MEETING

CEO BERNHARD MAIER TAKES

PART IN MASTERS’ ROUNDS

ON 14 AND 15 MARCH IN MLADÁ BOLESLAV AND KVASINY, MASTERS’ ROUNDS TOOK PLACE

T

his event gives masters the opportunity

to communicate directly with the management.

For the first time, CEO Bernhard Maier joined the round

in person. Alongside fellow Board Members Michael

Oeljeklaus (Production and

Logistics) and Bohdan Wojnar (HR), he discussed current topics.

Bernhard Maier encouraged the masters from the

very beginning to speak

openly and honestly and

made it clear how important

it was for him to be in direct

contact with them. Before

the question and answer

session, he took the opportunity to address everyone

in attendance.

He praised the masters’

outstanding work: “You are

the crucial link between the

management and workers

and bear a great responsibility. I am fully aware of what

you do for ŠKODA every

day!” In addition, the masters can best assess working

conditions in the production.

The board is very interested

in assessing the situation

“on the line”.

It is only because of the

employee commitment that

we were able to make 2017 a

record year, Maier said. He is

keen to continue this successful course with all Škodians.

To keep us on the road to success, far-reaching decisions

have been made, especially

regarding electromobility. “We

have brought e-mobility to the

Czech Republic. We managed

this because we were able to

convince the Group of our

performance, quality and especially our high flexibility

here in the Czech Republic”,

Maier said.

He is concerned wit h

ŠKODA’s long-term growth

in the Czech Republic, as

well. From his point of view,

there are two questions to

answer: “First, what share

of the future success do we

want to take in the Czech Republic? And second, how do

we achieve that together?”

In this regard, Maier addressed the major challenges openly and honestly:

„The demographic change

will not stop at ŠKODA. This

means we will invest more in

automation and, of course,

improve working conditions

at the plants.”

For him, it is clear that

“currently, our Czech locations can only participate

in the company’s planned

growth if we expand our

shift systems step by step.

For this, we plan to initiate

major investments in the infrastructure and the attractiveness of the city and the

region. This, together with

local municipalities and politicians, comes down to basic

infrastructure projects such

as improving the road network, as well as the support

of new housing and a hospital development.” In his view,

a liveable, attractive environment for employees and their

families is an essential basis.

This is precisely where

a development fund, which

You are the important

part between

management and

workers and you have

great responsibility.

I know what you do

every day for ŠKODA

AUTO.

t he Board is setting up,

s h o u ld h e l p. Ac c o rd i n g

to Maier, this fund could

amount to tens of millions

of euros. How high this will

be has not been decided yet.

Understandably, this also

depends on the challenges that a possible expansion of shift systems entails.

The aim is to develop the entire city and region further:

“The ideas are becoming

more specific every day. It

was only the day before yesterday that I was speaking to

Prime Minister Babiš.”

Another subject for discussion was the lack of capacity. Waiting times are simply too long for many ŠKODA

models: “Nobody wants to

wait eight to ten months for

their new car”, Maier said.

He is, therefore, calling for

additional capacity. How

could this work? “One option is to cautiously introduce the 18-shift system step

by step in Mladá Boleslav.

This would enable us to increase our annual production

by up to 83,000 cars.” Maier made it clear that a possible extension of the shift system was just one offer from

the management. Another

option is to use the Volkswagen Group’s plant network.

However, Maier emphasised

that it would be a last resort.

For him, the Czech Republic – as ŠKODA’s home country – takes priority. Since the

additional requirements beyond 2020 are so high that

they will could not be produced in the Czech Republic

alone, another location outside the country may also be

considered.

He concluded his brief

statement by stating that he

wants “growth to take place

at our sites in the Czech Republic, and I want people

here to benefit from it. Now it

is time to take a few steps to

finalise a good overall package for all our employees.”

Maier wants to continue

the dialogue with the employees, not just the masters. RED

MARCH 2018 ŠKODA MOBIL 7