liaison between a family business and a traditional sailing ship come about?
Almost 30 years ago, the Carmelan pulled up on our shore and moored there. Unlawfully. As the owner of the shore, I was furious and shouted over: "What are you doing here?" But the man on board was so nice and the boat so beautiful that we became friends within minutes. I then built a jetty so that the Carmelan could be moored there and she became a landmark of our company, even though she didn't belong to us. When the husband died, the daughters wanted to part with the ship after 20 years and we seized the opportunity. It was already pretty rotten, but we took it over because we didn't want to lose our longstanding landmark here. So it's a close connection, an almost personal connection that we have.
I see an analogy between a traditional sailing ship that is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology and a family business with a long tradition that now offers watertech solutions at the very highest technical level.
That's a very nice analogy. Of course, you have to make sure that you're not - metaphorically speaking - a family business with a Southwester on your head and an old captain's pipe in your mouth. A company is always about bringing tradition and modernity together. Such a parable certainly has its charm.
Family businesses do not think in quarters, but plan for generations. There is often a close bond between employees and the company. Of course, this has to do with leadership and attitude, or as they say in northern Germany: "The fish stinks from the head." Are family businesses the better companies when it comes to long-term planning and maintaining jobs?
This cannot be generalised, because it depends on the quality of the family entrepreneurs and their succession. But if they are good family entrepreneurs and the succession is well organised, you can probably say that. I am firmly convinced of that. However, if the succession plan becomes difficult for a variety of reasons - for example due to disputes in the next generation, which is often enough the case - then family businesses are the worse companies. The question now is: How much worse and how much better are there? I believe that the majority are the better companies.
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The "Carmelan" at the pier of the ACO company in Büdelsdorf - at The Ocean Race Europe in Kiel she is moored at the Reventloubrücke
There was once a nice headline for the Unternehmer magazine: "Managers manage something, entrepreneurs do something".
I think that fits this picture. In addition, a family business and its owners, if it is lucky, remain in one place for generations. This bond with the location becomes stronger and stronger over time. Grandparents and great-grandparents have already founded and built something in this place: a retirement home, a psychiatric ward or, as in our case, a museum and NordArt, which is now one of the largest art exhibitions in Europe. This bond leads to something that people in the region like. They feel secure and think: "They belong to us." Unlike large corporations, family businesses are spread across the whole of Germany. They are not just in Berlin, Frankfurt or Munich. They are based in Künzelsau, Mettlach or Büdelsdorf. These cities are incredibly enhanced and made more liveable by family businesses.
Incidentally, NordArt is also mentioned in another ACO article on this Storydeck, which is about visibility in the region.
NordArt would not exist if there were no family business here, that much is certain. We are also home to the Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. It wouldn't exist here either without a family business that says: "We'll renovate the old timber merchants' hall for three million." Family businesses are incredibly valuable in the region and in smaller towns. If you think about inheritance tax regulations, that can be a problem.
This can mean that these families are unable to pass the business on to the next generation. They then don't dare to take on the inheritance tax burden because they say: "I might go under." Then the company is sold and the registered office is suddenly in Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin. And then, of course, the company is hollowed out and can no longer develop its strength in the region. In other words, inheritance tax law is changing Germany sociologically. But now we've strayed too far from the topic. Interesting nonetheless.
“We are part of this international network and utilise the entire intelligence of this network. This is swarm intelligence.”
Hans-Julius Ahlmann
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Let's move on to the element that Carmelan and ACO have in common: Water. At ACO, it is rainwater. It all began with the gutter, which simply drains off water volumes, to put it simply. Today, ACO speaks of "Collect, Clean, Hold, Reuse" – the WaterCycle. How did this development come about?
That was about 15 years ago. It's not as if we just sit here in Büdelsdorf and put our heads together. We are fortunate to be a transnational network, which means that our intelligence is based in England. It is based in the USA, in France, in Switzerland, in the Czech Republic, it is based everywhere. We don't have a board in Rendsburg that knows everything and dictates everything. In other words, we are part of this international network and utilise the entire intelligence of this network. This is swarm intelligence.
The idea for the WaterCycle came from our English company. England started very early with rainwater management and also introduced legislation much earlier than in Germany. Germany is only now starting to wake up. We developed this together over two or three years and then the time came when various products and solutions were produced in Germany. In this respect, we had "the best of both worlds", so to speak: the philosophical thinking in England and the production here in Germany.
In front the traditional sailing ship, in the background the traditional family business
I can't judge the philosophical skills here on site, but I can judge the enthusiasm and the enthusiasm of all the team members. That is truly amazing.
Yes, we have also made this enthusiasm our motto. We have always had discussions about the corporate culture. It is important to keep sharpening the culture and the terminology. We have always worked with English terms, jokes and sayings. Now it was time once again to agree on something concise and clear. We got to the heart of the matter: "Closeness, enthusiasm, courage and groundedness". This is still very fresh, only two weeks old. It's actually easier to remember three terms, but we couldn't get by with that. If we say "enthusiasm", then we have to be enthusiastic - and we are.
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That's how I perceive it too. There's a saying: "Water always finds a way." Isn't it somehow in the genes of the watertech company ACO to always find a way?
ACO always finds a way. As already described, the use of swarm intelligence is typical for us. I don't think that's common everywhere. We brainstorm a lot, even across departments, countries and hierarchical levels. I think that's where we are stronger. We also have very short decision-making paths and sometimes take a left or right turn, which is simply quicker. We are not a heavy tanker with supervisory boards and so on. We can therefore quickly implement decisions that we think are right. And yes, we always find a way.
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“You see us everywhere: in Mexico City on Zócalo Square or in New York on Staten Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands. We encounter someone who knows this all over the world, almost penetratingly.”
Hans-Julius Ahlmann
The interesting thing is that everything they do is underground and therefore invisible. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once had the "Little Prince" say: "What is essential is invisible to the eye." This certainly doesn't always make things easy, especially in the field of marketing.
That's right, we do indeed face this challenge. When people ask us: "Where do you work?", most people understand "Arco" and think we make chocolate. This is a consumer product, you can see and taste it. Our products and our values are not easy to see, but our company logo is. Once people have tasted blood, they see ACO on the floor of our products in Bermuda or Bali.
This is not at all the case with many highly technical or impressive products. Think of anaesthesia machines, for example. You only see "Dräger" when you are already in intensive care. You see us everywhere: in Mexico City on Zócalo Square or in New York on Staten Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands. We encounter someone who knows this all over the world, almost penetratingly. If you have small children or, as in my case, grandchildren who throw themselves on their stomachs from the age of three and look for ACO, then you are suddenly right at the front of the queue.
I admit, I too have been looking at the ground for a long time ... Is it sometimes an advantage for family businesses and so-called hidden champions to not always be in the limelight?
Yes, of course. Do you know Managermagazin? The magazine only lives from that. They blow up everything that is sometimes bad in the big companies into a story. As a hidden champion, we are not threatened by this because we are not approached. But if you come from the industry and want to solve problems that we solve, then we are the champion and anything but "hidden". Professor Hermann Simon, who coined this term, compiled lists of hidden champions in his book. When he visited us two or three years after the first list, he included us in his second list. In this respect, we are not a hidden champion of the first hour, but of the second. (laughs)
“How do you communicate ‘Make the world a better place’? It's a lot of work and you don't sell any more.”
Hans-Julius Ahlmann
Things will be a little different at The Ocean Race Europe: ACO will be very much in the spotlight as a premium partner. The "Carmelan" will be moored at the Reventlou Bridge and the ACO WaterDome will be erected on the bridge. Several hundred thousand people are expected to visit the Ocean Live Park, where they will be able to experience ACO up close. What other ways is the company using to publicise its own work and the attitude behind it?
On the one hand, these are the tools that have become commonplace today, such as the Internet and social media. However, when Mrs Woldag-Schwauna took over the management of marketing, we caught two big fish in the net. On the one hand, we were appointed UNESCO ambassador for the UN Sustainable Development Goal SDG6 "Clean Water and Sanitation". On the other hand, we are an official partner of the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, which was also launched by UNESCO and the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO). We have also produced a very nice image film for this, which can be seen on our company website in the Storydeck. This has also enabled us to establish a close connection with GEOMAR in Kiel, which is one of the reasons for our partnership with Ocean Europe. All of this is one thing, but we have to be careful that we don't become too detached and distance ourselves too far from the general public.
On the other hand, the question arises as to how we can enter a sphere of communication in which we can present our stance and document our benefits for the world. How do you communicate "Make the world a better place"? It's a lot of work and you don't sell any more. But we can promote our company's attitude in this non-material area very well.
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I can imagine that it can help in the search for new employees, as they are increasingly looking to work for companies that take responsibility.
Yes, they pay attention to that. They call it "purpose" these days. The younger generation in particular attaches great importance to this. We have already received an application about our partnership and our publications for the Ocean Race Europe.
If I were to ask someone from your company: "What do you think is great about ACO?", what answer do you think I would get?
(laughs) You can read about it on Kununu. All the answers are there, and we also check it regularly. But I can tell you what the majority here think is good: There is a certain focus. It's the sense of security they find here in the "family" of their colleagues. This is simply a team in which people feel comfortable. The employees feel comfortable or even very comfortable in this environment. We are already looking forward to receiving more applications.
© ACO – Interview: Ralf Löwe / sonofasailor.de
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