The Team wins.

"I have a great boss" is a sentence that you don't hear much in the business world. But Barbara Wilson means just what she says. "My boss is a wonderful team leader," explains the 31-year-old. "She always encourages us to learn more and think about the next step in our career. If you want to change your career and go down a different path, then she'll help you do that." Wilson knows that this doesn't happen very often in the working world. "It's always something that I've enjoyed," she says, "that your bosses encourage you to share new ideas. And they really do listen. There's a lot of collaboration that happens with idea sharing and idea generating. Because of course we all want to move forward and be successful."

However, Barbara Wilson is in no hurry to change her career path again. She works in Supply Chain Management for Commercial Vehicle Tires in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and she is so happy there that she has made the state her permanent home. "I'm originally from Ohio," she says. "But now I live here." She still misses her home a little. "In Ohio it does rain a lot, but they have all four seasons there. And I like the people there. They're very direct, and huge sports fans." Is she one too? "Me? Of course! I am from Ohio!" she says laughing. "I'm a Browns fan. They lose a lot, but they're our local heroes, so I have to support them."
Since she's been working in Fort Mill, she can't go to the football stadium to see the Browns play home games any more, but that doesn't mean she misses out. "There are quite a lot of people here from Ohio. We get together and watch the games on TV. That feels a bit like home."

Back in Ohio, she studied business administration and specialized in sales and marketing. "My degree was very practice-oriented," she says. "It was a good basis for my career. I started at Continental just six months after finishing my degree." Before she switched to Supply Chain Management, she gained several years' experience first in inside sales and then in outside sales. She started in truck tire sales, then switched to special tire sales. "It was a really exciting time for me. It's a very technical job, and you have to know all the different vehicles. I had to learn all that first." Now, whether it's airport shuttles, baggage transporters, cranes, forklifts, container transporters or even trucks and buses – a whole new world has opened up for her. "I had so much fun doing that," she says. "I was happy to dive into the material."

It even went so far that customers called her directly when they had technical questions on individual tires. But when she changed position within Continental after a while, she became familiar with outside sales. "I was really surprised about all the different companies that I got to know, from tradesman's workshops through bottling facilities to drug and foodstuff suppliers. Those are areas that I never had the chance to check out before. The variety in this job is really unique."

Barbara Wilson found that her familiarity with both inside and outside sales was of great advantage when she eventually switched to Supply Chain Management. "I think that this benefits my current job," she says, "because I'm able to understand the sales mentality, I understand the systems that they're using, and I understand our customers. As a result, I'm able to communicate to them effectively what needs to be done on a supply-chain level." This communication between two parties is extremely important to her. "I'm a sort of mediator who looks for the best possible solution with the two sides. I enjoy it – I have a lot of fun always coming up with new solutions and being the best possible intermediary for my colleagues and our customers."

Soon she will be able to communicate her solutions even more effectively, because she is currently learning Spanish. Every day a Spanish teacher comes to the company to teach Barbara and her entire team. "I think it's great," Wilson says, "that we're taught the language here. In my work, I often deal with customers in Mexico and Ecuador. We have to work together to get things moving and that's much easier if we speak the same language."

Barbara Wilson doesn't just work with her team and learn the new language with them.
"We get on so well that we also meet up outside work. We've become friends. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we're treated as people here at Continental, not as numbers." Because she has switched department several times, she has had to get to know a new group of colleagues each time, but has not forgotten her old ones. "We write each other mails on holidays, and go out in the evenings," she says. "You stay in touch here regardless."

More often than not, conversation with colleagues stops at work-related topics. For a lot of people, this prevents them meeting up with colleagues outside work. Not Barbara Wilson. "We simply like talking about work. And that's why I would recommend working at Continental to my friends. I have recommended working at Continental to friends of mine. And in fact, to most of my friends I don't even say anything, I just talk about work and that I really enjoy my job and I like my company. And they're always saying things like: 'you've got to get me in there!'"
It's not as if she doesn't have anything else to talk about when she is out and about with her colleagues and friends. "I spend a lot of my free time with them—we go shopping or to the cinema, or we go out to eat. Actually, I'm also a member of a gym, but I haven't been so much recently, because I'd much rather meet up with my friends. Now I've simply persuaded my friends to always come with me to the gym," she laughs. "Now that's perfect!"

When the results of a recent survey of employees in the Charlotte area, which includes the Continental Fort Mill site, were published, Barbara Wilson was not at all surprised.
"Continental was ranked as one of the top ten places to work in the Charlotte area," she says, "and I think it's fantastic that I get to work at a place like that."

He just can’t work without passion.

A few hundred meters above a New Zealand canyon, Barry Guildford had the choice, for his first ever bungee jump, whether to opt for the easy jump or the slightly less easy one. He said "Give me the hardest one." But it's not as if the young Brit wasn't scared to throw himself backwards into the void with only a flimsy rope to catch him—on the contrary, you could almost have heard his knees knocking.
And he must have felt the same when he came to Germany to take on the role of Head of Marketing for truck tires in the Europe, Middle East, Africa region (EMEA for short). Or at least that's what his friends thought. But this time they were wrong.

Barry Guildford had already made a few career moves before he moved to Hanover, but in fact he had only ever dreamed of one thing: "I absolutely wanted to be a professional footballer," he says, then adds with a smirk, "but then so does nearly every young boy in the UK." So he decided to study Business Studies specializing in marketing. When he discovered he couldn't become a footballer, he at least wanted to have a job in which there was room for creativity. And preferably a job to do with cars - fast cars! So when he finished his degree, he applied for positions specifically with car manufacturers and suppliers. His first job was in marketing for a European automotive company, but just 18 months later a position in product management at Continental Tyre Group enticed him away. It was the start of a varied career.

For he had never quite let go of his dream to become a footballer. So barely six months later, Barry Guildford took the bold decision to move to Australia, so that he could at least say that he had really tried to fulfill his dream at one time in his life. "It was completely mad," he says, "but it worked!" In fact, he was to be selected by a club in the Australian National Soccer League to play for its team, the only one out of 120 players, who took part in an open trial. A little time later, he switched to the Vietnamese soccer league. An experience that made a profound impression on him.
"The transfer to Vietnam happened incredibly quickly. Suddenly I was standing in an airport, didn't understand a word anyone was saying, hadn't a spare dime, had missed my connecting flight, and didn't have a phone number or contact name at the soccer club. Nothing."
So when his friends in England asked him if he was anxious about moving to Continental in Germany, he could smile to himself.

He had managed to live out his dream, even though it didn't last very long. An injury forced Guildford to hang up his football boots once and for all. Barry Guildford returned to England, and returned to Continental. "My experiences overseas changed me," he says. "Before, I was impetuous and impulsive. Going to Australia and Vietnam was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at that time. It helped me to grow up." A fact that apparently boded well for his old and new employer. "Continental was fantastic with me," says Guildford. "I was taken on again, I was promoted, and given the opportunity to develop, to make a career for myself."

Over ten years, he worked in various roles, from Brand Manager to Marketing Manager, through to General Sales Manager. He grew with the company and got to know it better from all these different vantage points, including truck tires and specialty tires. Guildford was comfortable at Continental, he felt he was in the right place—and on the right track.

But then another huge career move suddenly beckoned, to a different company. "It seemed like the opportunity of a life time," he says, almost apologetic. "I couldn't turn it down. But I was miserable there. The job was not at all what I had expected."

At that company, Guildford experienced first hand a completely different company culture and way of working. He discovered that everything he had taken for granted in his years at Continental was in no way a given in the rest of the working world. So he came back to Continental again—or, as he puts it, "back home"—because, he says "I like the company's approach. It's more about what you can do than about what you can't. It's good that if you have an idea that the company is interested in, then it is acted on, the company supports you and helps you to implement this idea."
Today he is responsible for Marketing Truck Tires in the EMEA region. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—a region that represents a particularly exciting challenge for Guildford. "These three regions are very different. Even Europe alone is not a homogeneous area. We cannot simply assume that exactly the same approach will be suitable for each country. And that is exactly what makes my job so exciting."

Even though, in his private life, he now prefers riding a motorcycle and can hardly wait to get his bike out of the garage and back on the road at the end of every winter, in his professional life he is genuinely happy to have ended up in Commercial Vehicle Tires.
"For me, Commercial Vehicle Tires is a fantastic place to work, because I can essentially be myself there. I am able to express myself freely and think about things in a different way, and the environment there allows me to push myself to do the very best that I can."

But it is not just the environment itself and the corporate culture that he values so highly.
"I have worked in a whole range of different fields in the tire industry," he says, "but I find the area of truck tires fascinating. The most interesting aspect is the customers' commitment to the product and the services that we offer them. Customers are passionate and knowledgeable about the product, because it has a direct impact on their business. And, in my estimation, this is something quite unique."

Guildford noticed this passion when he first started working for Continental in 2000, and it remains a key factor for him today because, he says, he couldn't work in a place where there was no passion. "I want to make a difference, and I want my team to make a difference. Of course," he adds, "I want to see success - success for our business, success for my team, and also personal success. At the end of the day, I’m always aspiring to move things forward both professionally and personally. That's why I do everything that I do with passion."

Blinkers on? Not at Conti!

"Sometimes I feel more comfortable covered in grease under a machine than sitting at my desk," she says, laughing, and adds: "But I need to strike a balance between theory and practice." If anyone manages to accomplish that delicate balance, it's Franziska Neef, who works at the precise intersection between research and production. The 30-year-old graduate engineer is responsible for developing hot retreaded truck tires, the ContiRe. Or, in her own words: "I breathe a second life into the tires."

Her office is located in the Research and Development department, inside one of the numerous buildings on Continental's extensive location. "The nice thing is," Neef says, "that for Commercial Vehicle Tires, none of us just works in one tiny sub-area. We are developing tires for the entire world. So the scope of each person's responsibility is much broader." She also sees this job as unique from the technical perspective. "Truck tires aren't throwaway items," she says. "I appreciate their longevity compared to car tires. They spend a very long time on the road in their first and second lives. In some regions, they have more than five lives. That is an entirely different set of challenges that we need to consider in development."

But that's not all. Each country has different practices, different climatic and geographical requirements she must take into account. One country may be characterized by cold and rainy days, whereas another country may have many dirt roads with large potholes. There are also differences in the customers' requirements for retreaded tires. In the United States, for instance, the distance a tire can cover is the sole concern. In contrast, European customers want their retreaded tires to be almost a perfect copy of a new one. "Truck tires require a very focused work," Franziska Neef confirms. "To make good tires, we simply need a better understanding of the world." It helps that her team is international. "We have an incredible number of nationalities and age groups," she says, "with a good blend of men and women. This gives us entirely fresh input when we discuss the topic with such a wide variety of people."

In fact, the young woman, who is just as comfortable in sneakers as in high heels, started out with rather different plans. Growing up in the somewhat less cosmopolitan countryside near Hanover, she rode dressage horses and wanted to study veterinary medicine. "But," she quickly clarifies, "I didn't want to spend all day clipping parakeet claws!" Indeed, she hoped to become a farm veterinarian, to help cows during calving and treat sick horses and pigs. In the end she decided against that career.
"Being a farm vet is back-breaking work, and you are never off duty. Also, if you plan on ever starting your own family, the two are difficult to reconcile."

Yet her voice does not sound tinged with much regret. With her pragmatic attitude, she had little trouble switching gears and finding another career. As a child, she helped her father with repairs around their 400-year-old family home, and developed an interest in technology. She preferred subjects with clear-cut, true-or-false answers, and chose mathematics and physics as her concentrations in the final years of secondary school. The logical next step was to study mechanical engineering. A degree in engineering would give her many more chances to achieve her goals, and – not a negligible factor these days – there was high demand for engineers.

Yet of the 44 students in her program, only two were women. Wasn't it an intimidating prospect to enter a profession dominated by men and pursue career opportunities there? Not for Franziska Neef. "I never experienced any prejudice or heard any narrow minded comments," she said. "It did take some time for some outside service providers to accept new approaches if they came from a young woman. In those cases, it just helped to repeat whatever it was a second or third time, and eventually they would take me seriously. It never posed a long-term issue."

She has been at Continental for almost ten years now. When she arrived as part of her dual study program, she could never have dreamed of leading a team of her own so soon. "It doesn't take long here to be given responsibility over products, developing product lines, major projects, employees, team management. It's a great thing." Still, she was curious about what else was out there, and at one point she took a job at another company.

"But the corporate culture there was completely different," she says. So different, in fact, that she left the company during the trial period and returned to Continental. "There are no blockers here, no attitude of 'this is the way things have always been done,'" she says, explaining the choice. "I can make a real contribution here and move in new directions. Continental is very flexible and I have fair opportunities for advancement. For me, Continental is a place where we can develop freely, where nothing really stands in our way. We're listened to and taken seriously. And that is another reason why this job is such a perfect match for me."

The engineer never left country life entirely. Her horse Romeo is boarded at a pasture on the outskirts of Hanover, and she drives there almost every evening after work to take care of her "other half”, as she refers to him affectionately. It may seem like a big disconnect: on the one hand, developing tires for a living, and on the other hand, keeping such close ties to nature and her horse, but Franziska Neef doesn't see it that way. "Of course there are some differences. During the day I deal almost exclusively with men and in the evening with women. But there is also an important commonality: the smallest things can have a huge impact. Concentrated, focused attention to every detail is very important both as an equestrian and in my job. And the things I've learned in my years of dealing with horses – to be fair and open and begin each day anew – I can also apply to my work with my team."

Franziska Neef has found her niche in ContiRe development. One thing she would still really like to do is get a truck driver's license. "I would love to be able to experience the power of what we produce for myself. One time, when we were developing a tire, we got to sit in the truck with the test driver in the Contidrom. That's not something you get to experience every day. 'Feel that? Feel that? . . . It's sliding!'" She laughs. "That was really something, just seeing the relevance of our work."

Control is good, Controlling is better.

Controlling is something that Jan Zajic was never interested in. He laughs at the suggestion. "Controlling was my first job after uni," he says, "but I didn't like it at all. It was rather old-fashioned and I was really bored." He wanted to get a job in marketing or, even better, work on the stock exchange. Because that would be a challenge, that was where life happened; his work would count for something, and he could really make a difference. Indeed, all these things were to come true for Zajic—but not exactly in the way he expected. In fact not only did he end up in controlling again, but, what really surprised him the most, he also loves it!

Born in the Czech Republic, he studied management and applied economics at Mendel University in Brno and graduated with a Masters degree. After his first job Barum Continental in Otrokovice was looking for a controller. When Zajic was offered the job, he immediately accepted. Why? "Because of the company," he says. "I already associated the name Continental with success, with professional staff. They know what they do and how to do it. Nothing can beat this attitude, this strategy, this way of working." But that wasn't all. It didn't take him long to recognize that controlling could be one of the most exciting jobs out there.

"Most people think that it's rather dry and only concerns numbers, perhaps a bit like bookkeeping. But it's quite different. It's a really varied job!" He compares his role to that of the lookout on a sailing ship.
"You're the one who has to look far into the future, who tells the captain and crew where we are now, where there are rocks and shallows ahead, the direction we need to be heading in, and what we all need to do to get there." That means that a controller really needs to get to know his captain and crew well.
"That is one of the most interesting aspects of the job," he says, running a hand through his short, spiky hair. "You need information from every department and you need to speak to everyone so that you all understand each other and come together to achieve the same end result."

The 37-year-old can hardly get the words out fast enough. When Jan Zajic is convinced of something, his face lights up, and right now he's beaming. When he then became plant controller in Púchov, Slovakia in 2006, it wasn't just because it was a step up the career ladder, but also because he had by then become completely won over by his job, and because something else had happened.
"My boss in Otrokovice had changed by life," says Zajic frankly. "And I have simply met some great people at Conti." He has no interest in going back to marketing. "The stock exchange still interests me," he admits. "I follow what's happening there, but I want to stay in controlling."

After Púchov, his next move was to Malaysia in 2011, a country that Zajic knew nothing about until then. He had completed various training courses, including in London, Bratislava, and seven months at Continental in Hanover. He and his wife had also traveled to Asia several times, but professionally Malaysia was new ground for him. "It is not just the temperature, the climate—in Malaysia there are of course different mentalities that I had to get used to at first." The country's population is a blend of several cultures: Malays, Chinese, and Indians. For a European, that presents a challenge day to day, but Zajic loves a good challenge. He enjoys living in Asia, and, perhaps even more importantly for him, so does his wife. "Yes," he says with a laugh, "she likes it even more than me! Seeing that my private life is by and large well-balanced and neither work nor family has to draw the short straw, well that's really a great motivator and it makes you go that little bit further."

This motivation is also boosted by the fact that things are always moving forward at Continental, he says. "What I like is the continual, ongoing improvement of each individual process. We don't always have to talk about waste or costs or productivity, we really like to be efficient and effective in everything that we do." Because efficiency is what it's all about in Commercial Vehicle Tires, says Zajic. "Every minute of every day, we're thinking about efficiency, exploring further possibilities, and improving where we can."
For him, an active sportsman who only misses skiing in Malaysia, efficiency is key and not just in his work. He sees a lot of common ground between his work and leisure, whether it's tennis, cycling or any other form of sport.

"The most important thing and, I think, the similarity," says Zajic, "is the passion. Athletes have to be passionate about winning, have a thirst for competition." He himself possesses it in spades. Even as a child, he would compete with his brother. With fourteen months advantage over him, his brother was always taller, stronger, and faster, and the younger brother strove to outperform the elder. "That is an attitude that I take to work with me. I want to be better tomorrow than I am today. And I get the sense that it's just the same with Commercial Vehicle Tires—you need the passion to always improve and to create value for tomorrow. What we do is good. And we can be even better."

He has the same goal for his own position. Today he is the lookout man for the sailing ship and therefore holds the fate of the company and its employees in his hands, a responsibility of which he is aware every day. Three or four times a week, he and his team walk through the factory and talk to their colleagues in the various departments. "Even though I'm not the final decision-maker, I still bear a certain responsibility for the people that work here. It is my job to find the best possible solution for all sides, between the financial targets and social values, every single day."

Jan Zajic is happy that he decided to take the Continental job in Otrokovice rather than work on the stock exchange. "When I look back on my twelve years at Continental, I wouldn't have missed a single minute of them. The world of Continental and Commercial Vehicle Tires is a huge challenge and is teaching me so many things—that is what makes it so attractive. Work has almost become like a drug."
A touch of astonishment still resonates in this closing sentence, that the job he once found so boring now challenges, interests, and fulfills him.

Good, Better, Bravo!

He didn't hesitate for a second. "The day I got the offer was the best day of my life," says Juan Pablo Bravo, and there's no hint of melodrama in his voice. "I'd already been working for Continental for a while in Ecuador," he explains, "when I came to Mount Vernon in the USA for a training session. It changed my life. I told the people there that it was my dream to work in the United States." And then one day Continental contacted him, because a job had become available in Miami, the city he had dreamed of.

Juan Pablo Bravo is a true highlander – he comes from Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, which is in the Andes, nearly 3,000 meters above sea level. He grew up in a large family, spent a lot of time outdoors, and practiced his sales skills from a very early age. "A friend and I sold lemonade together out on the street. I really enjoyed doing that."
Not only that, but advertising his own lemonade sparked his early interest in his future studies: business administration and marketing. When he eventually went to college, a three-month internship in a company was a part of the degree requirements.

"I loved cars and everything to do with them," says Bravo. "And when I read that Continental was looking for an intern, I applied right away." He got the internship and was inspired. "Continental is very well known in Ecuador," he says. "As soon as I started to work there, I knew: this is exactly what I was looking for." And he definitely wanted to stay there. "At the end of the internship, I asked if there would be any chance of continuing to work there, with flexible hours for my degree. And they said yes!"
His office was a thirty-minute drive from college. He worked, hurried to his lectures and seminars in between, and then drove back to work. To manage his workload, he took evening classes wherever possible.
"In any case, I had to finance my degree myself," he says. "So what Continental offered was the perfect mix for me."

He began as a Marketing Assistant, then worked in several departments over the next five years, from Sales Coordination to Sales Development to Business Development – departments which were always completely new and yet captured his interest each time.
"A regional manager brought me into her department and, along with some other supervisors, she became my mentor. She was a great boss. But I had decided that it would be good to get to know different departments over time." And his mentor supported him in this.

"Since then I've worked in some very different areas at Continental: sales, marketing, logistics, export. It's great because I can see the company from different perspectives and learn a lot." However, it wasn't always easy to start from the beginning again. But he was happy to take on the challenge, because he liked the change. "It was a big responsibility every time, but they were all great experiences, which have really helped me on my way."
He was able to successfully apply what he learned in Sales Development and Business Development to the next job.

"I had always wanted to go to Miami," says Bravo. "It's an exciting city, it's on the coast, and it's very international." But those weren't the only reasons that were drawing him there. When he received the offer after his training session in Mount Vernon, he was excited to learn that in his new Sales Manager role he would be responsible for southern Florida and Puerto Rico. "The market in Miami and Florida has lots of South American influences," he says. "This job was perfect for me because I know both cultures and speak both languages."
He also felt particularly comfortable working with commercial vehicle tires. "I've worked in lots of different departments. What I like most about truck tire sales is that it's a practical business. You recommend a product which helps the customer to save money. You can track the tire's performance, so selling the tire is far from being the end for us. After fitting the tire, we check whether we have found the best possible solution for the customers, and observe how the tire proves itself on the road in everyday use. Of course I'm delighted when the carrier or his fleet manager chooses to buy tires from us again instead of from competitors."

He has been in Miami since 2009, and the highlander from the Ecuadorian Andes is feeling particularly at ease on the Atlantic. "Of course I miss my family," he says. "It's strange not being there to see my nieces and nephews growing up." And there's one more thing he misses: soccer. "Soccer isn't a big thing in the United States, but it's very popular in Ecuador." He misses being able to cheer on his favorite team, Liga Deportiva Universitaria, or Liga de Quito for short, in the stadium. Bravo says it's the best soccer team in the country, and it won the Copa Libertadores in 2008. It was the first time in the history of Ecuadorian soccer that a local team won the most important soccer competition in South America. "That was one of the biggest moments of my life," says Bravo with a laugh.

Another very important moment in his life was the "InnerCircle Ring" award, which he was given by Continental. Bravo explains: "This is awarded to the commercial truck tire salesperson with the highest volume of sales, and I won it in 2011." Today, if he drives to see his customers, he wears the ring with the horse symbol with great pride, and also a huge amount of gratitude. "Some customers ask me what the ring is for," he says. "I tell them that I can only wear it thanks to them. If it weren't for my customers, I wouldn't have been given it."

Juan Pablo Bravo doesn't see his job as a list of tasks that he has to check off. "I always try to be an ambassador for Continental, and to represent our values. I want to fulfill our customers' wishes, and if a customer is happy, it's a good day for me." He himself is completely happy with his work. It gives him a lot of variety, as every day is different.
The support which he has received from his company and mentors is something unique for him. That's why he talks about his job a lot at home in Ecuador. Apparently so frequently and with so much enthusiasm that his brother also really wanted to work for the company. "My family is basically a Continental family. When I left Ecuador to come to the USA, my brother started at Continental in Ecuador. He works as an export coordinator there." They also have a younger sister. "She's still studying," says Bravo mischievously, "but we're already working on getting her to join us at Continental one day."

No quiet please!

"I love the speed, the dynamics!" says Libor Heger, and he doesn't just mean in his favorite heavy metal music. "It suits me, my work, the company, and the direction we're going in: it's all very dynamic. I like that."
The 38-year-old Czech leans back and smiles happily. He's in no hurry to leave.

Fourteen years ago, Barum Continental was looking for a product manager in Otrokovice, in the Czech Republic. Libor Heger applied. "I had no idea about tires," he says. "I knew nothing about marketing and I didn't have a college degree. The only requirement I met was that I spoke English." But that's a huge understatement. Heger was a badminton player who was successful across Europe. However, as he grew up under a communist regime, a great career was closed to him, as he faced a lot of travel restrictions. When the borders opened in the Czech Republic, the tall young man was already too old to pursue his sporting career seriously. He turned to another passion: For 18 months, he crammed for a stockbroker license and then opened his own company with his brother.
"I felt like I was in a film," he says. "At 20 years old I had 20 employees, and we bought and sold companies! It was really exciting."

But then the Czech banking system collapsed due to bad loans.
"Interest went up to 250 percent," says Heger. "Until then, we had been very successful. But then we were forced to give it up." And he decided that it was finally time to study. "I thought: The better your education, the more security you have for the future." He wanted to study management, to give his vocational practice a theoretical foundation. "But to do that, I needed English. To really learn a language, you have to live in a country where it's spoken. There were already too many Czechs in England – I would never have learned the language there. So I went to New Zealand."

He lived with a family in New Zealand for nine months, worked hard at the language, and then went back home. He really wanted to enjoy the summer before his degree started. Until he saw Barum Continental's advertisement in the newspaper.
He had experience on the free market as an independent entrepreneur, and had managed to come out on top of quickly growing competition through clever marketing and good work. Barum Continental offered him the opportunity of a lifetime. But it wasn't just handed to him on a plate. Libor Heger studied in addition to his full-time job. He hung in there despite the workload and over the years worked his way up from Product Manager to Marketing and Sales Manager. "I had just finished my part-time studies," he says, "and I wanted to follow up with a Master's when I got the offer from Continental to take over the brand management of truck tires for Europe and Africa. What an opportunity! Of course I said yes." He moved to Hanover with his partner. And she drove him to and from the Czech Republic every weekend so that he could study for his Master's degree in marketing and management. "I would sit in the car and study while she was driving." He shakes his head. "It was crazy but we did it."

This unusual path has proved the perfect one for Libor Heger. "I think that it was an advantage for me," he says. "I started when I was very young, and Continental gave me the chance to try out different roles very early on. At work, some people like to stick to what they're already familiar with, but I prefer to try out new things. Fortunately, it is precisely this kind of freedom that the company offers, so I fit the requirements well."

Today, fourteen years after joining the company, Libor Heger isn't just married to his girlfriend from his student days – he also still works for Continental. He has switched countries again and is now based at the Fort Mill site in South Carolina, USA, and is responsible for truck tire technologies across the whole American continent.
"Continental is very open to its employees doing something different," he says, "and it gives you the chance to get to know different jobs and markets.
And he likes America's positive attitude and dynamism. He thinks it fits Continental. "I've got almost unlimited options here," he says. "I get offers from other companies but it would be stupid to leave. I know Continental, there's a great working atmosphere, and the people are really motivated. People here are encouraged to be creative and productive, and not just do what the boss says."

Heger finds it "pretty impressive" to work for a company which is 140 years old: "The last year was the best ever. And this year will be even better. It's a great feeling to have been part of that. I'm really lucky." He has contributed to this success for fourteen years, and has seen the best year ever so far. He wants to do everything he can in his position to make future years even better. "Of course," he says smiling, "I want to keep on enjoying this success."

Having arrived in the USA, he and his wife had planned to travel the vast country and get to know it inch by inch. However, this was not to be as his wife fell pregnant. "That was great," Heger says with a smile. "We just changed our plans again." They're flexible, as they've already shown many times before. Very different to his parents' experience, their young son is now growing up in a free country. When the Hegers are out and about, he also learns about his father's professional passion. "The world of truck tires is one where you actually see the product that you develop, manufacture, and sell every day. That's fascinating. Our products are a part of everyday life, not only in small countries like the Czech Republic or Germany, but also in Brazil or the USA, all around the world."

"My wife sometimes tells me that I should really stop looking at the tires on trucks," admits Heger with a laugh. "But that's how we are at Continental: we always have to take a look. We are passionate about tires, they're our product after all, and we contributed to their development. And when I'm outside with my son, I say: 'Look, that fire truck is driving on Continental tires. The ones that your daddy's been working on every day for a long time – for 14 years.' In those situations I say to myself: 'Wow, that's pretty cool!'"

A Passion passes to the Third Generation.

Siegbert Steuber can still remember exactly when the machine first started up. That was four years ago. The process technician and his team had been working on the development for months. Again and again they traveled to the Black Forest to run through the production process step by step with the mechanical engineers. The aim was to optimize the design of the base calender winder and to test the machine’s control software.

Finally everything was ready. The new machine stood in the hall of the Continental plant in Korbach. For the very first time, it processed the rubber compound into the bases for green tires. "We didn't know whether it would work, whether the compound would tear. Running machines like this with material is difficult," explains Steuber. "But to see that it really does work was just fantastic!"

A success story that he is still proud of today. After all, automation of this part of the production process for special tires had failed elsewhere, both at Continental and at rival companies. The commissioning of the base calender winder in Korbach was therefore a world premiere.

Until Steuber and his team started developing the machine, the base for all green tires was made by hand in Korbach. A team of a dozen people was employed for this purpose. Their job was to insert the bead wire into the green tire base by hand. Not only was this very hard work. It was costly and that hurt the plant in comparison with other sites. The machine now up and running, Steuber has long since moved on to other projects that aim to make production in Korbach even more efficient.

"I'm good at analyzing where the problem lies in a process," he explains. This means he's not usually at his desk for very long. Indeed, Steuber is at his computer only to check mails or to write a program for controlling the machines used to manufacture a new type of tire. Once that's done, the wiry 47-year-old is usually right back in the halls. Taking calls on his cell phone, he always has one eye on the machines and another critical eye on the finished tires. In between, he still finds time for a few words with colleagues.

Here he is just "Siggi" to everyone. Like him, many of these Korbach colleagues have been with the company for decades. “They trust me and know that I will keep them in the loop," says Steuber. And he knows that to improve processes, he needs the counsel of active production staff. "My colleagues who work on the machines all day long are the experts. I may be more into the theory, but they have the upper hand in practical terms. That is why I always try to make use of their expertise.”

But Steuber is by no means someone sitting in an ivory tower working on theory. After all, he worked in production for many years. Leaving school in 1984, he joined Continental in Korbach. He started work in the same factory that his grandfather helped rebuild after the war. His parents also worked there back then. After training as a plastics technician he switched to solid rubber tires. "Come to us, this is an up-and-coming department," said the head of Special Tire Production in an attempt to attract young technicians.

Steuber took his chances. Soon he was asked to take charge of staff. He was promoted to shift supervisor. He then studied for his master technician diploma, attending evening classes for two years after work. "I was lucky. I was always in the right place at the right time. And I always received help and encouragement from my superiors."

Commercial vehicle tire production quickly cast a spell over him. This enthusiasm has not ebbed any to this day. Solid rubber tires for tractors, forklift trucks, and flatbed trucks are manufactured in Korbach and are usually custom-built in small series. Quality, not quantity. "We have absolute premium products," says Steuber. "But quality has its price. If the tire does not perform as it should, no one will buy it."

Everyone in Korbach works together to ensure that performance is up to standard. "No one says 'that's not my job.' Our structures are designed in such a way that everyone is a team player," explains Steuber. There are no blockers and nothing is off-limits. Everyone knows each other. Channels of communication are efficient. And hierarchies are flat.

Steuber has found his home here. He never tires of starting new projects where he can work independently and put together the teams that he needs to achieve his objectives. Nowadays Steuber turns the works management down when they offer him a new career move during his annual appraisal. "I'm where I want to be," he says. "If I were doing exactly the same thing every day, it would be time for something new. But my work brings new challenges every day. I can develop my skills and abilities here and turn my ideas into reality."

Steuber knows the kind of effort required to stay competitive in a fiercely difficult market, both in good times and bad. "Optimize your costs but don't ever sacrifice quality. This is the balancing act that we have to manage," he explains. "We are now a high-wage location. So we need to ensure that we produce as efficiently as possible."

Steuber appreciates the secure position he enjoys at Continental in Korbach. And his job gives him the freedom to balance private life and work, despite all his passion for the latter. His wife is a nurse who works shifts. This means his role as a father is very important at home. Luckily his hours as a process technician are flexible enough. They allow him to take care of his two children on the occasional afternoon or to take them to school in the mornings. There is also enough time for his role as trainer of the youth team at the local football club.

"I'm always glad to come home after work," he says, "even if my department at Conti sometimes feels almost like a family." In the final analysis, Continental is part of his family's history, in which a passion for tires has passed from generation to generation. "I always say that I have rubber and not blood flowing in my veins!" explains Steuber with a grin, his eyes lighting up.

Around the World with Conti.

Five years, tops. Half a decade at a company. When he was studying engineering in Madrid, Federico Jiménez could not imagine working at a company for any longer than that. No way. After five years at the same company, the work would become too much a matter of routine and the desire to try something new too strong – a new project, a new job, maybe even a new city!

He finished his studies a long time ago and Jimenéz has now been at Continental for 12 years. He no longer wastes any more time thinking about a change. But that doesn't mean that the 40-year-old has lost any of his passion for new challenges. "I face new challenges here all the time," he says. "And, if you want, you can change companies every five years – and still work at Continental."

Jimenéz started out working in customer service on the Iberian peninsula; after two years, he switched to commercial vehicle tires. He is now Key Account Manager Global Operations Ports and responsible for worldwide sales of special tires for forklift trucks, tractors, and mobile cranes at major container docks around the world. The four big-name terminal operators, who between them share almost half of the global market, are his most important customers.

This is a market in which you can only be successful if you know precisely what your customers want. This is why Jimenéz spends much of his time traveling around the world each week, between the ports, the company headquarters, and the Continental locations where the tires are developed and manufactured. He typically heads off from Madrid in the early hours of Monday morning for Dubai or Hong Kong, Fort Mill or Copenhagen. "It's fascinating to find out about other cultures," he says. "I've learned a great deal on the many trips for Continental over the years."

He has to draw on this knowledge every day to do his job successfully. It is essential for Jimenéz to understand what clients from China want, how to motivate sales colleagues from the USA, or what is driving development engineers from Germany. "This is the only way for me to work successfully in a global company such as Continental," he says.

A few facts about the technical specifications of the new products or a handful of charts with market data are not enough to go on when training sales employees at the different Continental locations. Jimenéz now knows how to address colleagues on site – for instance in China. "They learn quickly and get bored easily – which means that you can't offer them the same message twice over." The experienced salesman is happy to share his experiences of dealing with customers from the most varied cultures. "I never wanted to become a teacher," he says. "But people tell me that I do a pretty good job of it."

Global communication is also required when Jimenéz promotes his projects. As head of sales for ports, he plays a pivotal role in the development of new products. Continental is the market leader in many segments, such as forklift truck tires, and it is important to maintain this position with new innovations. But Jimenéz is more attracted by the prospect of conquering markets in which Continental has not yet been represented or winning over market share from competitors. "Setting yourself up as a challenger might be more stressful – but it's also more fun," says Jimenéz.

Jimenéz is now approaching the conclusion of one of his development projects once again, It's only a matter of a few high pressure weeks before Continental brings to market a new tire for straddle carriers, a high-performance product for high performance vehicles. A tire that can take loads up to 150 tonnes.
The experienced salesman recognized the potential to win over new customers with new tires in Continental quality with lower wear and therefore lower overall service costs. "To achieve this goal, I first had to go knocking on a few doors within the company," Jimenéz recalls. He had to win over supervisors, get developers on board for the project, bring financial, legal and marketing experts together, and build up an international team. "We were under a great deal of pressure, but management was committed to the cause and convinced that we would make it."

Jimenéz appreciates the working atmosphere in the Continental Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit. "If you have a good idea, you can suggest it and make it reality here," he says. "Management has an open-door policy – and you get answers quickly." Freedom To Act – that is the watchword: The greatest possible scope for action in order to exploit growth opportunities and the freedom to start over again. "Starting from scratch – and making something great," says Jimenéz.

The effort involved on his part is considerable. He spends many nights on planes and rarely spends more than two days at the same place. But, on the flip side, Jimenéz doesn't have to go to the office. He can do the work that comes in when not traveling and at home. Unbelievably, he still almost always manages to spend the weekend with his family and friends at home in Madrid. "Traveling so much is sometimes quite hard," he says. "But I have learned that the time I spend with my family is more about quality than quantity."

Development of the new tire for the straddle carrier is now complete. A new vulcanization process has reduced its rolling resistance by 15% while the procurement cost of the tires is approximately 25% lower than the competition – and better still, they are more stable and safer. "Now we're rolling it out into the market," says Jimenéz with a grin. And he can't wait to start on the next project – the next challenge. Perhaps in a new role at a different location? "The world is on the move. If you want to get ahead in your career, you have to be mobile," he says. And there's certainly enough room for that where he's working right now.

Vocation: Inventor.

He always has to get right up close to the problem. Martin Theusner stands in a factory building in Puchov, Slovakia, and something is not right – a blaring siren signals a problem. 67-year-old Theusner is wearing office clothing, but he is not worried about getting dirty now. Since he helped to develop this machine, whenever he is on site Theusner feels responsible for ensuring that everything is working the way he intended it to. Stains on his shirt or trousers are of no concern to him in these situations. After all, he has experienced far worse in the past: "One time, my wristwatch had to bite the dust," he recalls. Theusner had forgotten to take it off before working on a large magnet. The watch was a write-off, but the machine was working again.

Martin Theusner's résumé documents an exceptionally interesting career at Continental Commercial Vehicle Tires. But among the job descriptions for all the roles he has performed at this company, his actual one is missing. Theusner has always been one thing: an inventor. Of course, it is not a job for which you can fulfill formal criteria or present certificates. Nevertheless, if you look through the relevant patent pages on the Internet you will find several entries for innovations that he developed for Continental. "Inventor: Martin Theusner" is always written underneath. Developing, introducing, and implementing his own ideas – that was what most appealed to the chemist in his over 30 years at Continental. It is in his blood.

When he was young, he and his brothers 'always liked to tinker around with cars – repairing, screwing, welding'," remembers the man from Hanover. When a career opportunity came up at Continental at the end of the 1970s, when Theusner was an assistant at the University of Hanover after getting his doctorate, he did not have to think twice. He started with chemical raw materials, then changed to compound development, where he was back to experimenting, rethinking. For him, there is no such thing as an obstacle – and if ever one was to arise, he would know how to overcome it. "I contributed my own ideas from the outset. You won't get far on a well-trodden path," he thinks: "You need some intuition as well."

Theusner is creative and thorough, as good scientists are. But he is not necessarily patient. When an idea came to him and he wanted to set up a test series, Theusner once even resorted to using his kitchen at home. He got an old aquarium, including all the accessories, and empty preserving jars from the basement, cleared the sink, and began his experiments. Thursday evenings in particular were dedicated to research because that was when his wife played bridge.

Better products and more efficient production were the targets of Theusner's inventions. From the mid-1990s, saving resources and optimum environmental compatibility were added to this after he had taken over as head of the Environmental Protection department in the Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit.
This sporty nature-lover was certainly the right person for the job. He was always someone who likes spending time outdoors, has been a passionate skier for decades, and likes to jog even now at the age of 67. Despite his love of nature, he has never thought of himself as an environmental activist. But he was appalled by some of the things he saw on his travels: "I have seen huge environmental damage – poisoned rivers and such – which really had an effect on me." But why is he a chemist? "You have to contribute your knowledge here," he told himself, "for the sake of the children as well. It is a question of how the world will look for the children in 20, 30, or 40 years' time."

The chemist doesn't just get his ideas at the desk or in the laboratory. The idea for the so-called 'hurricane machine,' which separates rubber compound and steel cord from unvulcanized production waste at the Puchov Continental plant in Slovakia, came to him at a scrapyard. "A lot of things can only be assessed by stepping away and collecting ideas outside the office as well," says Theusner. At Conti plants, partner companies, and universities. That is where the researcher heart beats in his chest. And if someone asks whether it is really necessary to conduct research at scrapyards or other places, Theusner answers: "There is no place in the world where you can't acquire another piece of knowledge." After all, he chose his profession "so that I can innovate." Because "a run-of-the-mill job would not have satisfied me."

Theusner was always supported by his company in his ventures. But he also knows that: "They do need to achieve success with them." Today he is retired but still works for Continental on projects that he started during his active career. And Theusner still has one dream he would like to fulfill: to find a solution to one last problem. "Despite all the protection that modern filter systems provide, all tire plants in the world have to contend with emissions from vulcanization," he says. "Limiting them would certainly be very important!" It is not out of the question that Martin Theusner will also come up with a suitable solution for that.

New, Unknown, Just Right!

His name is a tongue-twister even for Indian people, so everyone just calls him "Vig." The abbreviation works everywhere – and is also a much better fit for someone who speaks six languages, was born in India, grew up in Indonesia, studied in the U.S.A., and works in Germany. To name just a few parts of his nomadic life. If it was a book, it could also be called "Vig in Search of Adventure." Because the young man from Kerala, the most southern tip of India, gets a kick out of the unknown and new: "I get bored easily," the exuberant 27-year-old openly admits. "I get a kick out of jumping into cold water – I much prefer it to a warm shower."

The unknown was also what brought him to Continental. "I had my university qualification in mechanical engineering under my belt, the idea of getting a doctorate in my head, and four or five job offers from the industry on the table," Vig enthuses. During his interview at Continental, he was asked whether he wanted to go to Germany. He replied, perplexed: "I don't speak any German!" – "That doesn't matter," he was told, "you don't need to. English will do." Working for an automotive supplier that actively brings together people with completely different backgrounds? "That sounded like an exciting work atmosphere," recalls Vig.

So he packed his things, moved to Hanover, and started in the trainee pool at the Continental headquarters. For six months, he had the opportunity to find out what he wanted in the company – and what the company wanted from him. "It's great for people who want to try something new," says Vig enthusiastically. The trainees organize their training themselves: learn everything imaginable about tires, build networks, spend time in a plant. "For me, that worked really well," gushes Vig. Once the internship had finished, the fast talker, who thinks even faster than he talks, decided on a job as an engineer for Tire Development in Research and Development at Continental Commercial Vehicle Tires.
"We are a comparatively small, dynamic unit," explains Vig. "You get an idea of what colleagues in other areas are doing, everyone wears several hats at once." He himself works in the Asia-Pacific team on the introduction of radial tires in the fast-growing Indian market. At first he had reservations, found the task too obvious for an Indian person. But he is enthusiastic about the great responsibility he is given: "A fantastic project," says Vig with bright eyes.

But no sooner had Vig found his place in Hanover, than his world was turned upside down again: "Completely unexpectedly, I was given the opportunity to coordinate a project in India," he explains. Without hesitation, he packed his things again: "I had no time to mull it over," he says grinning. And so Vig worked for three months in Modipuram, in a thoroughly rural area around 100 kilometers north of Delhi. It helps that he speaks Hindi. And his personal strength helps him to deal with changes: "The new environment, new challenges, new responsibility – that excites me!"

Back in Hanover, he is now looking for new challenges – in his projects, but also outside of work. "I am currently in the process of getting my driver's license so that I can better explore the area." His U.S. license is not recognized in Germany. "It's not so easy to learn something you can already do!" smiles Vig. He is also learning German "on the side" from taxi drivers and kiosk vendors – and in the cricket club. "I'm Indian, so I have to play cricket," he says with a smile. He probably also has talent – even if it wouldn't have been enough for him to go professional among the millions of cricket players in India, as Vig says with a grin.

Vig spends half of his working hours in meetings and neighboring offices; the rest of the time he sits at his desk in front of the computer. He thinks his developer job is great: "There are completely different people and task areas in a concentrated space here, you have countless options." Boredom doesn't stand a chance. For Vig, it's not the products' image that counts, but the work on it: "Tires are not sexy, but the development is exciting. There is so much going on beneath the surface – the rubber alone is a world of its own!"

Being creative, contributing new ideas – and doing something that not everyone can do: that is what makes Vig happy. And that's what life is about for him: being happy. "I don't want a cool title, I'd rather have a cool job." And that he has found in Tire Development, which is why one thing is for certain: Vig wants to stay in Research and Development for now – and certainly at Continental.

The Idea Promoter.

When his door is open, it is open to anyone, be they engineer or manager. "If someone has a good idea, they should just come to me and tell me about it," says Geert Roik, his eyes twinkling. Almost thirty years ago, he started at Continental as an engineer himself in Research and Development. So he knows exactly how important it is for the boss to lend an ear when you want to cook up something interesting.

Today, Geert Roik is the boss himself, the head of Global Research and Development at Continental Commercial Vehicle Tires. The 58-year-old does not need a tie; he exudes plenty of charisma even in casual attire. But he relies on the creativity of his colleagues because the range of products is huge and the requirements in the different markets are varied. Customers in Asian countries want completely different tires to those in North America or Central Europe. In addition, Roik and his people do not have all that much time to develop new tires. "Things like that used to take four years or longer," explains Geert Roik. "The new tires had to travel up to 800,000 kilometers on the road in testing procedures and then be analyzed again." Today, the research team uses state-of-the-art computer programs that simulate the stress on new tires.

A wide variety of knowledge is called for here, about the rubber compound and the physics of tires, as well as about specific conditions and temperature behavior. Geert Roik studied mechanical engineering; he has been developing tires for longer than most people have been driving cars. He says: "The tasks are incredibly complex; nobody can know every last detail of every area at the same time." So the head has experts to advise him, who can offer knowledge about every imaginable detail in their particular field. "I know that I have the best people. I can rely on their knowledge – and am happy to use it." The final decision about a new development is made as a team. The vote of the relevant experts, "who know exactly what they are talking about," is a decisive factor.

The experiences of other departments of the Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit are considered as well – "in order to swiftly examine a subject from all angles." Over the years, Geert Roik has built up a broad network at Continental. He sees this as the basis for successful work. For example, his department collaborates with truck manufacturers and universities. This also provides opportunities for recruiting talent for the team. Roik knows that hardly any university graduate has a penchant for commercial vehicle tires: "I doubt anybody dreams of tires – tires need to be discovered," he says with a smile. "Those who start out with us like the environment in our technology center."

If someone has a good idea, in Roik's team it makes no difference how long they have been working at the company, how old they are, or what position they hold in the organizational chart. And of course it also doesn't matter where they come from. Geert Roik is proud to say that the employees currently developing in his department – which include an increasing number of women – come from 55 different countries. "Diversity is one of our greatest strengths," he says. "We think further and wider!" Also, he explains that there is a difference between, for example, a Chinese person developing a tire for China and someone who knows neither the market nor the language doing it. "And of course it is very motivating to develop a great product for your home country."

Young people from eight countries are currently starting their professional careers in the trainee pool. English is the working language. "Nobody needs to speak a word of German to work with us," says Roik. "The central task of the pool is for the trainees to organize their own training and start at Continental in the form of a project." Even those at the start of their careers benefit from the flat hierarchy that Roik exemplifies. "New employees in particular challenge established structures and often provide valuable impetus." And that is why his door is always open to them as well.

Taking Care of Quality.

He doesn’t want to be a policeman. Jens Schöning sees himself as a coach – one that helps others to deliver the best quality day in, day out. He doesn’t seem the pedantic type, greeting his visitors with a warm smile and boyish charm, not a jacket and tie. The 49-year-old is in charge of Quality Management at Continental’s Commercial Vehicle Tires division in Hanover, a division whose staff have long had the reputation for pointing fingers around the company.

This is something that Mr. Schöning has experienced for himself. From 2007–2009, he was in charge of the commercial vehicle tire factory in Illinois, USA. His factory came under scrutiny from the global quality management arena, and there was cause for concern. “I don’t like losing,” he says with a laugh, “not even at board games.” He reacted quickly, shook up factory processes, increased employees’ individual responsibilities and made sure problem areas were regularly followed up. And it worked. During the next audit, the praise the Illinois team received outweighed any criticism.

The chemical engineer, who also studied rubber technology while still working, learned two important things from his experience at the factory: you only get quality when everyone cooperates, and that works best when employees recognize problems themselves and develop measures to resolve them. “Quality managers used to be the ones checking if everything in the factory was running as it should be,” says Mr. Schöning, playing with his glasses. “Today we help colleagues on site to continuously improve.” The key, he says, is prevention – making sure no faulty tires are made in the first place.

Naturally, Quality Management is still interested in faults, whether in tires, intermediate products, or manufacturing processes. Employees used to only do spot checks. Today, every single tire is checked at every step right up to the finished product. And because nobody can see through rubber, tires are also X-rayed. Every X-ray is still checked visually – for now. Jens Schöning explains: “We have also increased our use of digital checking systems, which reveal deviations even more reliably.” The Quality Management head even sometimes checks tires himself. “We have to be consistent,” he stresses. “It’s the only way we can keep our quality promise.”

Of course, some quality issues don’t come to light until the tires have already done a lot of mileage. “We’ve established an early-warning system,” says Mr. Schöning. In addition to various internal indicators, the system collects feedback from the market received by customer service departments worldwide. “Using tools like these, we can now take early action and rectify issues, should any become apparent.”

But even the most polished technology cannot replace talking to the customer. Mr. Schöning meets with customers every year. During one visit, a customer complained to Mr. Schöning about a tire he was unhappy with – a tire he’d bought and had problems with over ten years ago. “Our customers are business people; they have a very good memory.” If our image is tarnished by a faulty tire, it takes a long time before trust is regained,” says Schöning. This is why it is so important to him that every tire which leaves a Continental factory fulfills strict quality requirements.

Quality managers’ duties are growing as fast as Continental is. Machines have to be upgraded, quality standards reworked and staff trained. If additional product lines are opened, or even new factories, the whole process is observed and improved. “The very first tire that goes onto the market has to meet with requirements in full,” says Mr. Schöning.

It is this ambition which drives the quality experts: tires are both ordinary, everyday products and high-performance products. “From the outside, they’re just black and round. But even commercial vehicle tires with 2–3 meter circumferences depend on an accuracy of a tenth of a millimeter in some cases.” International competition is huge, and the cheapest tires – or the best – achieve the best sales. And top performance equally means consistently high product quality. In the case of commercial vehicle tires, guaranteeing quality is by no means easy. Requirements vary from region to region: in Saudi Arabia, tires work in 50-degree heat and at high speed on asphalt; in the U.S.A. they are used in waste collection on sharp-edged surfaces; and in some countries they carry far more cargo than perhaps recommended. Every complaint not only costs time and damages the company’s image; it also affects customer satisfaction. And Jens Schöning wants happy customers, both externally and internally, because one thing is clear: the customer is king.

One for All, All for Conti.

Thierry Wipff highly values his employees, but sometimes he has a bit of an issue with them: "They work when I sleep, and they sleep when I work," Wipff says, laughing. The Frenchman is head of Production in the Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit at Continental and is therefore responsible for production in eight plants that are scattered across the globe. Keeping communication flowing despite the different time zones is one of the challenges the 50-year-old is faced with every day. "I travel a lot and am often on site," he explains, "I like to walk through the plants and talk to people – which I call 'walk and talk.'"

The closeness that develops during these visits helps him to realize his vision: "I would like the different production locations to pull together, exchange experiences, and learn from one another." Once every quarter, Thierry Wipff visits each of the eight plants worldwide where Continental manufactures commercial vehicle tires. But even from his office in Hanover, he maintains a close exchange of information with his "virtual team," as he calls it. "They receive an email from me every day. And we have a telephone conference once a week."

Thierry Wipff has been working at Continental since 2001; initially as a plant manager in Clairoix, France, and then in Timisoara, Romania. The slim man, who still looks almost youthful with his thick black hair, distinctive glasses, and shy smile, has been the head of Production at Continental Commercial Vehicle Tires for three years. "At first, I wasn't sure whether I could feel enthusiastic about commercial vehicle tires," the technology fan admits. "Today, I understand why the employees have such a passion for commercial vehicle tires. We make tires that we can be proud of."

Speed and streamlined processes – Thierry Wipff wants these features in production as well. He learned the meaning of "lean production" at a Japanese electronics company in France after completing his degree in engineering. When there is a problem, his employees shouldn't spend long racking their brains, but instead reach for the phone and ask their colleagues at other locations. "Often, someone already knows the solution." The production manager wants to make things happen: "Working on projects, supervising processes, training people, creating networks, involving people from different cultures in processes – I love all that."

Wipff knows a few things about different cultures: He grew up in Morocco, and even though he had a "nice, carefree childhood" there, it wasn't enough for him. He was just 14 years old when he left his family and moved to France by himself. "I wanted to make more of my life. And I wanted to stand on my own two feet." Wipff went to a military school because he didn't want to ask his mother and father for money for a boarding school. He preferred to replace the luxury of his parents' house with a modest room. "My way of dealing with people and being close to them comes from this phase of my life. In military school, I learned to accept people the way they are, to work with people without reservations, and to see differences as an advantage." Wipff carries this sense of community with him through his entire working life, whether in France, Romania, or now from Germany to the whole world.

The father of two has little time for much competition within a company. Instead, Wipff helps plant, production, and quality managers to build contacts. He urges the people in his business unit to share good ideas. And to constantly improve. "Even the best plant can still learn something from the others," he believes. "Especially as technologies are always advancing at a rapid pace. Moreover, work is much more fun without competitiveness!"