We remember many visits to Bruchsal. And I personally remember an encounter in 2017 for a piece of research for Industriemagazin. At the time, I wrote: Johannn Soder has many talents, the man can seemingly do everything - sometimes you think it comes naturally to him. But behind it all is hard work, often in his free time. It has to be perfect. Soder - the perfectionist. “I'm a baby boomer and I live to work.” The then 61-year-old started his career at SEW-Eurodrive as an apprentice, was plant manager, made a pilgrimage to Japan with many other managers in the 1990s for the Bruchsal-based company, returned enthusiastically, streamlined production, led the electronics factory to Factory of the Year, managed the Group's technological development as Managing Director and also took over external SEW consulting.

Today, industry makes the pilgrimage to Bruchsal, or more precisely to Graben-Neudorf, to “the showcase factory for Industry 4.0” - where lean and Industry 4.0 merge. But the inventor doesn't stop at his factory. “If we optimize the entire value chain of the product, we can get another 35% out of it,” Soder claimed at the time. Soder sent them logistics capsules, CPS (cyber-physical systems), which register with SEW-Eurodrive on delivery, exchange information and are processed. And the field service? They can now play with the customers - using gamification methods, they develop the individual product together with the customer and send the order directly to the factory - “it's like doing a puzzle for batch size 1,” laughs Soder.

“One of Johann Soder's guiding principles was: 'The future is made with courage and curiosity. With this attitude, he worked hard for SEW for 54 years,” says Dr. Jörg Hermes, COO of SEW-EURODRIVE, adding: ”I am also personally very grateful to him. He has always inspired me with his passion for the cause. Challenging and encouraging is his principle of success, which has also had a significant influence on me.

My article was entitled: The bird of paradise - that fits.