To keep it going: Colleagues in action

Heiko, what are you working on in Finance/Controlling?
We have just completed the first quarter of 2020 in financial terms. This is being done in close cooperation with Zwickau and Chemnitz. The team was staggered, depending on the focus of our activities, and we coordinated twice a day via Skype. Quite simply, our task is to ensure that sales and costs are recorded in the system on an accrual basis. This gives us a clear picture of how our Dresden business areas, such as production and sales/marketing, are developing in terms of earnings.

What is the challenge in the current phase?
Due to the production shutdown, there are understandably different results and costs at present. We're not building any cars at the moment, we're not delivering anything, we don't have any visitors. This naturally has an impact on our earnings situation. Our cost and earnings forecasts, especially for the coming months, are subject to new developments and are intended to make the best possible contribution to ensuring that we remain liquid within the Group. We are in a financially robust position for the Manufactory, not least because all departments show understanding and are committed to their work.

You work from home. What experiences have you had in mobile working?
It works out great! Thanks also to the IT department, which has now put a stable infrastructure in place. But the circumstances are also right for me: I already had my office well equipped technically some time ago.  My wife is a teacher and can teach our two boys at home. That helps me a lot and I am really grateful to her for that. In general, mobile working is nothing new for me, I have been working one day a week from home for more than a year. And who knows, maybe more in the future? It becomes clear that working together also works that way. It' s an exciting insight!