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ANDERNACH, 24th January 2023 – On the 18th and 19th January 2023, SHD AG presented its customers, interested parties and partners with a top networking event in the Kulturhalle in Ochtendung near Andernach, following the motto - The future starts today. Two days packed with exciting innovations and interesting content on all aspects of SHD products and partner company solutions. Networking on top - with great opportunities to exchange ideas and find inspiration for the future.
We have been organising a regular annual meeting for almost 20 years in order to engage in conversation with our customers away from the operational business and to stimulate an intensive exchange of ideas. Throughout the pandemic years, the event was held virtually. Now it was time to meet in person once again.
The event was launched under a new name and was attended by more than 200 participants. The SHD Technology Forum has now become the SHD Forum - since there is more to it than just technology transfer. Our mission is to support our customers on the path to their future with the most suitable IT strategy.
However, in order to implement our vision of a new SHD Forum, we needed more space than was available in the SHD office complex in Andernach. The Kulturhalle in Ochtendung was the perfect location: conveniently situated near Andernach and featuring state-of-the-art equipment.
Stefan Hahne, SHD AG CEO and host, welcomed the participants with the following statement: "It's wonderful that you are all here and that we can finally get together again in person. This year will mark exactly 40 years since we started our activities as an IT company. We are eager to present to you how cutting-edge technologies can open up innovative opportunities for your business. I wish you two insightful, enjoyable and very exciting days".
The SHD Forum 2023 opened with an inspiring keynote - Why a clear idea of the future is important for every organisation. This topic was addressed by speaker Martin Arnold, Managing Director of DTPA GmbH.
We presented four images of the future in furniture and kitchen retail: omnichannel, customer experience, sustainability and top employer. Our customers are familiar with the most important future trends. There is an increasing demand for furniture from e-commerce, more personalised experiences are required, consumers expect fast and free shipping options, environmental issues need to be addressed, and employees must also be technically proficient and well trained. Despite so many challenges, decision-makers still have a clear vision of the future of their business. Our agenda comprises four of the most important subjects and trends in the furniture and kitchen trade - or in other words, visions for the future.
Showcasing more than 15 of SHD's partner companies, the SHD Forum 2023 featured an extensive exhibition. There were partners from the furniture and kitchen industry as well as partners from the IT and technology sector. The exhibitors included: ALSO Deutschland GmbH, Baramundi Software AG, Cisco Systems GmbH, DHL 2-Mann-Handling GmbH, Diomex Software GmbH & Co.KG, Gräbert GmbH, Integrated Worlds GmbH, Lenovo (Deutschland) GmbH, moebel.de, NOVAmediatrain GmbH, Packsize GmbH, Paessler AG, POS Polsterservice GmbH, Proxess GmbH, reisewitz GmbH & Co. KG, TD SYNNEX Germany GmbH & Co. OHG, WatchGuard Technologies Germany GmbH.
A special highlight of the Forum was the panel discussion. Journalist and presenter Petra Bindl welcomed four business owners who each shared their own success story During the discussion, customers and interested parties had the opportunity to learn how other companies had already successfully tackled similar issues and challenges. Participants from the panel included: Thomas Dols from Friedhelm Schaffrath GmbH & Co. KG, Axel Klingeberg from Möbel Heinrich GmbH & Co. KG, Thorsten Wenig from Möbel AS Handels GmbH and Karl-Heinrich Wirth from Möbel Berta GmbH & Co. KG. Our sincere thanks to all participants.
The Escape Room on the subject of IT security provided plenty of fun and excitement. 4 players each experienced for themselves how easy it is to carry out attacks on selected users. Their task was to penetrate a company network and steal secret documents. The material for the game was provided by ALSO Deutschland GmbH. Many thanks!
A trade fair party was held on the first evening of the Forum. The discussions continued from the day and new contacts were made amidst an atmospheric ambience, with delicious food and cocktails. The eSteffania light show provided an impressive visual highlight.
Eric Hölper, Managing Director of SHD Einzelhandelssoftware GmbH, and Frank Pohl, Managing Director of SHD Kreative Planungs-Systeme GmbH, were extremely positive about the event.
Eric Hölper: "It is particularly gratifying when high expectations are exceeded. For me, that is definitely the case for this SHD Forum. We gave it a lot of thought in the run-up - the new name and the new venue were the logical consequence of the planned change in content. I believe this has been very successful. I received consistently positive feedback in many discussions with our customers and partners. Issues from the keynote speeches were addressed directly and the personal exchange of ideas came to life".
Frank Pohl continues: "I also received enthusiastic feedback all round. The conversations I had demonstrated that the issues were well thought out and selected and that the customers, following the keynote presentations among other things, already had initial ideas on how they could position and implement the information within their own operations. It was great to hear that".
