Ideas do somersaults in the minds of Jenifer Horst, Sara Gramann and Sebastian Stolze. They captured the wild notions and marshalled them a year and a half ago. The trio had a plan, a business plan. And with this plan the trio scooped the market in all three phases of the business plan competition “ego.-BUSINESS” in 2011. Today the three young entrepreneurs are sitting in their own office and doing what they can do best in their film production company: transforming ideas.

Whoever looks for the firm “Vorlautfilm” on Brandenburger Straße inevitably has to pass many doors, behind which are many creative minds. Jenifer Horst, Sara Gramann und Sebastian Stolze have set up their studio in the immediate vicinity of the Magdeburg “Forum Gestaltung”, a nucleus of many innovative ideas. But this was not entirely without ulterior motives. “It is never boring with such neighbours”, explains Jenifer Horst.
Boredom does not apply to the “pert trio”. “We have to clash”, says Sara Gramann. And she means that literally. “It also gets loud if we have different opinions.” However, something creative usually emerges when the argument is over. “Well, human warmth emerges through friction”, says Gramann and grins. It was like that in the course of academic studies.
The three became acquainted while studying journalism and media management at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences. When they had creative arguments during a project, they thought “that it would be useful to expand that creativity”. Moreover, none of them had intended “to belong to the internship generation”. Today they are sitting in their own office. Below the window there is a red sofa. The furnishings include editing equipment, screen and computers.

The trio established the film and photo production company last summer and has had a lot to do since then. “Sometimes everything is going so well that we rub our eyes”, says Jenifer Horst. The State Chancellery commissioned “Vorlautfilm” with portraying Minister-President Reiner Haseloff (CDU) during the weekly video message that is broadcast in the YouTube Internet portal. They created an image film for the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. They have an eye on media education and are working on a concept for workshops and seminars which are intended to reach children and adolescents. They are currently negotiating new projects with other potential clients.

“Our company is based on three pillars”, explains Sebastian Stolze. Each of them is still sprouting. Films are the first pillar. They shoot image and corporate films. Documentaries and reportages shall be added later. Photography constitutes the second pillar: event documentations, production photography and press photos form the basis. And media education will be eventually added. “We do not want to beat around the bush with our knowledge”, they say self-confidently. They want to convey “practical aspects” and pursue questions like this: “How do children and adolescents deal with the flood of media?” Their studies benefit them in this context. “We are not only film students, but also have a journalistic background”, says Jenifer Horst. “Vorlautfilm” produces articles for print and online media, on a daily basis if required. SED cards are prepared for the film, theatre and fashion industry. “Vorlautfilm” utilises various photography techniques for photo projects. The trio produces for public and commercial media enterprises and has an eye on cross-media exploitation. The team offers seminars on “fundamentals of photography with digital single-lens reflex camera, pictorial design and post-processing” for adults. And they train course participants in terms of interview and argumentation techniques or video journalism.

“We are full of energy”, says Jenifer Horst. “We want to utilise this in a variety of ways.” The business plan with which they won all three phases of the “ego.-BUSINESS” state competition last year is now taking on a functional form. They utilise a self-established network so that they can think and go in many directions. Young people, narrators, sound studio proprietors and photographers are part of this network. While studying the trio became acquainted with important partners who can help them today. “Magdeburg was the only place for us to establish our company”, explains Sebastian Stolze. “Here we simply know quite a few good people, and here there is still much to do in the creative scene.”
And in the meantime, many creative minds in the region are aware of “Vorlautfilm”. The German word “Vorlaut” (pert) does not stand for finger lifting in a know-it-all manner”, say the two natives of Magdeburg and Sara Gramann, who moved here from Hessen. “Vorlaut stands for being different, for courage and clear visions.”

As the trio sought for and researched a name for the company at that time, there were countless firms with the adjunct “film”. But they wanted to set themselves apart from the very beginning “and not be like so many others”. Eventually the adjective “vorlaut” (pert) tumbled out while driving a car. “It was perfect because everything can be personalised”, remembers Sara Gramann. Anyway, all of them are “pert”, a textbook example in terms of being resolutely stubborn. It is no wonder that the three rub each other the wrong way. But something pertly creative usually emerges in the end.


Author/ photo: Manuela Bock

Contact:
Vorlautfilm GbR
Brandenburger Straße 9
39104 Magdeburg
E-mail: fragdoch@vorlautfilm.de
Web: www.vorlautfilm.com

It is only a few steps from the campus of the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau to the Bauhaus Building. The geographical proximity characterises the programme for the Department of Design, the educational institution established in 1993. With the world heritage building in the background it was easy to venture into new territory almost 20 years ago. “From the very beginning it involved an innovative educational concept”, says Prof. Brigitte Hartwig. Design in its various facets should be seen and taught holistically. Three platforms provide students with a basis for acquiring broad skills with comprehensive knowledge.

Prof. Hartwig mentions the main emphases on communication design, product design and media design. Despite their different orientation they shall be brought together and linked with each other through an interdisciplinary, broadly based fundamental education. The “Dessau Model” involves a form of generalist design education. The professor sees this as the advantage for the education. She is certain that this does not function throughout the Federal Republic as in Dessau.

This renders a noticeable gain in experience for the approximately 300 students. Whoever has graphic designer as a career goal can and should deal with product design. There is an opportunity to become acquainted with the latest trends of electronic media. In this context it appears to be perhaps incidental whether a person designs a short film or gets an advertising trailer off the ground. “Getting fit for the future counts”, says Prof. Hartwig. Cooperative projects of the three Department of Design platforms make it easier to find the holistic view.

Peter Weisbrich is studying in his seventh semester. He has retained his goal of becoming a graphic designer. The fact that the term “communication design” is very broadly conceived in Dessau particularly stimulates him. Quite extraordinary projects come into being there, relates the young man. A seminar entitled “homosexuality and music” preoccupied him for a whole semester. This incorporation of socio-political themes is “an advantage” that expands horizons. Such themes are not considered as merely an in itself.
The seminar results are to be published and appear soon as a magazine. Among other things, graphic ability once again plays a role in this context.

How does Weisbrich see his future work? “I would like to develop concepts, achieve something organisationally”, he says. He has developed a predilection and found his strengths due to the comprehensive offers of his university. Even while studying there are a vast number of possibilities to try things out. The idea for “VORORT” came into being with other fellow students. The catalyst for this campaign was the reduction of funds for the cultural domain in Dessau-Roßlau. A bank eventually provided a rent-free shop in the inner city near the city hall. The notion of utilising this as a working area for students had to be discarded. Instead, exhibitions, readings and other cultural activities have been offered there for nearly two years. A place for debates, exhibitions and encounters – i.e. a branch of the university in the heart of the Bauhaus city – emerged. The multidisciplinary and cross-thematic projects which students and teachers implement as well as how they take part in life and blend in are constantly visible there.

“We always react to current developments with our basic approach to studies. Particularly in terms of design there are constantly changing and reorienting solutions. Everything is in a state of flow. We want to prepare our students for this”, says Prof. Brigitte Hartwig. She thinks it is important that young people can open their mind and be made fit for a career. When equipped with all the necessary fundamentals they could be very proactive while seeking their place in the art scene. The project “Vom Sattel in die Kissen” (“From the saddle to the pillow”) is one example of this approach. It examined how a hotel for cyclists could be created in an old laundry. Theoretical exploratory works, computer visualisations and visions were incorporated in the project. Or the designer reported on innovative problem-solving approaches for touristic guidance systems. Simply “putting up a few signs” in the classical sense is the false approach. The university explored where guests arrive with which means of transportation for the region. Concepts which are now waiting on a realisation emerged on this basis. Such considerations are indispensable nowadays, assures Prof. Hartwig. It is important to think in scenarios, to actively develop cities. Agencies in Germany have started to take up these ideas and abandon trodden paths.

In the meantime, the integral whole is often combined with social design. Hartwig refers to Dessau as a shrinking city which shares this fate with other municipalities in the newly-formed federal states. Demographic causes are a catalyst for this trend, which has meanwhile also reached the first West German cities. Designers should also react to this. Visions for dealing with these trends should be developed in interdisciplinary collaborations, for instance with architects.

The six-semester Bachelor of Arts in the Department of Design at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences is conceived as an “integrated degree course in design”. This means that the three fields featuring communication design (2D), product design (3D) and time-based media (4D) will be offered within one course of studies. Through integration the students will learn to apply, combine and coordinate graphic, typographic, shape design, photographic, filmic, audio, interactive and general digital and technological means of design in different media.

The Master of Arts in Design (MID) degree course is intended for graduate young designers and bachelor graduates from creative disciplines. They shall utilise synergies from the integrated way of thinking and working in complex conceptual formulations in order to arrive at new and extraordinary solutions. In the international degree course, 30 women and men from the USA, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Thailand, Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Pakistan, China, Greece, Japan, Korea and Georgia (among others) are currently learning in Dessau. For them the Bauhaus in the city on the Mulde River with its inspirations is a bridge with worldwide importance which has its starting point in Saxony-Anhalt.


Author/ photo: Klaus-Peter Voigt

Contact:
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences
Department of Design
Schwabestraße 3
06818 Dessau-Roßlau

Prof. Brigitte Hartwig
ph: +49 340 5197-1735
E-Mail: b.hartwig@design.hs-anhalt.de
Web: www.design.hs-anhalt.de

Pope Benedict XVI praised the reformer Martin Luther as a “passionate God-seeker” during his visit to Germany last year. These words were broadcast all over the world from the St. Augustine’s Monastery in Erfurt by ARD radio and television. The audio signal and public address system for this purpose were realised by Media & Communication Systems (MCS) GmbH Saxony-Anhalt.

Since its inception MCS has been the technical operator of the radio and television sector at the MDR (Central German Broadcasting) state broadcasting centre in Magdeburg. But it is also becoming increasingly active in two other business segments, including MDR and ARD (First German Television) programming as well as major events beyond the organisational sphere of public law broadcast institutions.

MDR does not have its own production and studio technology – neither in the radio nor television sector – at its broadcasting centre in the state capital. The independent MCS Saxony-Anhalt company provides this technology on account as a professional, full-service partner. “We see ourselves as a broadcasting centre operating company”, says MCS Saxony-Anhalt managing director Dieter Sommerfeld in describing the firm’s function. According to Sommerfeld, in addition to news and magazine programmes, MCS is also able to produce quiz and small-scale entertainment broadcasting formats at the state broadcasting centre in Magdeburg, which features a 200 square metre studio, a 300 square metre performance area in the foyer, the television production and on-air control room as well as seven special editing suites. The MDR 1 Radio Saxony-Anhalt station is supervised 24 hours a day by MCS.

The company emerged through the outsourcing of MDR technical sectors at the end of the 1990s. Since then it has belonged to DREFA Media Holding GmbH (DREFA MSG), a wholly-owned MDR subsidiary. A thrust in effectiveness with regard to the utilisation of broadcast technology, outside broadcasting vans and studios ensued. In addition to economic effects, at the same time this enabled the possibility to utilise freelance employees for additional tasks, remembers Sommerfeld. He has been managing MCS since its inception in 1998. Such service companies also exist in Saxony and Thuringia. They have distinguished themselves in different ways. In its third business segment, MCS Saxony concentrates on the production of image films for industrial firms. The Erfurt-based specialists provide productions for children. In addition to their daily bread activities at the state broadcasting centre, the Magdeburg-based radio and television technicians have also specialised in organising technically complete major events and equipping them with proprietary sound, light and large-screen projection technology.

“This business has grown from year to year”, explains Sommerfeld, a certified electronics engineer. MCS can utilise its own high-quality technology for conferences with and without interpreters. Sommerfeld cites the 2010 Conference of Minister-Presidents in Magdeburg as an example of the capability in this sector. At the same time, MCS – together with its employees and its high-quality technology – has lived up to the highest demands. The managing director gladly refers to the use of MCS as a complete technical service provider. For instance, MCS provided services for two exhibition halls during the 33rd Protestant Church Congress in Dresden, for the Cinema for Peace Gala at the Berlin Concert Hall during the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and also for the meeting of the international tourism industry at the Germany Travel Mart in Rostock-Warnemünde. MCS also provided the sound system at the Hanse Sail maritime festival in Rostock or at a German armed forces grand tattoo ceremony in Magdeburg. Moreover, the company also offers sound level measurements according to DIN 15905-5 at major events. MCS not only has special technology, but is also certified for this purpose. While doing so, the company has to stand up to other providers in hard tendering competitions. “We are not cheap providers”, admits Sommerfeld. “We have cutting-edge technology, top experts and we provide a top-quality product. This all has its price. But we also provide top quality services”, assures the 65-year-old, who is retiring this summer.

The third business segment not only includes broadcast programmes supervised by MCS for Saxony-Anhalt, but also the overall programming produced for MDR or ARD. This includes the “Festival of Folk Music”, the “Riverboat” talk show, the daily show “MDR at Twelve”, the political talk show “Fact is…” from Magdeburg or the Saturday evening programme “Quickie – the fast-paced quiz”. In 2006 the service provider started to provide stage, light and sound technology for the North German Broadcasting (NDR) Summer Tours in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The annual nine events, each with up to 15,000 spectators, ran so well that a year later MDR Summer Tours were started according to the same model.

The private limited company fulfils all these tasks with 70 permanent employees and about 30 freelance employees. The staff members include cameramen, sound technicians, supervisory production engineers, master editors, IT administrators, event technicians and vision mixers. They annually generate a turnover of six to seven million euros. The strongly increased workload with the same number of personal is only manageable because the company has undergone crucial technical changes, among other things, says Sommerfeld. For instance, radio and TV contributions of any nature are edited without tape nowadays. “We only have tapes in the archives”, says the MCS boss. Moreover, continuous investments in the technical infrastructure are being made. In 2014, MDR will completely launch the HDTV standard, the abbreviated designation for high-definition television. Sommerfeld envisions that the technical basis must be completely converted for this purpose. But he advises his successor not to focus attention on technology, but on employees. “MCS is nothing without them”, he explains. That is also why considerable importance is attached to the training and development of film and video editors as well as event technicians or cameramen. Internships are offered for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree diploma candidates. Job positions had already resulted via engineering internships, says Sommerfeld. As a result, MCS appears to be as well-prepared for in-house business as for tasks within all of MDR as well as for the business with major events in other third markets.


Contact
Dieter Sommerfeld
MCS Saxony-Anhalt
Media & Communication Systems GmbH Sachsen-Anhalt
Stadtparkstraße 8
39114 Magdeburg
ph: 0391 539 24 00
E-Mail: Dieter.Sommerfeld@drefa.de
Web: www.mcs-sachsen-anhalt.de

If a book such as “Die drei Freunde” (“The Three Friends”) by Helme Heine is particularly popular among children, or an adventurer such as Marco Polo still keeps children in suspense, then this is also the stuff which his dreams are made of for animated cartoon film producer Tony Loeser. His firm MotionWorks has demonstrated expertise in the field of animation for almost 15 years. The films produced in the Halle studios are often created in co-production with foreign partners and have interested parties worldwide.

The predetermined time phases entered in the “Marco Polo” production plan are colourful. The plan hangs large in the office of the “creative economists”, as Tony Loeser describes his colleagues. They plan a production and then have to ensure that time and budget will be adhered to and the productions from MotionWorks will be finished in time, especially when it involves an international co-production such as with “Marco Polo”. The script is being written in Canada, and works on the 3D designs for the background are starting this month in Luxembourg. The Irish will be working on the animation. But first of all the pilot episode, the first of 26 “half-hour episodes” will be completed in Halle.

Tony Loeser leads into the “Marco Polo” workshop, past doors which lead to “Ringelgasse 19”, “little polar bear”, “Kikaninchen” the little blue rabbit or the three friends from “Mullewapp” (“Mollywoop”). Behind each of these doors is a specially compiled team that only takes care of this one animation film. Animation films are usually created on computer nowadays, i.e. on the digital sketch block. Yet it is hard to imagine animation production without artistic skill. The images are still handicraft in the truest sense of the word. It is just that the helpers are an electronic pen or a computer mouse.

Sketches are being diligently drawn in the Marco Polo nursery. The characters are born here. They take on shape here and learn their first footsteps. Graphic joints on which the animation can start are inserted so that they can move.

The style-determinant fundamentals are also researched here in the studio. In this case this involves the world in Marco Polo’s lifetime. After all, the characters – as well as how they look and how they dress – are supposed to fit in that era. The buildings as well as the everyday objects also have to be in keeping with the period. Then the researched models will be translated in the style of the series. This is aimed at eight to eleven year-olds. “They travel together with Marco Polo through his world and also take such a fascinating adventure journey into history”, says Tony Loeser. Well, is there no mobile phone in Marco Polo’s luggage? Loeser shakes his head. “We are rather conservative in our approach. The series shall also be running in 25 years.” That is why the graphic style of the series should above all be rather timeless, says Loeser.

In particular, the Little Sandman or Maya the Bee or naturally the Disney films prove that this works with children’s films. “For generations nothing has changed in the narrative structure for children”, says the experienced animated cartoon film producer knowingly. “The dramaturgies remain the same because children also remain the same. They are curious, full of imagination and enjoy stories told in a suspenseful manner.”

Tony Loeser – 58 years old and meanwhile himself a grandfather – had collaborated in children’s films as a film and television cameraman at DEFA and became self-employed after German reunification with the “Ostfilm” enterprise. Starting in 1998, because of the Central German Media Fund (MDM) in Leipzig he also established the “Mitteldeutsche Talentschmiede” (“Central German Talent Factory”), founded MotionWorks GmbH together with his colleague Romy Roolf, and then went to Halle – “not least because of advertising and due to the strong commitment of several people from Saxony-Anhalt”, says Loeser.

Up to then, the animation film genre was not a tradition here. “Many people grinned about us”, says Tony Loeser. In the meantime, MotionWorks ensures that Saxony-Anhalt – even the city of Halle – will be appreciated internationally in the film industry. Animated cartoon films are produced according to international standards on a high technical level as well as in terms of content. Several television stations are partners.

Tony Loeser decisively negates the question regarding whether partners for co-productions are sought via the Internet. This is a person-to-person business. “A production takes between three and five years”, says Loeser. That is it must be examined beforehand whoever makes such a long-term commitment. “This is like in a marriage. You also have to be willing to get through boisterous phases and partially difficult problems with each other. And yes, this concerted working time is also the lifetime of every single individual. You just do not want to get angry here.”

Tony Loeser looks over the shoulder of his Marco Polo co-director Lutz Stützner, more for the photo to go with this article than to control his work. Stützner is one of the old hands in the animation film business, but very new in the MotionWorks team. In addition, co-founder Romy Roolf – here as well as with other projects the executive producer – is a seasoned veteran in the business. With such experienced experts in the regular family of colleagues the company can also repeatedly obtain young people in order to bring fresh, healthy wind into the studios.

MotionWorks currently has 25 salaried employees and 50 to 80 freelancers, depending on the order situation.

Twelve designers are working on “Marco Polo” at the moment. There will be even more by the end of the production time in one and a half years. Then “Marco Polo” can be seen on the German “Children’s Channel” (KiKA). The series is an ARD/MDR co-production.


Author/photo: Kathrain Graubaum

Contact:
MotionWorks GmbH
Mansfelder Straße 56
06108 Halle/Saale
ph: +49 345 20569
E-mail: office@motionsworks.eu
Web: www.motionworks.eu

Construction machines have burrowed into the sandy soil at Gardelegen in the Altmark region. They create the prerequisites for the construction of a new warehouse for the HNG Global glassworks. In the future, bottles shall wait for their delivery on an area of 24,000 square metres. This corresponds to the size of three football fields. An eleven hectare large property has been purchased in order to be able to expand the glass factory’s production capacities. After the corporate insolvency last year, all signals are green again. The process of restructuring the company is completed in its essential parts.


Managing Director Josef F. Bockhorst is satisfied. “The location is beyond dispute. Our logistically excellent location in the vicinity of sand and soda deposits in Saxony-Anhalt has proven its worth and facilitated the rescue of the business operation,” he says. Moreover, the nascent A14 motorway substantially improves the transport connection. Since August 2011, Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd. (HNG) from India – which prevailed among 30 interested parties – has been the new owner of the former Agenda Glas AG Gardelegen. The Indian bidders signed the purchase agreement on 12 May. The course for the new start was already set twelve days after initiation of insolvency proceedings. All workers were retained. With investments amounting to more than ten million euros the production shall be expanded in the shortest period and the company will be guided into the profit zone. Agenda Glas AG had already invested a total of about 48 million euros in the premises and facilities. The production of container glass started in February 2010.

Since the start of production in Gardelegen the glass factory has had to struggle with initial difficulties, says Bockhorst. It was not possible to optimise all processes of the latest technology fast enough. Skilled personnel who control the sensitive process had been lacking. Despite an extensive training programme with training phases in an English glass factory and a Swedish training centre this alone was insufficient. The new owner came in at this point. Engineers and technicians from India were immediately sent to Saxony-Anhalt in order to make one of the world’s most modern glass factories fit for the market. One still comes across them at every turn in the production process. With sure instinct they let their German colleagues in on the secret of glass production. The gloomy mood of the brief insolvency phase has long since been forgotten in the factory halls. “Not only have almost all employees remained loyal to us, our customers also demonstrated trust, particularly since we have been able to continue delivery without interruption. The insolvency administrator immediately recognised the chances for the company’s continued existence,“ reports the managing director.

Plans for the expansion of the factory will be implemented gradually. Capacities for the accommodation of finished products on the company premises can be concentrated with the construction of the warehouse. This helps to save expenses for rented warehouse facilities. Additional technology helps to produce less waste and thereby to produce more effectively. At this stage, 600,000 to 800,000 bottles a day are being produced. In addition, the preparations for developing future glasses in the so-called wide-neck sector are also underway. A second melting tank is also under discussion, reports Bockhorst. There is no time to look back. The forward gear has been set in motion. In the meantime, intensive negotiations with potential customers are underway. The firm would like to additionally serve them starting in the second half of the year. “Of course, the great experience of our Indian owners in the market and their contact with globally operating beverage manufacturers helps in this context,“ concludes the managing director. He also praises the massive support from the state and local political level as well as Nord/LB and the Saxony-Anhalt Investment Bank. Everybody supported the Gardelegen firm during the insolvency period.

The HNG Group with headquarters in Kolkata was established in 1946 by C. K. Somany. The company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange and Calcutta Stock Exchange. The stock exchange value is 350 million euros. Production facilities are located in six centres in India. A total of 11 furnaces and 44 production lines are operated there. In India the group has a market share of 55 per cent with glass packaging.


Author: Klaus-Peter Voigt

Contact:
HNG Global
Dr.-Kurt-Becker-Straße 1
D-39638 Gardelegen
 
Josef F. Bockhorst
ph: + 49 (0)3907-7757855
E-Mail: j.bockhorst@hngglobal.net
Web: www.hngglobal.net

Minister President Dr. Reiner Haseloff officially launched the new regional initiative "Electric mobility and lightweight construction" in Magdeburg today. With this initiative, the regional government has got together with the economic and science sectors to concentrate and accelerate all existing activities in the area of electric mobility, as well as create new ones. The intention is for Saxony-Anhalt to become a leading production and research location for drive technology and energy carriers within five years. Officially, the regional initiative is known as "Electric mobility, Light and Intelligent – an initiative for Saxony-Anhalt – ELISA".

Please click here to obtain further information.


The “BioEconomy” initiative in Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony is one of the five winners in the third Leading-Edge Cluster Competition run by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project, which focuses on the chemical use of biomass, is therefore now to receive up to 40 million euros of funding from the national German government over the next five years. Private industry will provide a matching sum.

Please click here to obtain further information.


The Saxony-Anhalt company Mercateo has been able to increase its turnover in comparison with the previous year from 79 million to nearly 111 million euros. Not only has the turnover of the B2B company increased by 40 per cent, the range of products in the shop area could be expanded from 5.4 million to over 7 million items. A total of more than five million order items were processed via Mercateo.


A giant furnace for incineration of large components has been put into operation by the annealing plant at Glüherei Magdeburg GmbH. In the future, components made of steel, cast iron or aluminium up to a diameter of 4.80 metres can be processed in Magdeburg in an oversized annealing furnace. The new facility with 80 high-speed burners went into operation on Wednesday. It cost about 900,000 euros.

Saxony-Anhalt has nearly doubled its export strength in the past decade. Its export ratio was only 15.7 per cent in 2000. This ratio describes the percentage of foreign turnover in the total turnover of the state’s industrial enterprises. There is no definitive data available for 2011, but it may reach the 30 per cent mark, says Birgit Stodtko, International Managing Director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) Halle-Dessau.

The offers of the two international departments of the IHKs in Magdeburg and Halle-Dessau may well have a share in the growth of the export strength that is not to be underestimated. Together they operate their subsidiary InterCom, the Foreign Trade Development Fund Association of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Saxony-Anhalt. They annually offer about 130 events which are aimed at approx. 40 countries, says Birgit Stodtko. The main emphases in the selection of events are always about hitting the nerve of entrepreneurs. The yardstick for this is the response of companies to the country-specific consultation days, workshops, trips for entrepreneurs and joint trade fair stands offered by InterCom, says Stodtko. The response to the offers increased last year. Stodtko attributes this not only to the attractive economic situation.

She says: “With saturated domestic markets companies are also forced to increasingly take part in foreign trade.” In addition, Saxony-Anhalt’s companies are still in a catching-up process. Whereas every third job depends on export in the German average, in Saxony-Anhalt it is every fourth. But many companies which do not themselves export are nevertheless indirectly involved as suppliers in the growth of export strength. After all, many firms also have to purchase cost-effectively on the international market if they intend to be competitive, adds Stodtko. She cites the expansion of economic relations with China as an example. Saxony-Anhalt’s exports to the world’s most populous country increased from 314 to 472 million euros between 2006 and 2010. Imports climbed by more than threefold from 280 to 945 million euros.

The Chambers of Industry and Commerce help to satisfy the growing information needs among entrepreneurs. Specific cooperative exchanges, trips for entrepreneurs and so-called delegation trips – in which state politicians are also on board to support the regional economy – are particularly helpful to enterprises, explains the graduate economist.

Günther Fuchs, Managing Director of OrganoSpezialChemie GmbH in Bitterfeld, has taken part in some of these trips for entrepreneurs. He was on the road quite a bit in Western Europe, but also in Egypt, with the Chambers. Business relations had been established as the result of such a trip years ago in France. To this day the relations are stable and are even currently being expanded, reports Fuchs.

For 2012 the IHK Halle-Dessau resolved to strengthen the individual support of companies. The more companies participate in the export market, the more differentiated the questions are. “They often cannot be answered at general events,” concedes Stodtko. It is important to intensively advise and accompany firms in this connection, since the often small firms would be faced with a complex mountain of measures and regulations. “We introduce more transparency here,” promises Stodtko.

She also refers to the “Fit for Export” project developed especially for smaller enterprises. Within the framework of this project it will be examined which prerequisites the company has, which potentials their product has, which markets are suitable for this purpose and which language skills are necessary. So-called internationalisation plans, which shall pave the way to foreign markets, are created on this basis. A total of 20 such plans have been created in the past year.

The extensive seminar programme also represents an emphasis in the year that has just started for Stodtko and her team. It is primarily aimed at employees in the companies in order to familiarise them with the continually more complicated and bureaucratic import and export regulations. In addition to Europe, says Stodtko, the country-specific consultation days on offer also increasingly deal with future markets in the so-called BRICS states consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and recently South Africa. At the same time, representatives from the German Chambers of Commerce Worldwide Network (AHK) come to Halle or Magdeburg. They individually provide information about market entry opportunities, economic and legal framework conditions as well as about chances of products in these markets.

The numerous country-specific consultation days scheduled this year range from A (as in Arab-speaking nations) to V (as in Vietnam). Trips for entrepreneurs in 2012 will lead to Belgium, Russia, Italy, China, Vietnam and Slovakia. Minister-President Reiner Haseloff will travel with a delegation to the USA in mid-May. Stodtko emphasises two examples among the 20 planned Central German joint trade fairs stands at home and abroad.

These are the joint trade fair stands at the “CHEMSPEC EUROPE” in Spain (Madrid) for the chemical industry as well as at the International Engineering Fair (MSV) in the Czech Republic (Brno).


Contact:
Birgit Stodtko
Chamber of Industry and Commerce Halle-Dessau
Franckestraße 5
D-06110 Halle (Saale)
ph: +49 (0)345 2126-274
E-Mail: bstodtko@halle.ihk.de
Web: www.halle.ihk.de

Dr. Santer zur Horst-Meyer and his partner Hans-Joachim Münch could not have dreamed of this success shortly after German reunification. The two physicists studied in the 1970s at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, which traditionally dealt with ultrasound in one focal point of research. Specialists at the Institute of Biophysics in Halle also sought solutions in the field of materials testing or medical technology.

“We felt fit for the path to independence in 1990,” remembers Dr. Santer zur Horst-Meyer. Due to their many years of research work they “were acquainted with ultrasound” and wanted to apply this knowledge. The managing director reports with a grin about the start as an engineering office. The present-day firm SONOTEC started in a basement room. This entailed the courage to take risks, says Hans-Joachim Münch. From the very beginning there was a desire to develop and produce products. Initial prototypes and projects were realised. Ample bank loans were inconceivable and so the physicists relied on the federal government’s technology-oriented promotional programmes. The concept bore fruit. The first employees were hired after a short time. By the mid-1990s, now already functioning as a limited liability company (GmbH), the firm had 20 employees. Today there are 85.

“A total of 18 women and men work in development alone,” says Horst-Meyer. He attributes one reason for the success of SONOTEC to this factor. The average annual growth of five per cent has proven successful. Solidity counts more than snap decisions. Customer-specific applications make up over two-thirds of the entire production. Clients are accompanied from the first product idea up to start of production.

This clear orientation also includes close contact with universities and institutes of higher education. The scientific background plays an important role. Future graduates have the possibility to prepare final papers with great reference to practical experience. At the same time the company secures potential specialists in this way, trying to get them interested in employment with the firm already during their course of studies.

The permanent lack of specialists also affects Halle. Early countermeasures are important in this context. Six apprentices are also being trained. They are usually taken on as a rule.

Network Ultrasound (NetUs) connects 19 partners from the Central German region. It intends to bundle competencies and know-how from small and medium-sized enterprises. This includes coordination with regard to research and development topics as well as the implementation of top research results from the region’s universities as well as in the field of piezoelectric materials, sound field simulation, sensor technology and the required measurement data processing.

SONOTEC has geared itself towards a series of applications. Solutions are developed and built for non-destructive materials testing. Mobile SONAPHONE testing instruments can even detect the smallest leaks and leakages in compressed air or gas pipelines as well as in vacuum systems. No matter whether it is compressed air, argon or nitrogen, all three are included among the very expensive forms of energy or products. Even the smallest losses add up in a short time and can be detected by means of precise analysis.

Wall thickness measurement is among the most frequent ultrasonic applications in non-destructive materials testing. Erosion and corrosion damage to ships, storage tanks, pipelines and cranes can be determined in this way.

Pipelines are regarded as the most modern and safest transport system for petroleum, liquefied petroleum gases and water. Systems must be regularly maintained and serviced to ensure smooth transport. Among other things, ultrasonic sensors are utilised in the detection of cleaning or testing ‘pigs’ as well as for product differentiation.

In the medical technology sector, SONOTEC instruments have proved to be successful in dialysis. For instance, they detect even the finest air bubbles which can be dangerous during human blood transfusion.


Author/photo: Klaus-Peter Voigt

Contact:
SONOTEC Ultraschallsensorik Halle GmbH
Nauendorfer Straße 2
D-06112 Halle (Saale)
Germany
ph: +49 (0)345 133 17-0
Fax: +49 (0)345 133 17-99
E-Mail:sonotec@sonotec.de
Web: www.sonotec.de

It is a textbook example of a corporate history: a student borrows money, buys a few screens, makes courageous decisions and becomes a successful entrepreneur. Nowadays the Magdeburg-based firm SCREEN RENT led by Dirk Roswandowicz rents LED video screens throughout Germany but also in the Emirate of Dubai or the Sultanate of Oman. Football matches, camel races or a Robbie Williams concert flicker on his giant screens. The ex-footballer plays in the premier league of video wall renters.
 
Right next to the entrance door many small blue lamps light up on a map. Each one stands for a place where “Screen Rent” rents video walls. “This is not a good photo motif,” says Dirk Roswandowicz. “You can only see Germany here.” The perspective for the Magdeburg entrepreneur has long since expanded. The 38-year-old does not think in terms of national borders, he operates internationally. SCREEN RENT installed more than 250 LED screens Europe-wide alone last year. The Beach Volleyball World Championship in Rome, the reception honouring NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki in Würzburg, world star Bon Jovi in Munich – the Magdeburg-based company turns up everywhere! The company boss slips on his sports jacket. He feels most comfortable wearing it. Dirk Roswandowicz is not a ‘necktie type’ who moves files around. He prefers to roll his sleeves up. He is a decision maker, a doer. “You have to be courageous in order to achieve something,” he says as he thinks back about how everything began.
 
As a business student he founded the firm “m&d Media” together with a fellow student in 1995. The students liked to make video films and were “a bit familiar with the technology”. The budding business economist Roswandowicz prepared presentations for regional firms. But that was not enough for him. “In Magdeburg we need areas where we can present,” he said. Everything started with three televisions bought on credit. The then 23-year-old sold door-to-door with many companies. The yield was meagre. A bit of advertising flickered across the monitors which were set up in a covered shopping arcade. The manager of the shopping centre stumbled across the brazenly set up advertising, took Dirk Roswandowicz aside and said: “You can gladly come back, but then with something right.” He returned and brought 24 monitors with him, all of them financed with credit. The first setback came when looking at the till. “The costs were not covered by far,” remembers Dirk Roswandowicz. Coincidence helped the young entrepreneur along. And a student involved with the Saxony-Anhalt Agricultural Marketing Company (AMG) whispered that his company rents technology for trade fairs. So the television monitors with special housing landed in Berlin at the Green Week – a first at the trade fair.
 
Dirk Roswandowicz, who since 2010 is also president of SC Magdeburg, scrolls on his monitor through the digital folders which are chronologically provided with annual figures. The folders on the very top are clearly arranged and filled with photos, documents and concepts. The figures below are bulging with details the further 2011 approaches. Only 2009 – the year of the economic crisis – is out of the ordinary. “A difficult year,” remembers the entrepreneur. But “Screen Rent” keeps on running. As a family father and manager of ten permanent employees he now has a greater responsibility than back then. He tips on his monitor. Photos of massive screens can be seen there. Green Week is among the many mosaic pieces of his corporate history. The marketing agency of a radio station in Saxony-Anhalt became aware of the technology utilised in Berlin and rated the Magdeburg student as “really cool”. The call came only days later: “We would gladly like to meet with you.”
 
The Magdeburg-based company started to grow, and with it the space requirements for the student. Roswandowicz had rented three rooms in the student hostel: one for living, one as an office and one as a storage area for the screens. On his correspondence the student abbreviated the German word ‘Wohnheim’ (hostel) with “WH”. “That also could have stood for ‘Wohnhaus’ (residential house),” he says and laughs. It was a crazy time. He hardly had any time to study. He needed nine years to complete a degree. Today the diploma hangs in his office. Roswandowicz: “Fortunately I had nice fellow students who copied for me.” At that time his life seldom revolved around studies, but around many other things, such as playing football. In 1995 he decided against a career as a pro football player. His father had warned him beforehand: “Dirk, you can only concentrate on one thing.” But at that time he also was involved with student television, moved around the campus with a camera for the live broadcast and equipped all student hostels with monitors.
 
Dirk Roswandowicz leans back in his office chair: “I think we have to shorten the story, or else we will still be sitting here tomorrow morning.” The digital files on the monitor say much about the corporate history. The ECE Group which became aware of the former Magdeburg student appears here. Roswandowicz still equips their chain of shopping centres with screens today. He quickly noticed: hardly anybody wanted to advertise on a monitor wall, but even at that time many people wanted to rent them. The technology developed rapidly, and with it the company. Roswandowicz hit the bull’s eye with the Football World Cup in 1998. At the Market Square in Halle he set up a video wall which he had rented in Cologne. “We were the first who made public viewing,” remembers the SCREEN RENT boss. Since 2000 the company has had this name. His partner eventually bailed out as “it got hot”. Money was often scarce, but the idea remained great. Fashion shows, press conferences, presentations and election campaigns: the Magdeburg businessman repeatedly said “Yes, we can do that”. He rolled up his sleeves, set up and installed facilities himself and hired students who helped him. But he is by no means a “technology freak”. “I always fiddled around there successfully,” he says.
 
The telephone rings. “Yes, everything is all right with Oberhof,” he says into his mobile phone. “We are sending seven walls to the biathlon,” explains Dirk Roswandowicz briefly before he goes on the telephone once again to talk with Volksbank about finances.
Dirk Roswandowicz once again made the right decision as his studies were over and the 2002 Football World Cup was on the agenda. He wanted a modern, 17 square-metre LED wall that cost 350,000 euros. He queried the Sparkasse. “I could not believe my luck. They gave me money,” he remembers. His entrepreneurial concept was convincing and the state guarantee bank provided a guarantee. In 2007, the Magdeburg businessman rented out the large screens for the Robbie Williams concert in Dubai. As a result, he is approached over and over. But the concert for the Magdeburg businessman is also only one of many mosaic pieces of the corporate history.

“We always have to work hard to stay in the market,” says the company boss. Years ago it was the innovative ideas. At that time, hardly a company here in this part of the world had the courage and technology to rent out LED large screens. Nowadays 50 screens solely from Magdeburg can be found all over the world. But the market is getting tighter. Others have long since jumped on the bandwagon. “Now we must increasingly set ourselves apart from the others through quality and service,” says Dirk Roswandowicz. He stands up and smiles. Swiss business contacts are waiting outside. This is a good sign, because they are known for the fact that they appreciate good quality.


Author/photo: Manuela Bock

Contact:
SCREEN RENT e.K.
Ölweide 12
39114 Magdeburg
ph: +49 (0)391 5410231
E-Mail: info@screen-rent.de
Web: www.screenrent.com