Kai Althoff
CEO,
4 FLOW, Vorstandsvorsitzender BVL

Kai Althoff is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 4flow, a provider of supply chain consulting, software and supply chain services.
From 2000 to 2020, Kai Althoff was Chief Operating Officer (COO) and responsible for the company's global operations.
He is also Honorary Chairman of the Board of the Bundes Vereinigung Logistik (BVL).

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Julia Arlinghaus
Director,
Fraunhofer-Institut für Fabrikbetrieb und -automatisierung IFF

Since 2019, Prof. Dr. Julia Arlinghaus has held the Chair of Production Systems and
-Automation at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and also heads the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg.
-Automation IFF in Magdeburg.
Prof. Dr. Julia Arlinghaus studied industrial engineering with a focus on production technology and process engineering at the University of Bremen and at Tokyo University, Japan.
She received her doctorate in business innovation from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland in 2011.
She worked as a consultant for operational excellence at Porsche Consulting until she was appointed Professor for the Optimization of Production and Logistics Networks at Jacobs University Bremen in 2013. From 2017 to 2019, she held the Chair of Management for Industry 4.0 at RWTH Aachen University.
In February 2021, Professor Arlinghaus was appointed to the German Science Council. She has been Chair of the Scientific Commission there since February 2024.

Dr.-Ing. Marcus Bollig
Geschäftsführer,
Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V. (VDA)

Dr. Marcus Bollig, born in 1967, has been Managing Director of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) since May 2022.
He is responsible for the “Product and Value Creation” division.
After studying mechanical engineering and completing his doctorate at RWTH Aachen University, the Bonn native joined BMW AG in 1998.
There, Dr. Marcus Bollig dedicated himself to drive development, and from 2011 he was initially responsible for the “New Technologies and Electrification” project as Head of Department.
In the following years, he headed various other technical areas, such as “Efficient Dynamics”, “Complete Vehicle Research” and most recently “Powertrain Process”.
At the VDA, Dr. Marcus Bollig uses his drive and complete vehicle expertise to mediate between the interests of politicians, authorities and manufacturers when defining technical regulations.
His technological focus is on the transformation to climate-neutral mobility and digitalization.

Carsten Klude
Chefvolkswirt und Leiter Private Asset Management,
M.M.Warburg Bank

Carsten Klude has been Chief Economist at M.M.Warburg & CO since 2000 and is responsible for economic and capital market forecasts as well as all asset allocation issues.
After training as a banker at Deutsche Bank in Bremen, he studied economics with a focus on econometrics in Kiel.
Klude joined the Hamburg-based private bank in 1996.
In his role, he advises both private clients and institutional investors on all aspects of investment policy.
He is also responsible for the bank's private asset management.
This includes responsibility for macro research, portfolio solutions, portfolio management and the Advisory Office.
Carsten Klude has received a number of awards in recent years for his economic and interest rate forecasts.
The Financial Times Deutschland newspaper voted him “Forecaster of the Year”.
Mr. Klude has also received the Forecast Accuracy Award for Germany three times from the renowned London trade journal Consensus Econo-mics.
In addition to his work at Warburg, Mr. Klude is a member of the Economic and Monetary Policy Committee of the Association of German Banks (Bundesverband deutscher Banken e.V.).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Knothe
Head of Department Business Process and Factory Management,
Fraunhofer Institut für Produktionsanlagen und Konstruktionstechnik

Background:
- Dipl.-Ing. Computer Science and Manufacturing Engineering at TU Berlin (1997)
- Dr.-Ing. at TU Berlin (2011)
Applied Research and Industrial Developments:
- Model Based Corporate Systems Engineering and Automation
- Business and Technical Interoperability
Industrial Experiences:
- EU, USA, Russia, China, South Africa
- Automotive, Aircraft, Mechanical Equipment, Bio-Tech, Defense
Standardization:
- Chair of JTC24 at CEN/CENELEC for DPP – Framework and System
- Chair of GG DPP System Germany
- Member ISO TC 184 SC5 – Enterprise Integration and Interoperability
Inventions:
- Open Patent: Modular Shopfloor IT (together with Audi)
- Self-organized Planning and Control of MRO for Transportation Systems
Education:
- Honorary Professor at University of applied Science in Wildau
- Lecturer at Technical University Berlin

Dr. Stefan Kremsner
CEO,
s2data

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Stefan Kremsner has been responsible for the development of industrial projects relating to algorithms & software for optimization and data analytics since 2010 and has led research teams on artificial intelligence and stochastic optimization.
Together with Dr. Stefan Lendl, the two mathematicians from Graz founded the startup S2data out of an exciting transport optimization project for an automotive supplier in 2020. The most innovative transport optimization was born.
Specially developed for automotive and related logistics processes, the optimization platform manages to optimize logistics and material control in inbound, outbound and inter-plant transport in many industries, such as retail, steel, pharmaceuticals, etc., holistically and in full detail.
The algorithms remain flexibly adaptable to operational constraints and utilize transports in the network significantly better than standard software.
Dr. Kremsner studied at the Graz University of Technology and received his doctorate in mathematics from the Karl-Franzens University of Graz, specializing in stochastic optimization and machine learning for high-dimensional problems.

Michael Kretschmer
Ministerpräsident des Freistaates Sachsen

Michael Kretschmer was born on May 7, 1975 in Görlitz, he is a Protestant and the father of two sons.
After leaving school, Michael Kretschmer completed an apprenticeship as an office information electronics technician and obtained his higher education entrance qualification.
From 1998 to 2002, he studied industrial engineering at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences and graduated in 2002 with a degree in industrial engineering.
Michael Kretschmer began his political career as a city councillor in his home town of Görlitz from 1994 to 1999.
From 1993 to 2002, he was a member of the state executive of the Junge Union Sachsen und Niederschlesien.
On April 23, 2005, Michael Kretschmer was elected Secretary General of the Saxon CDU and subsequently confirmed in office several times.
Since December 9, 2017, he has been the state chairman of the CDU state association of Saxony.
He was first elected to the German Bundestag in 2002 as a direct candidate in the Görlitz constituency, where he served until 2017.
From 2005 to 2009, he was Deputy Chairman of the Education and Research Working Group of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.
From 2009 to 2017, Michael Kretschmer was deputy leader of the parliamentary group with responsibility for education and research as well as art, culture and media.
After the 2013 Bundestag elections until September 2017, Michael Kretschmer was also Chairman of the Saxony regional group in the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.
On August 22, 2017, Michael Kretschmer was elected President of the Saxon Adult Education Association (Sächsischer Volkshochschulverband e.V.).
He is also a member of the Fürst-Pückler-Park Association.
Michael Kretschmer has been Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony since December 13, 2017.

Alois Labermeyer
Managing Director,
LABAL GmbH

Since 2012 Managing Director of LABAL GmbH, EDI SaaS tools to support data validation, transparency of errors and increase data quality.
Until 2012 EDI manager at BMW AG and project manager for various logistics topics.

Simon Motter
Chairman of the Management Board,
Volkswagen Konzernlogistik GmbH & Co. OHG

Simon Motter has been Head of Volkswagen Group Logistics and Chairman of the Board of Management since January 2021.
As the central logistics unit of one of the world's largest car manufacturers, Volkswagen Group Logistics plans and manages material logistics between suppliers, logistics service providers and the Volkswagen Group's production sites on the one hand, and global and cross-brand vehicle logistics from the plants to dealers or importers on the other.
In short: around 250,000 containers per year and, in Europe alone, around 75 million cubic meters of car parts to the Volkswagen Group plants and 5.6 million vehicles from the plants to the customers.
The Berlin-born industrial engineer comes from Audi, where he was Head of Supply Chain at the Ingolstadt plant before moving to Wolfsburg.
Prior to this, he was Head of International Logistics at Audi, Head of Operations Logistics at the Audi engine plant in Györ, Hungary, Head of Process and Concept Development in Audi Brand Logistics and was also involved in logistics optimization at SEAT in Martorell, Spain.

Hildegard Müller
Präsidentin,
Verbands der Automobilindustrie (VDA)

Hildegard Müller, born in 1967, has been President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) since February 1, 2020.
Before studying business administration at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, she trained as a bank clerk at Dresdner Bank.
Most recently, she worked at Dresdner Bank as a department director.
She was a member of the German Bundestag from October 2002 to October 2008.
She was also Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor from 2005 to 2008.
In October 2008, Ms. Müller took over as Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries in Berlin.
From May 2016, she was a member of the Executive Board of innogy SE and was responsible for the Grid & Infrastructure division and the coordination of digitalization projects.

Dr. Alexander Rensink
Senior Account Director,
TSMC Europe B.V.

Alexander Rensink is responsible for account management & business development in the EMEA region at TSMC.
Besides HPC, Smartphone and IoT markets, the Automotive semiconductor growth opportunity is one of his focusareas.
Prior to joining TSMC, Alexander worked at European semiconductor companies ams and NXP Semiconductors in various strategic & business management roles.
Alexander is a Dutch citizen and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.

Marcus Schick
Senior Vice President Logistics,
Robert Bosch GmbH

Working for Bosch since 1985
1988 - 1989 Basic development R&D Automotive Electronics
1993 - 1996 Assistant to the commercial plant manager at the Bamberg plant
1996 - 1999 Group Manager Manufacturing Network Nozzle Holder
2000 - 2003 Director of Central Logistics
2003 - 2007 Head of Materials Management Bosch Bursa, Turkey
2007 - 2014 Head of the Diesel Systems logistics division
2014 - 2018 Head of Logistics Services in Transportation, Warehousing, Foreign Trade
2018 - 2022 Head of Logistics Automotive Aftermarket
2023 - Head of Logistics in the mobility sector

Prof. Dr. Martin Schwemmer
Professor of International Transport Economics and Logistics,
Hochschule Heilbronn

Martin Schwemmer is Professor of International Transport Management and Logistics at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences.
In 2021, he completed his doctorate on the success of start-ups in logistics.
In addition to start-ups and innovations, his focus is on the challenges and trends of supply chain management.
Prior to his professorship, he was Managing Director of the Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. in 2022/2023 and worked as a scientist and consultant in logistics market observation at the Fraunhofer Forschungsgesellschaft for over ten years.

Claus Stepputat
Director OES Sales,
HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA

Claus Stepputat has taken on responsibility in development, production,
logistics and sales after completing his technical and commercial training and working abroad.

Stefan Uhlig
Deputy Director,
Silicon Saxony e.V.

Stefan Uhlig graduated from TU Dresden with a degree in materials science engineering.
He then worked as a scientist at Fraunhofer IKTS and TU Dresden, where he specialized in functional high-performance ceramics.
He also worked as a process and development engineer at Fraunhofer, where he developed and optimized processes in microelectronics and photovoltaics, particularly in the field of thin-film depositions and their characterization.
In addition, Stefan Uhlig took on the role of project manager for regional, federal and EU projects in Silicon Saxony and acted as cluster and network manager for this initiative.

Stefan Weber
Director Global Logistics Innovation (Planning and Fulfillment),
Robert Bosch GmbH

Stefan Weber is Director Global Logistics Innovation in the Mobility Aftermarket division at Robert Bosch GmbH.
He leads an international team and is responsible for end-to-end process design in the area of planning and fulfillment as well as the implementation, successful operation and continuous improvement of the IT systems used.

Christian Will
Vice President Production Development,
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

until today Porsche Head of Production Development (Vice President)
until 2016 Porsche Head of Powertrains and Components (Vice President)
until 2013 Porsche Head of Costcenter Aggregate (Director)until 2000 Audi project manager of the new V-engine production and head of V-engine production in Györ
until 1996 Audi project team “Györ engine plant” and assistant to the divisional head of overall planning AUDI AG
until 1993 Audi trainee program and plant engineer engine production
until 1989 Studied mechanical engineering at Munich University of Applied Sciences