Christian Harm

Christian Harm will join the management board of Linde Material Handling on January 1, 2019. As member of the management board, he will be responsible for finance and for the production sites in Aschaffenburg and Weilbach.
Forkliftaction News caught up with Harm to find out more about him.

FLA: Prior to this appointment, what has been your biggest achievement?
CH: Without a doubt, masterminding the Dematic acquisition which, I believe, has changed KION Group forever. Before Dematic, we were probably perceived as primarily an industrial truck company, but when we added Dematic to the mix, we were transformed into a full-service provider of intralogistics and innovative software solutions.

FLA: What excites you most about the materials handling industry?
CH: It is the passion I experience on a daily basis when working with other professionals in this industry, not to mention the dedication to their customers.

FLA: What is the most significant change you have seen in the industry in your time?
CH: How quickly mobile automation has grown from a futuristic concept into a reality that will eventually take the driver out of the truck.

FLA: What is the biggest opportunity that you see in your new role?
CH: My aim is to help Linde MH transform itself from the world's leading industrial truck brand into being recognised as the leader for materials handling solutions. To some, it might seem like a tall order, but I think it is within our grasp to accomplish this transformation.

FLA: Can you share one piece of information about yourself which would surprise our readers?
CH: When I graduated from university in Austria, I thought I would never work for a German company. You see, Austria is a smaller country in many ways and Germany is the huge neighbour, which lots of Austrians view as a kind of "big brother". And now, here I am, with 15 years under my belt working and living in Germany, and I do not regret a single day that I have been here.