The events of the past years and the present have pushed the global industry and its supply chains to their limits and led to a worldwide rethinking. Corona is still pervasive, risks of global port lockdowns persist, resulting in unstable supply chains, shortages of urgently needed parts and raw materials, and more. The latest and saddest incident, the Ukraine conflict, is now another negative culmination of global events impacting society and the economy, as well as ever-increasing costs for energy and raw materials.

For ISOLITE, this is also a difficult time with many challenges and hurdles, but as an old proverb says, a crisis is also an opportunity. The company ISOLITE has used this opportunity to reposition itself, strengthened and ready for a successful future.

A first step, and at the same time an important course setting, was the implementation of new management with extensive experience in the automotive and restructuring sector. Thus, Mr. Satoshi Tsukahara (CEO), Mr. Yasumoto Jimbow (COO), Mr. Yuji Matsuo (CFO) and Mr. Masatoshi Mori (CSO) took over the management of the ISOLITE Group (1). Another important step was the introduction of a strong second level of management with a mix of experience, deep know-how, agility and flexibility. Michael Knoll (VP R&D & Engineering / Authorized Signatory), Tobias Greifendorf (VP Finance), Bernd Henrich (VP Strat. Corporate Development), Jörg-Walter Scharf (VP Sales & Project Management) and Andrew Steinhauer (VP Operations & SCM) thus lead the operational business of ISOLITE.

 

from left to right: Andrew Steinhauer (VP), Bernd Henrich (VP), Yuji Matsuo (CFO), Michael Knoll (VP), Satoshi Tsukahara (CEO), Tobias Greifendorf (VP), Yasumoto Jimbow (COO), Jörg-Walter Scharf (VP), Masatoshi Mori (CSO)

 

With the execution of a far-reaching and impactful turnaround plan, more than 700 sustainable projects of various scales have been carried out and successfully implemented: For example, ISOLITE has optimized its global footprint, streamlined and made production & logistics more efficient, and invested in an environmentally and resource friendly industrial washing plant.

Strengthened by this foundation, the current focus is on the start-up of many new large-scale projects with unit numbers in the high 6-digit range for OEMs in the automotive passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. These global launches in Ludwigshafen, Serbia, China, Hungary, USA and Mexico are accompanied by ISOLITE’s highly specialized and experienced launch team. The sales and engineering team is also supporting many other potential projects for implementation between 2023 and 2025. The industrial, maritime, and aerospace sectors are also experiencing steady, sustainable growth.

Albert Einstein already said: “More than the past I am interested in the future, for in it I intend to live.” Thus, our focus is not only on the past or the present, but especially on the future. True to this motto, the future team of ISOLITE created a mature 3 – step plan with an implementation horizon until 2030.

In addition to process optimization and increasing the degree of automation, ISOLITE GmbH was able to transfer its patented iTEX ECON technology from the automotive passenger car sector to the commercial vehicle and off-highway sector. Especially due to the upcoming replacement of the emission standard EURO VI, which has been in place since 2013, by EURO VII in the commercial vehicle sector, as well as the EU Stage 5 standard, which will be introduced in the off-highway sector in 2019, ISOLITE contributes significantly to the compliance with the emission limits through the technology transfer.

The expansion of the product portfolio is also making significant progress in the very important area of e-mobility. Longer ranges require more powerful batteries with higher capacities. This also increases the probability of a so-called thermal runaway (exothermic, chemical reaction that leads to fire or explosion). This is where ISOLITE comes in with its decades of experience and expertise to create customized, effective solutions for a sustainable future as usual – be excited!

Strengthened from the crisis, newly and broadly positioned for the present, ready for an electrifying future – ISOLITE Reloaded.

 

(1) The former managing directors Matthias Kroll and Christian Eck are no longer employed by the ISOLITE Group.