Heartfelt farewell after 25 years of PROSTEP history

Perhaps it is because PLM years are like dog years, which you have to multiply by at least seven if you want to grasp their true dimension. So much has happened in this quarter of a century that some things have already been forgotten. Fortunately, at least the name PROSTEP remains to remind us that it all began with the STEP standard and the problems encountered when exchanging 3D data – problems that today produce only a smile. At least when compared to the technological challenges posed by the digital transformation that we are grappling with today.

When I took over as managing director of PROSTEP, the company was not yet synonymous with 100-percent PLM expertise, quite simply because the term "product lifecycle management" had not yet been coined or widely accepted. It only came into fashion at the beginning of this century.

And we don't know whether our company will continue to be synonymous with only PLM in the future, given the multitude of new topics and issues relating to digitalization that we are dealing with. But there is one thing that I'm sure of: "We Integrate YOUR Future" will remain our guiding principle because it is what made us what we are today, no matter what it was that our customers wanted to integrate or link.

Essentially, PROSTEP owes its existence to the lack of openness and integration capabilities of many IT solutions. This is precisely why openness has become an integral part of our DNA, together with vendor neutrality. It is also reflected in the philosophy behind our OpenXXX solutions, which are subject to ongoing further development and which, in addition to our consulting business, are a mainstay of our business success.

With the exception of a few years, the PROSTEP Group has grown steadily over the past two and a half decades. Between 1999 and 2022, revenues rose to just under 50 million euros, a more than eightfold increase. We were very fortunate in that our shareholders plowed all the annual net profits back into our capital reserves. This meant that we were able to finance this growth and all the associated investments ourselves and are now in a very healthy economic position. During the course of their audit of the company's last annual financial statements, KPGM attested to the fact that PROSTEP is now a large corporation, which I view as a great success.

Thanks to our economic health, we have also successfully weathered the financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and other crises, of which there have been many in the past 25 years. You get the impression that they have been occurring in ever more rapid succession, with the result that crisis mode is becoming the new normal. The pandemic posed an enormous challenge, especially for our employees, who had to switch from providing services on site to providing them remotely almost overnight. I found, and still find, it remarkable that the sense of belonging and the PROSTEP spirit were not lost in the process.

The people who work for PROSTEP are our most important asset. Today, we employ 300 highly qualified and committed employees from around the world. I think over 20 different nationalities are represented in our company. Sex or gender, origin, religion and political world views are irrelevant. What counts are tolerance, openness and expertise. The fact that these values are automatically taken to heart at PROSTEP is something we can be really proud of.

Other people will be the judge of whether or not I've put our house in good order. I do however believe that the company is well positioned to meet the challenges posed by the digital development of smart, software-driven products. Thanks in no small part to the appointment to the executive board of Philipp Hasenäcker, who will in the future follow in my footsteps and manage the company together with Karsten Theis. He brings with him a great deal of experience in the software sector. We have succeeded in recruiting the next generation of managers from within the company. This is also something we can be proud of.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those of you who have been by my side and supported me over the course of the last 25 years. And, of course, first and foremost to our customers, not only the major OEMs in the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering and shipbuilding industries but also the many top suppliers who made our success possible in the first place. If I am allowed to wish for a parting gift from you, it is that you remain firmly loyal to PROSTEP. Goodbye and farewell.

Best regards Bernd Pätzold