Company visit by Dr. Jonas Geissler (CDU)

Our goal: transport licenses in 3 weeks

At the invi­ta­tion of Klaus Bühring, member of the Transport Com­mit­tee of the Coburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce and respon­si­ble for com­mer­cial shipping, Dr. Jonas Geissler (CSU), member of the Bun­destag, visited WALDRICH COBURG again. Key topics were the nec­es­sary reduc­tion in bureau­cra­cy and faster approval pro­ce­dures in the area of special trans­ports.

Klaus Bühring drew a positive con­clu­sion: “We have improved in terms of approvals and are cur­rent­ly at 6 to 8 weeks, compared to the approval period of 12 to 16 weeks in the summer. That’s still not great, but we’re on the right track.” For WALDRICH COBURG, the German seaports are extreme­ly impor­tant for the trans­porta­tion of large machine tools. Transport routes to Antwerp or Rot­ter­dam would entail con­sid­er­able addi­tion­al costs. Possible ports in Italy would require dif­fi­cult over­width trans­porta­tion via the Brenner Pass.

Fluc­tu­at­ing costs in trans­porta­tion and logis­tics

In view of the increased costs, it was impor­tant for Dr. Jonas Geissler to know to what extent WALDRICH COBURG was affected by the increase in toll charges and energy costs as well as fluc­tu­a­tions in the US dollar exchange rate.

Trans­porta­tion and logis­tics costs are subject to strong fluc­tu­a­tions due to the long duration of machine projects, from the initial pre­lim­i­nary cal­cu­la­tion to the final shipment. Energy price increas­es, rising material costs and exchange rate fluc­tu­a­tions would make the current price cal­cu­la­tions for machines even more dif­fi­cult.

In an inter­view with Dr. Jonas Geissler on the subject of the US dollar, Klaus Bühring added that WALDRICH COBURG is cur­rent­ly not receiv­ing many inquiries and orders from the USA: “There is also an increas­ing shortage of skilled workers in America who can operate the machines. The machines are not being used to capacity. This is not due to the order sit­u­a­tion but, as in Germany, to the lack of skilled workers.”

More courage and deci­sive­ness

At the end of the dis­cus­sion, Dr. Jonas Geissler called for more courage and deci­sive­ness. “Espe­cial­ly in these times, we need a company that is coura­geous,” said Geissler during the company visit. Dr. Jonas Geissler plans to visit the company again in spring. In addition to the factory tour, there will be dis­cus­sions with the works council and employ­ees. “To further shorten approval times for trans­porta­tion, reduce bureau­cra­cy and give people more trust and security in politics again. These are our common goals.” A cross-party round table with transport experts would be a first step in this direc­tion.