Transformation is a team sport: Why people matter now

You can only recruit well if you keep your finger on the pulse. A doctor does not stop learning after graduating – otherwise, they would be treating patients with yesterday’s knowledge. The same applies to me as a recruiter.

I have not worked for a DAX-listed corporation for a year and a half now. That makes it all the more important to know what is happening in industry. Only then can I find the best people and genuinely support companies.

And honestly, that day gave me one light-bulb moment after another.

Prof. Dr. Gunther Friedl, Managing Director of the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung, set the tone for the day. His example of Heilbronn shows what a region can achieve when it invests consistently in education and research: 41 endowed professorships at TU München, around 1,600 students on site, plus ETH Zürich, Fraunhofer, Max Planck and an innovation park for artificial intelligence.

But his most important message was something else. When asked what the first step should be, he said: start working together. Across universities, regions and industries.

The panel on dual use made one thing clear: the era of cheap global sourcing is over. Many components still come from China. If they are missing, production stops. That is why we need partners in Europe and manufacturing close to development.

Franconia is well placed for this, with a broad industrial base and skilled workers with extensive development experience. People who become available as a result of transformation offer potential for new areas of business.

The session by Medical Valley highlighted a second field. According to the IFR World Robotics industry report, sales of medical robots rose by 19 per cent in 2025. Toyota and Hyundai are already active in this field with transport robots, rehabilitation aids and exoskeletons.

The technology is familiar: sensors, drives, precision mechanics, software, functional safety and series production. What is new is mainly the rules: documentation, traceability and standards such as ISO 13485. According to Stäubli Robotics, medical devices such as syringes, inhalers or prostheses offer the easiest entry point. Every supplier is familiar with assembly, injection moulding and testing.

One sentence from the discussion on care robotics particularly stayed with me: greater benefit does not automatically mean fewer staff. Ultimately, transformation remains a question of people.

Federal-Mogul Nürnberg showed how this can work. In future, the plant will manufacture its high-precision pistons for industrial applications rather than internal combustion engines. Production will remain in Nuremberg, and the workforce’s expertise in automation is a key reason for that.

Management and the works council jointly described what had helped: starting early, while there was still no pressure. Involving the workforce, because no one knows production better. Being honest with each other. That impressed me because it shows that change and employment can go hand in hand.

My conclusion after that day: the building blocks are there. Technology, research and experienced people. But they often exist alongside one another rather than working together. There is a lot of talk about skilled workers as ‘potential’. Who will actually support these people as they move from one industry to the next is often left unanswered.

This is exactly where I see my role. **For me, it is about people.** About the engineer who can bring their experience to medical technology or dual use. About the manager who knows how to ramp up series production. And about companies setting up new sites in Germany and Italy that need the right teams to do so.

With People · Places · Performance, I support this transition: I help companies set up new sites and find the people who make new areas of business possible.

Are you facing a step like this, as a company or personally? Then let’s talk: [info@sandralochmann.com](mailto:info@sandralochmann.com)