LAPP GROUP CELEBRATES AUSTRALIA
MORE PRODUCTS AND INCREASED SUPPORT UNDERPIN AUSTRALIAN EXPANSION the complementary Wago and Tosibox technologies, says Lapp Australia General Manager Simon Pullinger, who welcomed to Australia members of the entrepreneurial Lapp family, including Andreas Lapp, Chairman of the Board of Lapp Holdings. Pullinger says the expanded availability of 18,000 products online – with live real-time stock checking on the local and German HQ warehouses – will give customers greater access to products and rapid lead times for better planning of future-focused automation initiatives including those taking place locally as a result of Industry 4.0 digital integration.
The Lapp family and the Rayner family join with Lapp Asia-Pacific leaders and local Aboriginal Darug Elders in the warehouse at Lapp Australia
Lapp is expanding in Australia following the visit of its founding family to celebrate the success of the establishment of Lapp Australia.
Lapp Australia launched its HQ in at Eastern Creek, Sydney in 2018, and is set to expand its operations with additional account managers, for Western Australia and NSW, new product and technical
LAPP FAMILY VALUES In November 2019, three members of the entrepreneurial family Lapp arrived in Sydney to celebrate the success of the company’s Australian operation. Andreas Lapp (Chairman of the Board of Lapp Holding) and his nephews Matthias Lapp (Chief Executive Officer LA EMEA) and Alexander Lapp (Global Manager Digital & eBusiness) were in the harbour city to visit Lapp Australia and to host a gala event for customers and staff at the Sydney Opera House. Industry Update took the opportunity to interview the three family members to try to gain some insight into the workings of Lapp and how a German family owned company views the Australian market.
support appointments, and thousands more products available with short lead times nationally. It will also distribute via its eshop
IU: Can we start by looking at the family business model? Why is it that there are so many major German corporations still in family hands? Andreas: I think it is very much to do with European culture. But also to do with our tax laws. Especially in central Europe, there is the tradition to stay in the same area and even in the same house for generations. So if you start something good, it is for the next generation. You know you don’t own it and it is for the next generation to develop. This isn’t just with businesses… its with houses, properties … everything. It is tradition. Alexander: Also – and this is not unique to our family – but we think the family members are assets, not liabilities for the company. We are not only a family business, but also a business family.
Pictured at the Lapp Australia Gala Event are NSW Minister for Finance Damien Tudehope with Alexander, Andreas and Matthias Lapp
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IU: So this is part of the family values that you apply to the business, and that you have brought to Australia?
The global Lapp organisation – with 4650 employees and turnover exceeding Eur 1.2 billion (AU $1.95 billion) – established Lapp Australia two years ago to serve future-focused industries down under, including manufacturing and plant engineering (including automation, robotics and process engineering systems); electrical engineering systems and energy
Andreas: For us, Australia and New Zealand are countries in Asia-Pacific that carry our values. IU: One area where we tend to feel that Europe leads Australia is in environmental matters. Where is Lapp in this equation? Andreas: Lapp in Germany is CO2 neutral. Other companies like Siemens and Bosch want to be in the near future. We are already. For my father and founder of the company, Oscar Lapp, this was not just an environmental issue, but also a commercial one – to save money. For example, the waste heat from the cable-making process is used for heating the building during winter. And for both heating and cooling of our headquarters building we have geothermal energy. We have the biggest solar farm in Stuttgart on the roof of our logistics building. And this was also not just
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020
