Annual Report 2003 2004

54
The ThyssenKrupp
Innovation Contest
promotes creativity.
Investing in the future
In the last five fiscal years, financial investments, i.e. the acquisition of companies or equity interests,
accounted for 14% of the Group’s total investment spending of €9.9 billion. The greater part – 86% –
was made up by spending on property, plant and equipment in the amount of €8.6 billion. In the
reporting year we spent €1.4 billion alone on property, plant and equipment to rationalize or expand
production, set up new production lines or improve pollution control at our plants.
There are high costs involved in creating new jobs – a single job can cost well over a million euros
depending on the machinery involved. The expansion of tinplate production capacities in Andernach
is a good example. Rasselstein, a company in the Steel segment, is investing some €160 million to
increase its production capacities by 20% by the year 2005. Rasselstein is Germany’s only manufacturer
of tinplate and a global leader in both product and production technology. The investment will create
around 100 new jobs, equating to expenditure of €1.6 million for each new job.
Details of major investments in the reporting year are provided on pages 41-43.
Initiative for innovations
As a technology-oriented company, ThyssenKrupp pursues the strategic goal of maintaining the
technology leadership of its products and services. This requires the ability to innovate – the basic
prerequisite for growth and competitiveness.
Carried out in the segments, our customer- and market-centric research and development activities
are dominated by product and process technology projects, aimed for example at developing new
materials or innovative production and processing methods. We work closely with external cooperation
partners, such as the Fraunhofer Society and the Max Planck Society, and with numerous universities.
In 2000, the Group launched an annual internal innovation contest as a way of systematically
recording and promoting innovation. To date more than 200 entries have been received, of which
around 30% were submitted by subsidiaries outside Germany.
The ongoing monitoring and assessment of technology trends is an important strategic task. It
allows us to adapt our products and services to new opportunities and risks and to get involved in our
customers’ development processes at an early stage. Successful examples include nanotechnology,
hybrid and fuel cell technologies, and the use of magnesium in automotive construction.
For more information on current research and development projects in the Group, please turn to
pages 56-60.
Focus on employees
Innovative and challenging jobs call for qualified and motivated employees. That’s why ThyssenKrupp
attaches great importance to training and development. We have been training beyond our needs for
many years – mainly in the form of industrial apprenticeships – so as to give as many young people
as possible a sound start to their working lives. And when we are unable to retain newly qualified
apprentices, ThyssenKrupp’s trainers provide assistance in looking for jobs or gaining further qualifications.