EVK DI Kershhaggl GmbH, based in Raaba near Graz, is a company and a classic hidden champion - internationally active, on the market for decades and specialising in the high-tech sector. We were able to talk to Alexander Fetz and Jasmin Haas from EVK about their business model and the challenges as CFO. Of course, this also gave us insights into how and why EVK uses COMMITLY.

Alex, you are the Sales & Marketing Manager of EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH. EVK's claim is "Experts in Industrial Imaging" - that sounds super exciting! Would you like to tell us briefly what that's all about?

Alex: For years, we have seen ourselves as experts in the field of industrial imaging solutions because of our experience directly in industry and with customers. This runs through all areas of the company. We have built up a team of experts, a large part of whom come directly from research & development, but this also applies to sales and marketing. And it is also relevant in the organisational area that the employees bring along or build up a basic technical understanding in order to be able to communicate accordingly when delivering our systems to the customer.

Industrial Imaging refers to imaging processes in industry. We have 4 industries in which we are increasingly active: Food industry, Recycling industry, Pharmaceutical industry and Mining industry. There, our technology supports the processing of mineral raw materials as well as the processing of secondary raw materials. The spectrum is quite wide.

Can you give us an example of this so that we can imagine it a bit better?

There are basically 2 directions in which we orient ourselves with our solutions. One is analysis, the other direction is sorting. Perhaps first an example from the analysis, the division that we have been increasingly developing for 3 years now.

Let's take a plant that is fired with different secondary raw materials, i.e. plastic waste, paper waste, in order to reach certain temperatures in the plant and to produce cement, for example. In this case, our system is needed to determine the calorific value of the materials used. It is comparable to a campfire with a large and a small piece of wood. If you throw a piece of plastic into it, there is a reaction that affects the temperature.

The measurement takes place in advance?

Yes, we can detect and analyse this in advance with our technology. This gives the customer the advantage of being able to plan how his processes will run and thus make them more and more effective over time.

We have been active in the field of sorting for over 25 years. One example here is the food industry. If the customer has a stream of food, then there is always a risk of contamination, e.g. plastic parts, wood, wire, etc. We detect the hazardous material in this stream with our camera technology. In the same way, however, the quality of the food is also determined and the customer can use this information to decide whether or not he wants to have these goods in the material flow.

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

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

Wow! Very impressive. You are represented internationally with your technology, if I understand correctly.

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

Jasmin, I would like to draw a connection here to the tasks of a CFO. When I listen to the descriptions, then a technical understanding is obviously a basic requirement?

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

Actually, I am not the classic CFO. We are a small company and therefore I am responsible for the entire internal organisational area. This also includes human resources, payroll, quality management, internal processes and procedures, administration, secretarial services, administration and the area of accounting and controlling.

Alex: I definitely 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 product range. What challenges does this business model pose for you as CFO?

Jasmin: We are active in the B2B sector and it is a project business. That brings fluctuations with it and makes advance planning or forecasting very important. Due to existing orders, we have a maximum of 8 - 12 weeks of foresight and for the period beyond that, we only have the past as orientation. This estimate 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 internationally active and focus on a highly specialised niche and cover several sectors, we are subject to trends that are decoupled from the general economic development. For example, a situation can arise where the mining sector is in decline, or vice versa, while the recycling sector is on the rise. This makes it incredibly difficult to make predictions in financial planning.

And how important is the topic of Cash position for EVK?

Jasmin: For us, everything depends on turnover and Cash position . We are now very good at forecasting sales. Of course, this is also due to our long-standing and very good customer relationships. As always, costs are easier to predict. The existing Cash position ultimately gives us our room for maneuver. However, due to the business model described above, we do not have a plan that forecasts the next two years, for example.

Could you briefly describe your internal process of planning and forecasting?

Jasmin: We have regular meetings, at least monthly, where the sales team, the managing director and I sit together. We discuss the past, the order situation and the forecast for the next few months.

You use the Team Edition of COMMITLY. How have you integrated the tool organisationally, does it reflect this body?

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 doesn't need to. In the end, you can see every single transfer in COMMITLY. We currently have 5 authorised users. The two managing directors, two employees from the accounting department and me.

The main user with the task of updating data and adjusting forecasts is currently still me. The plan is to hand over the maintenance of the data to my staff. In reality, updating and categorising takes no more than 5 minutes per day, which is very fast.

The task of adjusting the forecast, however, will remain with me. This is done once a month. The notifications about the deviations in COMMITLY help here.

With the last point you mentioned the monthly meetings. What advantages do you see for the EVK through the use of COMMITLY? 

Jasmin: Cash position has always been an issue for us and we have been looking for a tool for a long time. Actually, we were also looking for a process for Cash flow planning in general. It wasn't just about creating a plan, which is relatively easy, but also about regular maintenance. Excel had the disadvantage that if you want to enter the inputs and outputs after two weeks, the whole process starts all over again and is therefore far too time-consuming. We simply don't have the resources for this.

And since timeliness is so important, bookkeeping was of course no help either. The prerequisite is that everything has been booked so that I can build on it. I'm simply much too late to monitor Cash position.

With COMMITLY, we not only have Cash position under control, but also have the planning process covered. Our managing director can easily see which transfers have already been received or whether certain payments have already been made. And he can immediately make a comparison with the forecast. Even if the accounting department is not in the office or I am not available. And your price/performance ratio is really excellent.

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 the implementation. You are doing a great job!

Thank you, I'm happy to pass that on to the team! Thank you very much for your time!

About EVK DI Kerschhaggl

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

Since its foundation, EVK has been dedicated to developing solutions for the analysis and sorting of piece goods and bulk materials - solutions that set new standards.

Credits: Photo by EVK DI Kershhaggl