Which departments are there at Schulz & Sohn, in fact?
Management
The management team makes the key strategic decisions for the company’s future development. In our case, the Managing Director is also the great-grandson of the founder, Vitalis Schulz, and is continuing the family tradition into the fourth generation.
The management team is responsible for investments, market development, and innovation. At the same time, the team is kept informed by all departments about ongoing processes.
People & Culture
The responsibilities within the People & Culture Department are multifaceted, ranging from recruitment and safeguarding the interests of employees to ensuring the well-being of employees and their further professional development. These responsibilities not only call for expertise in labour and social security law, but also psychological and social skills. It is essential to reconcile the interests of the company with the needs of its employees. Schulz & Sohn places particular emphasis on fostering a diverse and international workforce and provides individual support to employees according to their specific requirements.
As part of the recruitment process, the team collaborates with management and the marketing department to develop strategies for retaining existing employees and attracting suitable new talent who will fit well into the team.
Central Services
The employees in Central Services form the organisational heart of the company. Everything literally comes together here, and sometimes things can get hectic. In short, they perform administrative tasks relating to the business operations of individual departments.
They serve as the switchboard and mailroom and handle countless other tasks within our organisation. For example, they order supplies, are responsible for welcoming and entertaining visitors, create the kitchen menu, supervise the cleaning team, manage the inventory of beverages, and ensure that fresh fruit is available in the cafeteria. They are also responsible for making sure that employees receive little surprises on their birthdays and work anniversaries.
Marketing
The Marketing Department serves as the central hub for Schulz & Sohn’s internal and external communications. The environment here is quite vibrant and creative, from planning company events and creating promotional materials to managing intranet communications, developing content for the company website, and managing social media channels. All initiatives that are crucial to Schulz & Sohn’s image originate in this department.
The employees in this department work closely with Sales and Management, as their activities are inextricably linked to strategic decisions regarding the company’s desired public image and market positioning.
Finance
As with any company, our Accounting Department provides the fundamental data needed to determine the profitability and value creation of Schulz & Sohn.
The key processes include general accounting, payroll accounting, fixed asset management, and the handling of tax compliance.
The Accounting Department interacts with nearly all internal departments, primarily Sales, Purchasing, Human Resources, Logistics, Production, Repair & Maintenance, Management, and Controlling.
Quality Management
Our Quality Management department is responsible for upholding Schulz & Sohn’s commitment to quality. Even in the early days of the company, the founder, Vitalis Schulz, cited “quality” as one of the company’s core values – and that hasn’t changed.
The employees in this department play a key role in the company’s development, for example, by ensuring compliance with the quality standards of ISO 9001. As a staff unit, the Quality Management Department ensures that what is good is made even better and more efficient.
HSE / Health and Safety at Work
No one can bypass our Health and Safety Department. They are responsible for health and safety at work, fire safety, environmental protection, and product safety.
The department ensures preventative fire protection in the areas of building services, plant engineering, and operational organisation, including compliance with regulations and monitoring, and develops and optimises concepts for preventing waste and recycling. Working closely with the Development Department, the Health and Safety Department focuses on effective cleaning products with the lowest possible hazard potential. Its responsibilities also include creating safety data sheets and operating instructions.
Repair & Maintenance / Building Management
Schulz & Sohn is a company with in-house production. It is therefore no surprise that we must overcome complex challenges in maintaining and expanding our extensive production machinery. These challenges are tackled by our skilled in-house W&I team, which is constantly working to ensure the company’s productivity.
Apart from operational and manual tasks, planning, logistical and organisational responsibilities related to building management are on the to-do list as well. This means that the department also collaborates with Logistics, Production, and Quality Management.
Sales + Back Office
(Order Processing / Customer Service)
The Sales Department encompasses a wide range of tasks, from customer relationship management and order processing to customer service, pricing, and customer acquisition.
The Sales Department plays a crucial role within the company and carries a high degree of responsibility, as it is instrumental in driving the growth of revenue. The department maintains constant communication with Management, Production, and Logistics.
The increasingly strategic responsibilities of a sales representative include furthering existing customer relationships, acquiring new customers, creating forecasts, and developing and adjusting pricing structures.
A successful sales representative is characterised by strong communication skills, negotiation skills, a structured approach, interpersonal skills and openness.
Purchasing
Our Purchasing Department doesn’t just deal in euros, cents, or tenths of cents. As a central department within our company, its responsibilities are multifaceted. Procuring materials and goods also involves taking Schulz & Sohn’s values and sustainability goals into consideration.
At Schulz & Sohn, we make a fundamental distinction between strategic and operational procurement. However, with the ongoing evolution of our digital process chain and applications, operational activities are increasingly becoming strategic decisions. As a result, strategy development and supplier management are playing an ever more significant role in purchasing. The Purchasing Department thus serves as an important driver of innovation. Overarching decisions are made in collaboration with the Production, Logistics, Sales, and Development departments.
Production
Our chemical products are manufactured and packaged in the Production Department. These processes require logistical planning and involve a large number of employees.
To ensure this, various coordinated processes have been set in place that are essential for smooth and timely execution: production planning and execution, personnel and capacity planning, order monitoring, handling complaints, and product launches. These processes are carried out in cooperation with various other departments, such as Human Resources and Sales. Investment planning meetings are held in collaboration with W&I and Controlling, and necessary repairs and maintenance are reported to W&I.
Logistics
This is about who, when, what, and where. Ultimately, it concerns the intelligent and sustainable planning and management of value chains. It is a complex system that, on the one hand, controls and executes internal processes. Externally, it guarantees an optimal, tailored supply of all necessary products and materials to customers and suppliers.
The activities encompass procurement logistics, warehousing logistics, production logistics, and distribution logistics.
The department collaborates with Sales, Purchasing, the Production Department, and the Quality Assurance Department. Planning skills and organisational talent are essential here. However, depending on the specific job profile, hands-on skills are also required.
Technical Customer Service / Development
The Development team formulates specialised cleaning products and continuously improves them for various applications.
One area of application is cleaning agents for automated cleaning systems.
Close collaboration with our customers allows us to tailor our cleaning agents to meet individual technical requirements. Our team members conduct application-specific tests such as cleaning performance comparisons and material compatibility tests. They draw up test reports and technical customer reports.
We oversee product development from laboratory scale through scale-up to industrial production.
In coordination with all departments, we continuously develop and refine technical manufacturing processes, product quality, formulations, and innovative solutions. Regular and constructive dialogue enables every team member to contribute their ideas to projects.
Quality Assurance
This is where the action is — incoming raw materials, substances, formulations, and our finished products undergo rigorous testing here.
Key tasks include the regular quality control of production batches, testing new formulations from Development, and the creation of alternative formulations for existing ones. In addition, complaints are processed here, samples taken from ongoing production (liquid, powder, and tablet production) are analysed, documented, and optimised concerning ingredients and properties. Retained samples are also stored, all product labelling is reviewed, and testing equipment is inspected.
The department collaborates with Production, Purchasing, Sales, Logistics, and Development.
Controlling
The Controlling Department is responsible for analysing and evaluating all data from every department. Monitoring and analysing this data is of the utmost importance for the smooth operation of our company. Through these vital services, the Controlling Department supports management in making strategic decisions.
Its core tasks involve reporting, planning, and optimising our processes, our accounting systems, and contract management. The aim is to manage costs, investments and inventory within the company to enable value-creating and efficient operations.
IT
Our IT Department staff – the experts in the world of ones and zeros – handle all aspects of our digital processes and functions.
From hardware and software administration to IT security, IT procurement strategy, offboarding and onboarding, as well as organisational and data protection matters, the department ensures seamless digital operations. In the event of an incident, there is, of course, a contingency plan for immediate remedial action.
The IT Department is involved in all departments and plays a decisive role in ensuring the functionality and support of our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Sustainability Management (Staff Unit)
The Sustainability Management Department serves as the central point of contact for the sustainable development of our company. The team combines strategic perspectives with operational implementation and makes sustainability a core priority.
A key focus is on contributing to the development and implementation of our sustainability strategy – environmental, social and economic – as well as the integration of ESG aspects into corporate processes and decisions.
Furthermore, the staff unit advises management and all employees about sustainability issues and specifically builds partnerships and networks to position the company for the future.
The implementation of concrete sustainability projects – for example, in the areas of the circular economy or supply chain transparency – is just as much a part of our responsibilities as training and raising awareness among our employees. This is to make sustainability tangible and practicable in their everyday work.
Product Management
The Product Management Department helps shape the strategic direction of our product portfolio. It creates a framework in which product ideas are transformed into solutions.
Our employees contribute to the development and implementation of the product management strategy in line with the corporate strategy.
In doing so, they initiate and steer product innovations and adaptations in close coordination with relevant stakeholders.
They ensure a customer-oriented and brand-compliant appearance – from corporate design to labels and packaging, to product information and hazard symbols – thus ensuring that every product conveys a coherent overall image.
Employees are also responsible for organising and documenting product changes, relaunches, and approval processes. They conduct product certifications and registrations, ensuring that innovations are brought to market in compliance with the regulations.
Technical Consulting (Staff Unit)
The Technical Consulting Department serves as the central point of contact for all technical development and optimisation projects related to our machinery and equipment. The team supports investment projects from planning through to implementation – whether new installations, retrofits, or automation solutions – and ensures that our production technology represents the state-of-the-art at all times.
Another key focus is the coordination of external service providers and technical partners to ensure that development projects are completed efficiently and on schedule. Adherence to safety and environmental standards is a top priority in all aspects of the process – from the design stage and legally mandated testing to final system acceptance.
In addition, the staff unit is responsible for technical training management. Employees in the operational departments receive targeted training on new and existing systems to ensure safe and competent handling of our technical equipment at all times.