Case Study: Interview with Jasmin Haas, CFO of EVK

EVK DI Kershhaggl GmbH, based in Raaba near Graz, is a company and a classic hidden champion – active internationally, on the market for decades and specialised in the high technology sector. We had the chance to talk with Alexander Fetz and Jasmin Haas from EVK about their business model and the challenges of being a CFO. Of course, this also gave us insights into how and why EVK uses COMMITLY.

Alex, you are Sales & Marketing Manager at EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH. EVK’s claim is “Experts in Industrial Imaging” – that sounds really exciting! Would you briefly describe to us what it is all about?

Alex: For years, based on our experience directly in industry and at our customers’ sites, we have seen ourselves as experts in the field of industrial imaging solutions. That runs through every area of our company. We have built up a team of experts, most of whom come directly from research and development, but the same applies to sales and marketing. And in the organisational area, too, it is relevant that employees bring or build up a basic technical understanding, so that they can also communicate appropriately when we deliver our systems to the customer.

Industrial imaging refers to imaging techniques in industry. There are four sectors in which we are particularly active: the food industry, the recycling industry, the pharmaceutical industry and mining. There, our technology supports the processing of mineral raw materials as well as the treatment of secondary raw materials. So the range is quite broad.

Alexander Fetz, Sales & Marketing Manager at EVK

Can you give us an example so that we can picture it a bit better?

There are basically two directions our solutions are aimed at. One is analysis, the other is sorting. Perhaps first an example from analysis, the segment we have been developing intensively for three years now.

Take a plant that is fired with various secondary raw materials, that is, with plastic waste and paper waste, in order to reach certain temperatures in the plant and thereby produce cement, for example. In this case you need our system so that the calorific value of the materials used can be determined. It is comparable to a campfire with one large and one small piece of wood. If you throw a piece of plastic in, there is a reaction that affects the temperature.

And the measurement takes place beforehand?

Yes, with our technology we can detect and analyse that in advance. The advantage for the customer is that they can plan how their processes run and thus make them more and more effective over time.

In the field of sorting we have been active for more than 25 years. One example here is the food industry. When the customer has a stream of food products, there is always the risk of contamination, for instance by pieces of plastic, wood, wire and so on. With our camera technology we detect the hazardous material in this stream. At the same time, the quality of the food is determined, and with this information the customer can decide whether or not they want this product in the material stream.

Does that mean you recognise patterns using image recognition and artificial intelligence?

The process you describe is, compared to our technology, a relatively simple process of image recognition by software. With us it goes almost a bit in the direction of science fiction. We recognise not only the image but also the chemical composition, which means we recognise the invisible. Using our hyperspectral analysis we look through the visible light and thereby recognise the composition of the substances.

Wow! Very impressive. If I understood correctly, you are present internationally with your technology.

Yes, we have been active internationally for more than 20 years. We serve customers in the USA, in Asia – especially South Korea – as well as Africa and Australia. Of course we also supply machine builders and plant operators in Austria, Germany and Europe in general.

Jasmin, at this point I would like to move on to the tasks of a CFO. Listening to these descriptions, a technical understanding is obviously a basic requirement?

Jasmin: We see ourselves as experts, and of course that is needed in the organisational area just as much. Even if we do not necessarily have to understand the technology in detail, at least a certain basic understanding of the product and the processes is necessary.

Jasmin Haas, CFO of EVK

Actually, I am not the classic CFO. We are a small company, and so I am responsible for the entire internal organisational area. That also includes human resources, payroll, quality management, internal processes and workflows, administration, the office and, of course, accounting and controlling.

Alex: In any case, I know that I have to go to Jasmin when it comes to money. (laughs)

You are the CFO of an internationally active company with a highly specialised offering. What challenge does this business model pose for you as a CFO?

Jasmin: We are active in the B2B sector and it is project business. That brings fluctuations with it and makes advance planning, or the forecast, very important. Through existing orders we have a maximum of 8 to 12 weeks of visibility, and for the period beyond that all we have as a guide is the past. This assessment is then supplemented by a projection which is worked out together with the team.

Alex: I would like to add that our projects have a certain, even anti-cyclical character. Because we are active internationally, focus on a highly specialised niche and cover several sectors, we are subject to trends that decouple from general economic developments. So it can happen, for example, that mining shows a decline, or the other way around, while recycling picks up. That makes it incredibly difficult to make predictions in financial planning.

And how important is the topic of liquidity for EVK?

Jasmin: With us, everything depends on revenue and liquidity. By now we are very good at forecasting revenue. That is of course also due to our long-standing and very good customer relationships. Costs, as always, are easier to predict. In the end, the liquidity available determines our room for manoeuvre. Because of the business model described, however, we do not have a plan that forecasts the next two years, for example.

Could you perhaps briefly describe your internal planning or forecasting process?

Jasmin: We have regular meetings, at least monthly, where the sales team, the managing director and I sit down together. In them we go through the past, the order situation and the forecast for the coming months.

You use the Team Edition of COMMITLY. How have you embedded the tool organisationally – is this group reflected in it?

Jasmin: No. Because of the sensitivity of the data, we involve employees very selectively. A sales employee like Alex, for example, has no access here, but he does not need it either. In the end you can see every single transfer in COMMITLY. At the moment we have authorised five users: the two managing directors, two employees from accounting and myself.

For the time being I am still the main user, with the task of updating data and adjusting forecasts. The plan here is that the maintenance of the data in particular will then be handed over to my employees. Although updating and categorising in truth takes no more than five minutes a day at most – it goes very quickly.

The task of adjusting the forecast, however, will stay with me. That happens once a month. The notifications about deviations in COMMITLY help here.

With that last point you touched on the monthly reviews. What advantages do you see for EVK from using COMMITLY?

Jasmin: For us, liquidity has always been an issue and we had been looking for a tool for a long time. Actually also for a cash flow planning process in general. It was not just about creating a plan – that is relatively easy – but above all about maintaining it regularly. Excel had the disadvantage that if you want to enter the incoming and outgoing payments after two weeks, the whole thing starts all over again and is therefore far too time-consuming. We simply lack the resources for that.

And since being up to date is so important, accounting was of no help either. The prerequisite there is that everything has been posted before I can build on it at all. By then I am simply far too late for monitoring liquidity.

With COMMITLY we not only have liquidity under control, we have also covered the planning process straight away. Our managing director can easily see which transfers have already come in or whether certain payments have already been made. And he can immediately compare that with the forecast. Even when accounting is not in the office or I cannot be reached. And in terms of price/performance you are really outstanding.

Where can we get better?

You are a young company and mistakes can creep in, we are aware of that. But the support is great. I have already entered my wishes in the new feedback portal and I am looking forward to seeing them implemented. You are doing a great job!

Thank you, I will gladly pass that on to the team! Many thanks for your time!

About EVK DI Kerschhaggl

EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH is a world leader in the development and manufacture of sensor-based sorting and analysis systems for the recycling, mining, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Since it was founded, EVK has been dedicated to developing solutions for the analysis and sorting of piece goods and bulk material – solutions that set new standards.

Credits: Photo by EVK DI Kershhaggl