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From Thomas Christmann & Ulrich Wolf
Zittau. Digades GmbH from Zittau is insolvent. Managing Director Sascha Berger informed the public of this for the first time on Thursday. Accordingly, he filed an application at the beginning of July with the aim of restructuring the company, which still has 96 employees, on his own. The Dresden district court approved his request. "That makes me happy and motivates me," he said. Berger sees the proceedings as a great opportunity.
The 37-year-old cited the falling demand for radio remote controls for parking heaters as one reason for the economic difficulties. These had once accounted for 90 percent of production. The electronics specialist once rose to become the world market leader in this segment. Recently, however, car manufacturers have increasingly turned to smartphone control.
"We tried to compensate for the business," said Berger. "But we didn't succeed." Instead, Digades invested in new projects and business areas. These included dfreeeze a dedicated app control for parking heaters and with diguard an intelligent motorcycle emergency call system. "We haven't sold enough of these," reported the Managing Director.
On the other hand, the costs for energy and personnel remained and increased. Berger initially did not want to and was not allowed to lay off employees. The reason for this is the development center at the company headquarters on the B96 in Zittau, which the company moved into in 2018. Subsidies were provided for the multi-million euro construction on the condition that the number of employees grew to 180. Digades did not manage to achieve this; due to the economic developments, there was also a lack of liquidity for the now impending repayment. In the end, Berger negotiated a three-year grace period in the fall of 2023.
He then sent this March its 150 employees on short-time working and reduced his working hours by a fifth. His company also withdrew from all regional sponsorship activities. In April, brother and co-managing director Tim Berger left the family business. Since then, the 37-year-old has continued to run the business alone, which is also Member of the Board of the Sachsenmetall Employers' Association is. At the beginning of May, Berger announced that Digades around a third of its employees must be released.
Two million euros to be saved annually
The employment agency is paying the salaries of the remaining 96 employees until insolvency proceedings are opened at the end of September. The entrepreneur has used the money freed up to pay the suppliers, who - due to the situation - often only offer advance payment. Further savings have also been made, such as the discontinuation of unprofitable products. Digades will also pay less rent for the buildings and use less space. The bottom line is that Berger wants to save two million euros a year. This will help to "stabilize the niche markets and grow in them", he said.
In addition to control units for cars, this also includes digital access technologies for other types of vehicles such as snowmobiles, boats, motorcycles, quads, sweepers, excavators and agricultural machinery. Smaller quantities are in demand here and are therefore not lucrative for large manufacturers, said the Managing Director. For the electronics specialist, however, it is; it has already secured a multi-million euro order from a two-wheeler manufacturer in Zittau. Another business area is the growing market for vehicle control elements such as buttons. The company was able to win a US car manufacturer as a customer for this. There are also other smaller orders in all three areas.
If everything goes well, Berger plans to return to regular operations with Digades at the beginning of 2025. "As a strong and solid Zittau-based company that wants to grow." According to forecasts, turnover this year and next is expected to reach 16.5 million euros, rising to 18 million euros in 2026.
Not affected by the insolvency is Digades-Building GmbH & Co. KG, which owns the company premises and the real estate on the B96, is not affected by the insolvency. All of the company's financial flows are pooled in an asset management company: Buskam Investment GmbH, based in Berlin. It is a letterbox company, managed by a commercial law firm. It belongs to the company founder Lutz Berger, who is now 60 years old. A profit transfer agreement between Digades and Buskam Investment, the former Digades Holding GmbH, has been in place since 2008.
