Aachen. WED+ specializes in the restructuring of medium-sized companies and offers consulting as well as
(interim) management outside and during insolvency. When WED+ enters a company, one key success factor applies:
The employees should be released from their crisis-induced state of shock in order to develop solutions together.
Text: Sascha Woltersdorf
How do you overcome a crisis? One of the key success factors, says Managing Director Moritz Schumacher, is the ability to pick up and involve employees on site. "Without their backing, successful implementation is difficult - almost impossible against their will." Schumacher, who holds a degree in business administration, is one of the managing directors of the management consultancy WED+, which specializes in restructuring medium-sized companies. The company claims that it does not rely on "airy-fairy concepts", but takes responsibility for the ailing company itself.
Team building through, among other things, transparency and appreciation towards employees is an essential part of this. However, this is no easy task. After all, many employees find it difficult to view their current situation, the crisis, realistically. In such situations, Schumacher "releases the potential of the people on site as quickly as possible from the perceived state of shock" with the aim of a "constructive exchange of ideas". This can sometimes even be achieved with a very simple question: "Why do you think, dear Production Manager X, that we are here?"
After all, the crisis is the greatest possible invitation to think about change in a completely open-ended way and to develop new solutions. Not thinking about change, on the other hand, is the end of any innovation or evolution. "As banal as it sounds, this is often the root of the crisis. Constant scrutiny of one's own performance and processes has ceased. One's own path is seen as the only possible or, worse still, the only right path." Two statements that actually contradict each other and yet appear again and again in a random mix can then be heard as a kind of permanent soundtrack to the crisis: "But we've always done it this way! " and "But we've never done it this way before!"
Moritz Schumacher joined the management team of WED+ Unternehmensberatung GmbH in March 2024 alongside Mike Degen. According to the press release on the 45-year-old's appointment, he was previously responsible for international M&A and the strategic business development of portfolio companies as a Member of the Executive Board of the investment company Schauenburg International. He also worked for companies such as Siemens, Vodafone and Tank & Rast as well as international investment companies. There he was responsible for projects focusing on M & A, restructuring and business development. At the same time as Schumacher's arrival, WED+ intends to increasingly provide out-of-insolvency and pre-insolvency restructuring advice. The company will take on operational management tasks, for example as an interim manager or as a board member. It also supports clients in analyzing the initial situation, in strategic planning and in the operational implementation of restructuring measures. It also offers "comprehensive services in corporate finance, including operational advice on financing solutions and the support and implementation of M&A processes".
More recent references cited by the Aachen-based management consultancy include Condor Flugdienst GmbH (2019-2021), Solibro GmbH (2019-2020), HAL Automotive Plauen GmbH (2023), Unser Heimatbäcker Holding GmbH (2024) as well as Deutsche Giga Access GmbH, BPG Building Partners Group GmbH and KaDeWe Group GmbH (all 2024-2025).
The management consultancy was founded in 1992 by Roman Eisele. WED+ as a company has been active on the market since 2017 and goes back to Eisele & Degen Consulting GmbH, which was founded in 2002. The current partners of WED+ are Roman Eisele, Mike Degen, Claus Nürnberg and Moritz Schumacher. The milestones of the consultancy, which initially started out as an insolvency service provider with a focus on interim management and operational controlling, include Cargolifter AG (2002-2003) and Woolworth GmbH & Co. KG (2009-2010).
How to find new ways and motivate employees and stakeholders to do so is demonstrated by a highly regarded process in the aviation sector. During the pandemic, it was possible to strategically realign the airline's operations at short notice, according to the WED+ CEO. The slump in passenger traffic was to be expected given the coronavirus situation. "The first step was still extremely obvious: German citizens should have a low-threshold offer for a flight home anywhere in the world. However, it had to be clear that passenger traffic would come to a standstill immediately after this unprecedented repatriation campaign. People are hardly being brought back to Germany because business as usual, i.e. vacation and business trips, will be possible again in no time at all."
WED+ managed to quickly switch from passenger transport to the transportation of medical goods. Operations were thus maintained until it was possible to return to the core business. "It was actually relatively easy to see what would still be possible and at the same time require large transport volumes: on the one hand, very expensive goods from Germany to all over the world, e.g. ventilators, heart-lung machines, oxygen treatment, etc., and on the other hand, large quantities of inexpensive protective measures that had not been manufactured in Germany for some time but were now needed here in large quantities: Respiratory masks! It was not far from this realization to the removal of the rows of seats from the aircraft."
In another example, the unusual transformation of a site was successful. A huge production hall was lying idle, with a total area of around 66,000 square meters and a constructed area of around 5.5 million cubic meters - the "largest self-supporting or column-free building in the world at the time and today," explains Schumacher. Its sole purpose had ceased to exist and "none of the globally sought-after parties were willing or able to provide the necessary funds to continue the original high-tech project." The cost of maintaining the hall was between 4 and 6 million euros a year, even when it was empty. One cost factor: the floor slab of the building had to be kept within a certain temperature range to ensure the stability of the structure, as Schumacher reports. "The building and the outer skin were specially constructed so that it heats up as little as possible and despite the relatively thin membrane construction, little UV radiation reaches the interior."
However, in order to create the strategic repositioning as an "adventure area" with a sunny, warm vacation flair, as much UV light as possible was required - for people and plants in the planned "leisure and tropical paradise". Schumacher: "The idea was not to work physically in pleasant coolness, but to chill out, bathe, take a sauna and relax in light clothing. The solution: with relatively little effort, the covering of the building on the south-west side was replaced and voilà: The foundation stone for today's leisure and tropical paradise was laid."
According to the company, WED+ covers a wide range of industries, from automotive, plastics and metal processing to Machinery and plant construction , healthcare, hotels and restaurants, Retail and services. The number of employees is "around twelve", ranging from back office staff to business economists and employees with a technical background who have "many years of experience with management and responsibility in corporate management". According to Schumacher, they are joined by around 80 close partners who are at home in a wide range of industrial and service sectors. A network that is extensive after working on numerous restructuring cases. Schumacher: "In many of the well over 800 insolvency proceedings and advisory mandates, you get to know industry-specific experts. Some of them were and are external consultants like us. Others were employees of the company concerned, who also saw the crisis at their company as an opportunity for themselves and used it." And they will all be able to answer one key question: "What is WED+ actually doing here?"
1. your temporal working relationship from analog to digital?
Office 365, Teams and Copilot have fundamentally changed my day-to-day work. Processes have been accelerated, communication has been simplified and information has been centralized. The use of data models enables quick and transparent decisions, while digital project management tools make collaboration more efficient and significantly shorten the time between planning and implementation.
2. your most recent job-related further training?
Recurring management coaching at the "Hernstein Institute" to promote skills such as strategic decision-making competence and the strengthening of soft skills (improvement of social and emotional intelligence in dealing with teams and stakeholders, development of resilience, conflict skills and constructive communication), networking and exchange of experience.
3. what is the best way to get away from work?
My favorite way to get away from work is in nature - skiing in winter and hiking in summer provide the perfect balance. Tennis and road cycling provide a sporting balance in the evening. Both help to clear my head and recharge my batteries.
