Consultancy opens new office in Cologne Staufen AG is one of the fastest growing consultancies in Germany. The inter-national Lean Management consultancy headquartered in Köngen near Stuttgart has been on the market for two decades and in that time has taken an impressive path towards expansion. Around 200 employees now look after customers from offices in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, China and Brazil. As Martin Haas, founder and CEO of Staufen AG explains: “The application of Lean principles in all business areas of our customers has proven an extremely successful concept for Staufen AG. As partner on the way to top performance, we support the development of our customers. In addition to numerous DAX companies, our client base includes many champions in their particular industry. Together we manage to set new standards and achieve lasting and measurable successes.” In this very dynamic process, Staufen AG banks on the interconnection of theory and practice. Through in-house academy and company-specific training initiatives, more than 1,500 professionals and executives are trained and qualified each year. In addition, in collaboration with 25 BestPractice partners, Staufen provides insights into the exemplary implementation of Lean Transformation – on site on the factory floor. This is where experiences are exchanged with management and staff and the opportunity for benchmarking provided. “In our view, the close proximity to our customers is the core of our business model,” explains Ralf Stokar von Neufahrn, Chairman of the Executive Board. “For that reason, we have followed our business partners to foreign locations. In August last year, we opened a new office in Beijing, our fourth one in China next to Shanghai, Shenyang and Hong Kong. This was followed in September by a new office in São Paulo in Brazil. This April, we will continue our expansion in Germany with a new office in Cologne. The purpose of this, too, was to get closer to our business partners – in one of Europe’s most important economic regions.” The success story of Staufen AG is also reflected in the company’s results. Since 2005, the company has more than quadrupled its turnover to 45 million Euro. This development has been accompanied by numerous awards in recent years: The “Wirtschaftswoche” magazine awarded the company the “Best-of-Consulting” award, and as a “Great Place to Work” Staufen AG ranks among Germany’s best employers.
