“Innovation is team play”

Mr. Ehrhardt, what has particularly struck you about KWS?

Thomas Ehrhardt: The blend of professionalism, pragmatism and an incredible feeling of togetherness inspired me from the outset. A second aspect I like in our research work is customer orientation – not just toward those outside the company, but also toward the colleagues we work with here. I see a lot of scientific and technical expertise, as well as personalities who show me: “We want to work together.” And the combination of those two things is extremely important if you want to drive innovations – because innovations are the result of team play. I’ve been very impressed by the commitment and motivation of all the colleagues I’ve spoken to so far. The equipment and standard of quality in the workplace are state-of-the-art, and the buildings have also been very finely designed to create a pleasant and productive working environment. The good period of familiarization with Jürgen Schweden is also helping to speed up the transition tremendously. I’d like to express my great thanks to him for that.

What are the particular qualities that make Thomas Ehrhardt a good successor to you?

Jürgen Schweden: He questions things with clarity and acumen, and he embodies the values that make KWS what it is: cooperation, fairness toward each other, honesty and trust. That means we can preserve the spirit of “constructive restlessness” that sparks discussions, offers room for creativity and allows us to keep on progressing.

What fills your schedule most at the moment?

Thomas Ehrhardt: Getting to know colleagues and communicating projects and contents – that’s especially important for me at the start of my time here. I go to the teams and labs to see how they work and to show that colleagues can speak to me openly at any time. I felt it was also particularly important to visit the Gateway Research Center in St. Louis early on and convey to the people there: “You’re an important part of our team and, despite the distance between us, I’m there for you.”

KWS has two research locations: Einbeck and St. Louis. What advantages does that give it?

Thomas Ehrhardt: It’s always good when research is based close to the relevant markets, and North and South America in particular are important markets for KWS. However, a global footprint also ensures a diversity of expertise and people. Diversity is important for innovations and therefore for KWS. St. Louis is a hotspot in the U.S. for people from the field of agriculture and is thus a highly attractive research location for us.

What will your focus be in reorganizing research and development at KWS?

Thomas Ehrhardt: I’m taking over the new research organization and will help fill it with life. That’s my mission and I’ll tackle it with great resolve and conviction. The four-strong R&D Leadership Team, which unites research and development, will move the new organization forward. The basic idea of jointly building bridges and breaking down silos is very firmly entrenched in it. The new organization will not only ensure that research still has a viable future at KWS. It is designed to offer the best-possible support for KWS’ further internationalization and growth.

What do you believe is important in implementing the new organization?

Jürgen Schweden: It’s very important to nurture dialogue with colleagues about how to fully leverage the advantages of the new organization so as to make things simpler, better and more future-oriented. That must permeate the entire organization. We’ve staked out the guiding principles; now we have to flesh them out, get employees involved and accomplish this move in a constructive spirit. Not everything will go perfectly at the first attempt, but at the second or third. Research and development will change – however, that’s not a threat, but the chance to improve things. That’s the perspective we should take.

Developing plant varieties is growing in importance, but also complexity. What is vital for KWS to remain one of the leading plant breeders in the future?

Thomas Ehrhardt: We have the chance to improve and speed up processes in product development with innovations and technologies. Research can help accelerate variety development. Doubled haploids, for example, have boosted the speed of that for a long time now. Today, we’re talking about new methods like genome editing.

Innovations are created where fields of knowledge come together and work together purposefully. That’s why research and breeding must become more closely intermeshed. We want to develop models and principles spanning multiple crops. To do that, we must jointly define what the key objectives are and then optimize the path toward achieving them. That already works well with technological applications such as marker technologies or DNA sequencing.

KWS’ own breeding material is the basis for its success. Traits will grow in importance moving ahead. By that we mean plant traits – such as resistance to a fungal disease or insect pests – that generate value added in the market. Research plays a key role in that: It complements and speeds up conventional breeding, since genetic engineering and new breeding methods like genome editing are used to provide breeders with trait genes. Research is thus becoming an important part of product development.

What will you miss most?

Jürgen Schweden: My colleagues! The honest and unpolitical way we got along – from the top down – was an aspect I felt to be incredibly pleasant. This spirit of collegiality was a wonderful experience and I’d like to express my warmest thanks for that. |

In the intranet: More about Thomas Ehrhardt’s professional background

More about the reorganization of research and development