“Safely through the next years”

Mr. Berthan, your fifth year as Chief Executive Officer at Bauerfeind AG is coming to an end. How has it been for you? 

There are some years that feel tougher than others – and 2024 was one of those.

Why?

On the one hand, we had a crisis: the production downtime in the summer caused by roof repairs really challenged us. On the other hand, we took some action in 2024 that has been necessary for a while: we made some staffing and structural changes in our subsidiaries in the US and in Switzerland. We’re positioning ourselves differently in China. Foot Orthopedics will be organized as an independent division in the future. In addition, we’ve had some successful product launches, such as the VenoTrain curaflow with color effects and Spinova Mum. Furthermore, we took part in various major events, for example the Olympic Games in Paris and the OTWorld industry trade fair in Leipzig. We also organized another great conference in Zeulenroda, the 15th ZKOS. 

What is your conclusion?

We’ve done an excellent job again, and I’d like to thank all the employees in Germany and all over the world. Our figures are going in the right direction: for the fourth year in a row, we’ve achieved remarkable growth in 2024. But this has cost us a lot of energy. The holidays are happening just at the right time to recharge our batteries. 

What can we expect in 2025?

Looking ahead to 2025, I see a number of challenges: we will continue to drive internationalization. We’ll have to be prepared for further customer mergers in Germany and other countries. I also expect a time of political procrastination in Germany when hardly any groundbreaking decisions will be made. The elections may be followed by structural changes, and the question is: what do we have to do to make it through the next ten years safely and to maintain our strong position? That’s what I think about most.

What are your hopes for 2025?

That we continue to promote our projects because they will help us really make a difference and move forward. In particular, this includes our construction projects in Zeulenroda which, too, will help us manage our growth more easily in the future. I also hope that we will maintain our ability to recognize what’s going on politically and economically. If we keep an eye on these developments, as we have been, and interpret them for us, we will be able to make plans and implement them successfully.