Driven by Innovation The German company Atlas GmbH boasts a heritage of almost a hundred years, but its modern history really began seven years ago under its new owner Fil Filipov. Romana Moares spoke to Brahim Stitou, the managing director who turned the business around, not only about what makes this traditional company so special but also about his unorthodox management methods that have changed a loss-making business into an international success.
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tlas, headquartered in Ganderkesee in northern Germany, manufactures a wide range of machines for the construction, railroad, material handling and infrastructure industries. In the one hundred years since its establishment, the company has gone through various stages of development, some less successful than others. In 2001, struggling financially, the business was taken over by the Terex Corporation but sadly continued to fail and ten years later ended up nearly bankrupt with too many staff and losses of about €2.2 million a month. In 2010 it was sold yet again to the private owner and former Terex executive Fil Filipov, ready – despite the scepticism of many – to be turned around.
From bottom to top “The former Terex management offered me a position outside Atlas but I decided to stay. I knew Fil and really liked his no-fuss action-focused management style. So I put all my efforts into improving the company’s 120 Industry Europe
performance,” recalls Brahim Stitou, who has a very personal experience of what it takes to achieve success. Born and raised in Germany by Moroccan parents, he is one of those great success stories who worked his way up from the bottom. Starting as an apprentice on the shop floor in Atlas in 1996, with no formal education, he always knew that he could do better. After completing his evening classes, his career took off. “I always looked for more efficient, better ways of doing things; I wanted to achieve things. For this I was prepared to work really hard. When Terex sold Atlas to Fil, I saw this as a big opportunity and knew that I wanted to be involved in bringing the company into the black,” he said. The rest is history. Under Brahim Stitou’s management the company re-claimed its traditional name of Atlas as well as its original orange colour. Pushing for results was not without obstacles, but as early as the end of the year (2010) the business achieved a breakeven point, followed by profitable performance only a year later – for the first time in 25 years. In 2012 Mr Stitou became the vice-
