Medium-sized companies can accelerate their path to digitalization when they cooperate and share their ideas, experiences and best practices. Henrik A. Schunk, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Industry 4.0 platform and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCHUNK, founded the "Next Level Mittelstand" initiative in 2024 for this purpose. He emphasizes: "We have noticed that many smaller companies are still struggling with digitalization. Therefore, the goal of the initiative is to bring companies together and to jointly develop practical strategies and solutions for the development of digital competence in the SME sector.
At the beginning of April 2025, SCHUNK, ebm-papst, HEITEC and Blockbrain jointly founded Next Level Mittelstand GmbH in Heilbronn, right in the heart of Europe's new AI center, in order to expand the offering for the successfully growing network in a future-proof and scalable manner. Schwarz Digits intends to become a shareholder of Next Level Mittelstand GmbH together with a Schwarz Group company. The companies aim to contribute their expertise and resources from industry, process knowledge and software to create an operational space for the implementation and provision of joint solution concepts. The founding of Next Level Mittelstand GmbH is a decisive step towards driving forward digitalization in the SME sector and strengthening the competitiveness of companies.
"We are thus creating the structure for an open SME ecosystem that can grow quickly," explains Henrik A. Schunk. "We are delighted to have gained Schwarz Digits as a strong partner and shareholder for the initiative. We can thus combine the interests of industrial companies with the dynamism and expertise of a leading digital provider. The fact that we can rely on a local partner is a significant strategic advantage in view of the current global political situation - especially with regard to a sovereign and secure digital infrastructure." Bernd Wagner, Divisional Director Schwarz Digits Sales and CEO STACKIT, adds: "As a digital and infrastructure partner from Germany, strengthening the digital sovereignty of SMEs is a key concern for us. 'Next Level Mittelstand' brings together exactly the right players to drive forward practical digitalization - collaboratively, securely and at eye level."
As a central point of contact, "Next Level Mittelstand" promotes the development of practical digitalization solutions. Via the platform, companies can share ideas, utilize synergies and develop and implement individual strategies together with start-ups and IT experts. Participation is worthwhile: the jointly developed results are evaluated and validated by "Next Level Mittelstand" and then made available to all members. This not only addresses the specific challenges faced by SMEs, but also creates a digital basis for participating in future shared data spaces in industry.
New members are very welcome! In addition to companies, IT service providers, software developers, start-ups and venture capital investors can get actively involved.
www.nextlevelmittelstand.com