Management consultancy in Stuttgart and the region.

The Stuttgart economic region: the underestimated complexity of the Mittelstand.

From the outside, the greater Stuttgart area is often reduced to its corporations — Daimler, Porsche, Bosch. In fact, the economic base consists of thousands of mid-sized companies: automotive suppliers, mechanical engineering firms, engineering service providers, IT and software houses. Many of these companies are based in the Middle Neckar region, on the Filder plain, in the Rems-Murr district or in Schwäbisch Hall.

These mid-sized companies are under twofold pressure today: margin pressure from major customers and, at the same time, innovation pressure from electrification, digitalisation and new competitors. Those who merely react here will lose.

The typical challenge in the greater Stuttgart area.

We see three issues particularly often:

• Dependence on a few major customers. Many suppliers are technically excellent but commercially tied to a handful of large corporations. Diversification is uncomfortable — but necessary.
• From contract manufacturer to market player. The step from “we deliver what is ordered” to “we offer independently on the market” is strategically and culturally demanding. It requires its own value proposition, its own sales channels, its own brand management.
• Internationalisation with substance. Anyone opening up markets in India, Mexico or Eastern Europe will not get far on Stuttgart engineering alone — they need credible external communication in the language of the target market.

What we actually do.

Our typical engagements in the greater Stuttgart area revolve around three fields. First: diversification strategies — how a tier-2 supplier broadens its base without unsettling its core customers. Second: building an independent market position with its own end customers or its own product lines alongside the OEM business. Third: sales and marketing structures for companies that have never had to sell — the orders always came of their own accord.

Getting here and how we work.

Stuttgart is under two hours from Freiburg by ICE train. We are regularly on site — mostly in Stuttgart itself, in Esslingen, Reutlingen, Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall or Pforzheim. We plan initial consultations flexibly: at your premises, at ours or by video, depending on what the phase requires.