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The Mittelstand and entrepreneurship in Thuringia

May 15, 2026

In the midst of the Coro­na cri­sis, Ant­je Blu­men­tritt took over the manage­ment of KOMOS. In the Hid­den Cham­pi­ons Pod­cast, she speaks open­ly about respon­si­bi­li­ty, digi­ta­liza­ti­on, and the chal­lenges of indus­tri­al small and medi­um-sized enter­pri­ses.

How can a medi­um-sized fami­ly busi­ness in Ger­ma­ny remain inno­va­ti­ve and future-pro­of? What role do digi­ta­liza­ti­on, a shorta­ge of skil­led workers, and modern manage­ment play in the indus­try?

Our Mana­ging Direc­tor Ant­je Blu­men­tritt talks about this in the cur­rent epi­so­de of the Hid­den Cham­pi­ons pod­cast from nox­us­film, hos­ted by Micha­el Wöhr­mey­er.

In the appro­xi­m­ate­ly 50-minu­te pod­cast epi­so­de, Ant­je Blu­men­tritt pro­vi­des per­so­nal insights into the deve­lo­p­ment of KOMOS, the chal­lenges of small and medi­um-sized enter­pri­ses in indus­try, and the future of modern pro­duc­tion in Thu­rin­gia.

Digitalization in production at KOMOS

A focus of the epi­so­de is digi­ta­liza­ti­on in manu­fac­tu­ring and in the dai­ly ope­ra­ti­ons of KOMOS. Ins­tead of sim­ply tal­king about digi­tal pro­ces­ses, KOMOS is alre­a­dy actively imple­men­ting them in the fac­to­ry – among other things with:

  • paper­less pro­ces­ses in pro­duc­tion
  • Tablets in ever­y­day use
  • a pro­prie­ta­ry app solu­ti­on for inter­nal pro­cess sup­port
  • digi­tal pro­ces­ses for grea­ter trans­pa­ren­cy and effi­ci­en­cy

It makes clear how digi­tal trans­for­ma­ti­on can work prac­ti­cal­ly in the SME sec­tor.

Responsibility in a family business

In addi­ti­on, Ant­je Blu­men­tritt speaks open­ly about what it means to take on respon­si­bi­li­ty for a fami­ly busi­ness with over 70 employees in Thü­rin­gen.

Fur­ther topics of the pod­cast series:

  • Skills shorta­ge in the medi­um-sized busi­ness sec­tor
  • Impact of the mini­mum wage on indus­tri­al com­pa­nies
  • Lea­der­ship in times of cri­sis
  • Entre­pre­neur­ship in East Ger­ma­ny
  • The role of medi­um-sized com­pa­nies in regio­nal value chains

Loo­king back on 2020 will be par­ti­cu­lar­ly per­so­nal: In the midst of the Coro­na cri­sis, Ant­je Blu­men­tritt took over the manage­ment of KOMOS – a time fil­led with chal­lenges, decis­i­ons, and chan­ges.

Watch the podcast episode now

The epi­so­de of the nox­us­film pod­cast “The Hid­den Cham­pi­ons” fea­turing Micha­el Wöhr­mey­er is now available online.

🎧 Here’s the teaser: https://vimeo.com/1187687156/4451110b4f?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci