Because a third party’s view from time to time is good for every company. Even if you don’t see any reason to do so. But to let professionals with specific process optimization skills look at one’s own processes is a very valuable undertaking.

That could indeed be the case. But that’s exactly why we’re working with Syngroup, because they have a wealth of experience in this field. The wood-processing industry really does enjoy a special position: output is never in a predefined relationship to input.

That a piece of wood, such as a log with a diameter of 60 centimetres, can yield 400 or 2,500 euros/m3. And with all these modern methods, we only know this when the log is cut open. A fine grain, a few branches mean a high-yield trunk, but colour changes or cracks mean the opposite. Global warming has changed a lot in this area. The yields fluctuate considerably more than ten years ago.

In this particular business, you need a partner who understands things. And these connections are by no means trivial; you have to know the industry and its particularities very well. Syngroup’s know-how from other consulting activities provides starting points for increasing earnings. There really is a lot of knowledge and expertise behind it. And Syngroup is already well versed in the topics of “efficiency” and “productivity”.

I believe I can say this for our region: Today, there is no overexploitation of resources in Europe; forestry is managed sustainably. The conditions are strict and, in my view, are observed by all producers. And, of course, sustainability must be in our DNA. We live off nature. We give the tree a second and third life.

As in the economy, there is no perpetual growth in nature. A tree dies, although some people believe it lives forever. An oak, for example, is between 120 and 140 years old, and here too the principle of survival of the fittest applies: The tree lives in community with other trees and the strong, who can conquer the daylight for themselves, win, the others die.

We even have growing forest cover in Europe, linked to climate change. In alpine locations we now find new forest areas.

By far. We are almost talking about a monoculture. 93 percent of the parquet floors we sell are made of oak. Which is a great pity. Alternatives such as beech, ash or walnut are de facto not in demand.

The answer is very general and always the same in this context: It’s about bringing corporate cultures together and forming employees into a team across all hierarchies. In this case, that was the most complex cultural bridge I had to build. The high social needs of the Norwegians, the still USSR-influenced but self-confident, young and well-trained employees from Lithuania and the rather patriarchal behaviour of the Swiss, for whom punctuality means being at the meeting five minutes before the appointment. This was a two-year process that we managed with the help of an integration manager, but it is not over yet.

The classic answer everyone would give is: we have very strict guidelines. But it is also a fact that our purchasers actually go into the forest and, within the framework of validation, also check on site whether the necessary planting is actually taking place. This takes place annually and audits are also carried out for our suppliers. In any case, certificates are the measure of all things. Basically, it can be said that we take a very close look at Eastern Europe. However, I would like to point out that at our sawmill in the enclave of Kaliningrad we have found that Russia is very conscious of its use of resources.

In fact, there are differences in colour and growth: in Northern Europe the wood is light grey, in the Balkans, for example, it is almost white. In order to get an even grading, we mix them quite deliberately. Here too, however, we keep an eye on sustainability. We don’t send wood from Kaliningrad to Croatia because of the long distance to have it processed there.

Simply the length, width and sorting of the planks you get from a tree trunk: The longer and/or wider, the fewer branches, the finer the grain, the more expensive. And of course also from the treatment methods. There are parquet floors with three so-called applications, at Bauwerk Boen we speak of up to eleven such applications.

Of course we supply many innovations to the market, although in the end more than 70 percent of customers opt for the traditional natural-coloured parquet floor. Currently, pastel grey is also en-vogue. But you’re not too keen to experiment in this area. Understandably so: A fancy curtain or an eccentric sofa is easier to replace than a parquet floor. And at the end of the day you ask yourself whether you want to look at it for 20 years or even longer.

This is really the next big challenge. We want to take the DIY boom into account and also sell parquet floors online. It’s a very special challenge.

I love walking barefoot at home because a parquet floor simply feels wonderful. It’s also a Swiss custom to take your shoes off when you’re visiting a place. And no, I would hardly feel a fake parquet floor with my feet alone. But with the coin test: On a real parquet floor, a coin doesn’t jump back like on a fake one for a long time.