Balancing career and family: Interview with Kata Stern
Interview with Kata Stern as a young leader in logistics
Kata Stern represents Women in Leadership at MANN+HUMMEL. The mother of two children aged three and five has had a steady career path since she started as the first dual student at MANN+HUMMEL in Speyer in 2007. Over the years, she got to know the entire company and the logistics department in particular. She has been working here since 2010 and leads her team as Manager Material Planning and Logistics Processes. In this interview, Kata describes how MANN+HUMMEL has developed over the years, shares insights on how to standardize processes worldwide, and discusses what it is like to be a working mother at management level in the company.
Kata, you have been working at MANN+HUMMEL for 16 years. What do you personally enjoy about the company and your department?
Kata: I like MANN+HUMMEL's vision and how it has evolved. I think the path to cleaner mobility, cleaner air, cleaner water and cleaner industry is a great goal that gives colleagues a wider perspective: we can see how important our work is for everyone's future. The most interesting thing about logistics is that you have your finger on the pulse of the company. It is one of the most important areas across our plants and warehouses. You are kind of the hub of the whole company, so you deal with everybody.
What are the responsibilities and tasks of the logistics department at MANN+HUMMEL?
Kata: The logistics area at MANN+HUMMEL is specifically referred to as "Material Planning and Logistics" (MP&L). This underlines the fact that we are not only talking about physical logistics processes in the plants or warehouses, we are also dealing with all planning activities. So, logistics at MANN+HUMMEL encompasses everything from forecasting to procurement and production planning to goods receipt, production supply and warehousing, and also shipping.
What does a normal working day look like for you as Manager Material Planning and Logistics Processes?
Kata: My days are very diversified. My team and I are responsible for defining standard processes and ensuring they are applied correctly across our plants. We are also working on the development of measures and processes to facilitate work in the plants and participate in projects that require taking a global view before our regions or plants are involved.
All in all, I spend my days speaking with international colleagues to review processes and data, and working closely with our regional and local MP&L teams. The goal here is to understand their needs and support them. I love the intercultural exchange and global collaboration my job entails. It's dynamic and demanding, but very rewarding. I work with the top levels of management and make important decisions, so I can really make an impact on how the company works.
Speaking of rewarding, what are your three most important insights and reasons why you enjoy going to work every day?
Kata: Immediately after my studies, it became clear to me that the right network within the company is extremely important and valuable. This realization has been confirmed several times over the past few years. Another insight is definitely that you have to think outside the box to achieve your goals. You can't hide behind your function, you have to display a kind of entrepreneurial thinking about what’s best for the company. I also learned that it is crucial to listen to the experts and make sure you properly understand the situation in order to make the right decision. Obviously, you can't always decide in a way that satisfies everyone, but if you are aware of the different points of view, it's easier to get everyone's agreement.
MANN+HUMMEL is a great company because ultimately the mission is to improve the world we live in. I also love the way the company gives you the opportunity to grow. And, every day, I enjoy working with great people from all over the world.
You are a mother of two children. How do you reconcile family and career?
Kata: That's right, I'm a mother of two boys who are wild, loud and just wonderful! They come first for me. As a parent, before you return to work, you have to get your priorities straight. And once you have kids, you have to plan everything. I can't spontaneously attend a 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. appointment because, at that time, it’s official dinner time and then I put the kids to bed afterwards. But if I have enough advance notice, I can organize childcare accordingly. I don't necessarily only work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., I try to adjust my working hours as needed. Fortunately, the working time models at MANN+HUMMEL are flexible. And my superiors have always supported me. So, attaining a good work-life balance here is totally feasible – if you just plan ahead.
Besides balancing work and family, what was the biggest challenge in moving into a leadership role?
Kata: Luckily, my former colleagues were very helpful and we worked well together from the beginning. The biggest challenge, and probably the most important one for me, was my own process of becoming a leader: meaning developing my own leadership style and making sure I was acting according to my and the company's principles.
During my MBA studies, I had a great lecturer on leadership, so I was theoretically well prepared. However, being able to pull that off and follow through in stressful situations was challenging. In addition, as a manager, I had to get used to the fact that I can delegate activities and no longer have to do everything on my own [laughs].
How do you plan to take logistics at MANN+HUMMEL to the next level?
Kata: We are working on standardizing our material planning and logistics processes. This means all plants worldwide need to achieve a certain level of compliance. Standardizing makes sense because, if all plants apply the same processes, we can adapt more easily if, for example, regulatory requirements change, and we can use digitalization to drive MP&L forward. Take our process mining initiative, for example. To attain value we still need to understand the local specifics, but with globally consistent standards it will be much easier to define and implement improvements.
And what are your personal goals for the future?
Kata: Of course, I want to continue to deliver on the range of tasks in my role and achieve all the goals on my roadmap. My mission is clear: to take logistics at MANN+HUMMEL to a new level through uniform standards and innovation. This requires cross-functional collaboration with our digitalization and LEAN teams, for example.
I am not focused on progressing one step up the career ladder every two or three years. Instead, I set myself personal targets to strive for. If I reach a point where I have achieved all my goals and the job is no longer a challenge for me, then I would look for new opportunities within the company: new opportunities always arise in a future-oriented company like MANN+HUMMEL.
