Interview with Dr. Marcus Fischer, CEO of the ARGO-HYTOS Group

How does it feel to step into the role of CEO? What challenges and opportunities do you foresee?

I am very pleased about the trust that the Board of Directors has placed in me by appointing me CEO of ARGO-HYTOS. I know about the strength of ARGO-HYTOS from my past 17 years with the company. Together with our strong global teams, it will be my pleasure to lead the company into a successful future.
Our current number one challenge is for sure the unfavorable market environment with recessions in nearly all industries and regions we are serving. Additionally, this is coupled with the negative consequences of a high inflation period on material, labor and energy costs after COVID-19. We are taking the needed measures to adapt ourselves to the market demands and are preparing a lean organizational structure for further profitable growth in the future.
Opportunities I see many for us, we simply need to recall our strengths and the value propositions of ARGO-HYTOS, such as products with an excellent performance and quality, an extensive know-how of markets, being close to our customers, innovative technical solutions for various applications and not to forget, speed and flexibility to the market. We have to recall and foster these strengths to continue to be recognized as an innovative and reliable partner for our customers.

What leadership principles do you value most and how do you plan to implement them at ARGO-HYTOS?

All principles we have defined in our ARGO-HYTOS leadership program are important. Today, I would like to emphasize the principles “inspiring action” and “self-reflection”. It is our duty as managers and leaders to motivate and inspire our teams to seize our opportunities and solve given challenges. We need to explain the big picture and strategic direction we want to take. For this we set ambitious and smart goals and have to provide guidance to our employees as well. We act as a team and are in close exchange and communication, be it on the management or operational level. I regularly explain my view on our way forward in our management and team meetings.
Additionally, as CEO of a mid-size company, I will be closer to our sales teams and our customers in the future.
Self-reflection is of great importance, too. We must ask ourselves regularly whether we are on the right track, whether we are taking the right measures and whether these still fit in with a changing environment. We need to calibrate our actions from time to time. Getting regular feedback from teams and peers helps us to develop as individuals and as a team and to reflect on our own behavior.

If we traveled a few years into the future, what would you like to have achieved at ARGO-HYTOS?

I see ARGO-HYTOS as a strong player in the hydraulic market, especially in off-highway applications. We will not be the full-liner, not providing a huge range of all hydraulic products, but be recognized as filtration, analytics and system solution supplier by our OEM and distributors, providing highly efficient solutions with an excellent cost-benefit ratio, following our mission and purpose – “EVERYTHING HYDRAULIC BEYOND EXPECTATIONS”. We are seen as a development partner supporting our customers in making their products ready for the technological transition in off-highway towards more efficiency and sustainability while maintaining high productivity.
I see us as a solid pillar and strong division in VOITH Turbo, representing one of the growth areas of VOITH. By then, our global footprint has significantly grown in Asia and Americas.

How do you see ARGO-HYTOS contributing to the broader industry and global challenges, such as sustainability and technological advancements?

I strongly believe that hydraulics will play an important role in future off-highway machines and industrial applications. We are contributing to sustainability already today with efficient products, be it with our filters or valves. With better efficiency in filtration, we achieve longer lifetime and save resources. With our piloted spool-in-spool design of proportional valves, we save energy, just to give two examples.
Our R&D is working on new solutions for even higher energy efficiency, like the hydraulic power-on-demand approach or load sensing solutions, providing hydraulic power depending on the demand of the machine, following the “just enough” principle. Furthermore, in cooperation with our colleagues at VOITH Turbo, we are working on additional drive solutions for electrified machines, enlarging our future product offering.

What role do you see digital transformation playing in the future of ARGO-HYTOS and how will it impact the company’s operations?

Digital transformation plays a role in nearly all areas of our business. Some examples: We are using an AI-based expert tool to support our sales in customer service. We are offering our products, especially for our distribution partners, in a web shop. With the implementation of our new ERP-backbone SAP S/4 and related IT solutions, we will extend digitalization in our plants in logistics, in the automation of processes, digital shopfloor management and maintenance of machines.
Our products also benefit from digitalization, for example by providing digitally controlled assistance systems for automized or autonomous machines, by monitoring the condition in our customer’s machines or by providing digital twins of our products in the future, for easy selection and operation.