Staying on track together

Your first year together on the Board has coincided with a highly dynamic phase. How have you found this ­period personally?

Maximilian Heindl (MH): It has been very much defined by a challenging market environment that we have managed to deal with really well by working together. At the same time, these challenges have motivated us to establish key foundations for the future. The clear division of tasks on the Board has helped us take responsibility for specific areas and make decisions quickly. For example, we’ve been able to keep developing the organisation, strengthen our cooperation and start working on key strategic topics. All in all, it has been a challenging year but also a very successful one.

Vinzenz Heindl (VH): For me, joining the Board has been an exciting assignment and a great responsibility. The fact that we defined our roles clearly from the start was a crucial reason why we’ve been successful. While Maximilian focuses on the overall management of the company, I’m responsible for the market, customers and sales. This means we can act quickly, stay close to our customers and provide important momentum to drive the further development of our business. Especially in a dynamic market environment, it’s crucial to have clear responsibilities and close coordination. That’s why I also look back on this year very positively.

You two are not just colleagues on the Board, but also brothers. How do you manage to work together closely and coordinate business on the Board and yet still create enough space to consider strategic topics and other issues?

MH: One advantage is definitely that the whole Board works together in one office. This means that lots of things are simply coordinated very naturally as we work together every day. We do of course also have jour fixe meetings, but there are lots of things that we clarify directly and quickly. This delivers rapid decisions and means we engage continuously.

VH: At the same time, we very deliberately create space to consider long-term issues. Twice a year, we both step back from day-to-day business and ask ourselves: Are we still on the right trajectory? What developments are we seeing? And where do we need to set the course for the years ahead? We find these conversations really valuable.

MH: Our joint hikes, which we talked about in a previous edition of PROfil, are still important to us. When we’re out hiking, we’re not Board members but simply brothers.

VH: This time we spend together reminds us that we not only share responsibility for Progroup, but also have a responsibility for each other. These responsibilities are equally important to us. On these days, we do also speak about Progroup but we don’t just chat about the company. The conversation is often about our family, technology, science or very different topics. This is precisely what makes this time so precious.

You have different areas of responsibility and contribute different strengths. What is it that you value about the other person’s leadership style?

MH: We really benefit from the fact we’re different people. Vinzenz has enormous energy and a real drive to create new things. He is open towards people, recognises opportunities and manages to inspire others to embrace new ideas. This dynamism is a huge benefit, especially in a market that is constantly changing.

VH: I really admire Maximilian’s calmness and clarity. He makes decisions in a very considered way and provides reassurance even in challenging situations. He listens attentively, carefully weighs up different perspectives and never loses sight of the long-term objective. This level headedness provides guidance and creates trust.

Vinzenz, let’s focus on your role as CSO: what challenges and opportunities have you encountered in your initial period in the role and where have you been able to provide fresh impetus?

VH: I joined the Board at a time when there was a significant downturn in the market. In a situation like this, it’s really important to keep your focus and maintain close links with customers. That’s why it was important to me right from the outset to incorporate the market and customer perspective into decisions to an even greater extent and to work with the teams so we could respond quickly as the conditions in the market changed. We’ve consistently developed our sales activities, stepped up our cooperation with our customers and further enhanced our presence in the market. The fact that our incoming orders have stabilised in this challenging environment shows that we’re on the right track.

Progroup’s ten-year strategy entitled “Two Twentyfive” came to an end in 2025. What will be your priorities in the years ahead?

MH: Our ten-year strategy “Two Twentyfive” enabled us to keep developing Progroup successfully. At the same time, the economic environment has changed significantly in the last few years. Today, markets are evolving faster, requirements are becoming more complex, and companies need to respond more flexibly.

This is why with “Next Level” we’re deliberately embracing a three-year programme of development. This isn’t about fundamentally changing ­direction, but about establishing the foundations for the next step in our development. We’re deliberately ­investing in highly efficient processes, a resilient organisation and even closer cooperation right along our value chain. At the same time, we consistently align our actions to ­reflect the needs of our customers.Growth remains a key objective for us. This requires a stable foundation.

Vinzenz, Progroup’s communication is shaped by phrases like Power of ­Cooperation. What daily evidence is there showing that these phrases are more than just mission statements?

VH: For me, the Power of Cooperation is evident wherever cooperation achieves more than any individual person could achieve on their own. This all starts within our company: Our processes are interlinked across divisions, functions and different sites. We can only operate reliably and successfully if everyone contributes and works well ­together. At the same time, we also embrace this idea with our customers, suppliers and partners. Our packaging park models provide a great example of this. They elevate the cooperation to a new level because they closely link together processes and so create added value for all parties involved.

Lots of family-run companies are very successful at a regional level, but struggle to cope with large order ­volumes. Cooperation opens up ­opportunities here: together we can pool our expertise and so develop markets that would be difficult for ­individual companies to gain access to. This is why we regard cooperation not as a response to challenges, but as an active lever to support growth and the future viability of the company.

The Professionals Academy, the independent knowledge and networking platform for family-run companies in the packaging industry, also plays an important role here.

You’ve just described how cooperation creates the future. Your father, ­Progroup founder Jürgen Heindl, often uses the phrase “future-proof for generations to come”. What meaning does this have for you today?

MH: For us, future-proof for generations to come means combining ­economic success with long-term ­responsibility. Of course we need to achieve our targets today. At the same time, the decisions we make today are designed to still have relevance in ten or twenty years’ time. As family businesspeople, we don’t see ourselves as administrators of short-term success, but as custodians of the business. We’ve taken on the ­responsibility of passing Progroup on to the next ­generation in a strong position. This mindset shapes the way we think about opportunities as well as risks. This includes responsibility for the people who make Progroup what it is. Long-term success is created by committed employees who contribute their knowledge, ­experience and ideas. This is why we invest in their development and ­create an environment that is ­defined by trust and ­appreciation. After all, for us as family business­people, ­acting with an eye on the ­future for generations to come does not just mean thinking about our own family. It means taking ­responsibility for our employees, our customers, our ­partners and the ­generations that will come after us.

Your father is still active as an entre­preneur even though he’s no longer ­involved in day-to-day operations. What does his commitment mean to you?

VH: For me, it’s a great privilege to be able to draw on this wealth of experience. I saw for myself over many years the clarity, foresight and entrepreneurial consistency that our ­father displayed in establishing ­Progroup as a company. He remains an important sparring partner for us today. Not ­because he tells us which path we should pursue, but because he gives us food for thought by asking the right questions and giving us fresh perspectives. This helps us to keep scrutinising the decisions we make with a critical eye.

MH: Our father has always been a ­visionary. He still is today. The ideas he had more than 30 years ago changed the industry forever. Today, his focus is the future of family-run SMEs in our industry as a whole. He’s interested in the question of how family-run companies can continue to remain competitive in the future. I’m really impressed at the level of passion and creative drive he still has in continuing to champion these topics. This shows that entrepreneurship was a state of mind and never just a task for him.

Let’s finish by looking ahead: What benchmark would you use to judge that Progroup is still operating ­successfully in a few years’ time?

VH: If our customers still regard us in the future as the partner that they ­really want and are able to work with to grow and successfully shape changes. And if we succeed in continuing to develop our European network so that real added value is created for all parties involved.

MH: If we can demonstrate that a long-term mindset and economic success are not a contradiction. Our aspiration is to keep developing Progroup so that even ten or twenty years from now the company is still one of the market leaders in our industry: innovative, reliable and with a clear attitude.