GEA simplifies group structure

GEA, one of the leading suppliers to the food processing industry, has created a new Group structure in line with its “Fit for 2020” initiative. It is a shift in the company’s internal structure and organization, and in its external customer relations. The Group will bundle and report the development and manufacturing of products and the provision of process solutions in two new business areas – “Equipment” and “Solutions.”

The bundling into business areas aims to offer greater operational synergies spanning technologies and applications, and promotes functional excellence by standardizing processes. Customers worldwide will see a single national organization per country as a central point of contact covering the entire product portfolio and offering all services on a local basis.

GEA Group in Dusseldorf, Germany

In the Equipment business area, GEA brings together all activities that feature standardized and (in part) customer-specific equipment offerings. As a general rule, products are manufactured in large quantities as part of large-scale series production on a standardized and modular basis. The Solutions business area brings together all project-based offerings that extensively cover customer-specific and modular solutions. The business areas tailor their products and services to the specific applications and customer requirements.

“The new structure is designed to help us develop from a very good to an outstanding Company based on a simplified, harmonized, and more streamlined organization. This means the maximum possible focus within each unit, with clearly defined responsibilities in terms of applications, products, technologies, and services. In addition, the changes will safeguard and further improve our customer focus through first-rate innovations and services, rapid decision-making processes, uniform and coordinated customer management, and much more,” said Jürg Oleas, CEO of GEA.

The most visible indication of the changes is the Group’s new website (http://www.gea.com), which was launched at the same time. The significantly updated and more consistent site is now clearly divided into products, applications, and services. Customers are only a few clicks away from both the entire GEA portfolio and the relevant contacts at the affiliates. The new web presence replaces the more than 200 separate Group company websites that had previously existed and illustrates the Company’s goal – “OneGEA.”