Creating tangible, sustainable value for customers is at the heart of “Operational Excellence” at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST). This means consistently aligning its processes, collaboration and technologies with the needs of its customers. Rather than just improve individual processes step by step, the goal is to continually reassess the entire value chain and significantly increase quality, speed and performance.
FST’s mission statement sums up the company’s aspiration: “Together, We Make an Essential Difference in Sealing Excellence and Beyond.” Operational Excellence is one of the five key strengths that bring this statement to life.
It has been part of Freudenberg’s DNA for decades. Operational Excellence centers on the question of how FST can use its processes to create the greatest possible value for its customers. This requires unlocking the full potential of all employees and empowering them to continuously improve processes throughout the organization – both in production and in administrative areas. The shared commitment to excellence across the entire organization is an important lever for FST in defending and further expanding its position as a market leader.
Building on this strong foundation, Operational Excellence has gained even greater strategic importance in recent years. In 2024, Operational Excellence was added as a further pillar of the Freudenberg House of Excellence. At the beginning of 2025, FST also brought together expertise from Quality, HSE, Sustainability, Lean/GROWTTH and parts of Supply Chain Management within the new corporate lead function Operational Excellence. Since then, the corporate lead function has continued to evolve. The company added a new Transformation & Analytics area and created a global process owner structure to evaluate processes across the entire value chain. The former Lean/GROWTTH organization was also realigned with business requirements and now comprises the areas of Culture, Systems and Business Excellence.
Thinking bigger
Continuous improvement is and will remain a central part of Operational Excellence. At the same time, FST is increasingly focusing on fundamental changes with much greater potential impact. Internally, this ambition is often described as “10x.”
It shifts the focus from retrospective management based on performance indicators to early indicators (= leading indicators) that reveal whether processes are stable and performing effectively at an early stage. This enables FST to take targeted action before any deviations in quality, delivery or costs can occur. The next step is the so-called FST Operating System: It brings the focus firmly back to the plants where much of the value creation takes place, combining common standards, clear leadership routines and leading indicators in a shared management system.
Data creates transparency
By creating transparency, data provides the basis for better decisions. Modern analytics tools enable FST to view processes as a whole, identify deviations early and focus improvements on where they can create the greatest value. Artificial intelligence and automation offer further opportunities to make processes more predictive, robust and efficient.
The new mixing plant in Weinheim shows what this can look like in practice. Long before construction began, key processes were digitally simulated to integrate quality, efficiency and robustness into the processes from the outset – and not just to review them at the end.
That is how Operational Excellence lays the groundwork for FST to offer consistently high levels of quality, speed and performance to its customers. It is one way the company brings the “Essential Difference in Sealing Excellence and Beyond” to life.
