The disruptor

Similarly to a velociraptor in the jungle of primeval times, our disruptor sweeps through the electronic and mechanical undergrowth of his territory. Always on the lookout for an application that he can incorporate. Always ready to track down established processes and turn them into something completely new.

Frank Schröder – a lateral thinker with courage and method

Et voila, Frank Schröder comes around the corner. Frank “Building Technology” Schröder, he adds, grinning. Actually, the 49-year-old operations engineer is not scary at all. Rather, he is open and warm-hearted. And captivating. Because when it comes to “his” building technology, Frank Schröder cannot and does not want to hide his enthusiasm for his workplace.

Schröder has been here since day one. At the Bad Pyrmont site, at least. “I completed my apprenticeship as an operations technician at Phoenix Contact in Blomberg and was there for a total of eleven years before I was given the chance to be at the forefront here on the greenfield site.” In 1996, Schröder started with just one colleague and the responsibility for the facility management of a single building. “Back then, Phoenix Contact was developing the production of printed circuit boards here in Bad Pyrmont. I said at the time that this would be the future.”

The zero-current winner

The new site grew rapidly, and Frank Schröder and his team grew with it. But how did a “completely normal” master operations technician and facility manager become “Building Technology Schröder”? Schröder can name his “moment of enlightenment” immediately: “2013, at and during the Wave Trophy.” Together with his colleague Frank Knafla, he formed the “Frank & Frank” team. And he didn’t just win the rally, but also an intensive insight into social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Since then, the robust East Westphalian romps through all networker levels.

“That is when I realized the importance of networking, of working together on bigger goals.” It wasn’t just technicians involved in the rally, but members of the sales, marketing, and development teams as well. A look outside of the box, the interest in new topics, the overcoming of individual barriers – “since then I have been a man of the new media”.

On the roof in Bad Pyrmont

Frank Schröder discovered an ideal partner and kindred spirit in Bernhard Tilmans, who has been responsible for the development of the Building Automation Business Unit in Sales Germany since 2015. “Together, we are now pushing through projects and developing ideas.” The once rather publicity-shy Schröder became a much-sought-after speaker who can easily inspire a hall full of 150 experts with his talks.

From toolbox to laptop

“I have been co-managing and involving myself in our Building 4 from the very first sketches since 2015”, Frank Schröder says, and not without pride. And he has a right to be proud, because the building is bursting with innovations, whether in energy efficiency, ventilation and air conditioning, building automation, mobile networking with its own app, right through to rain and service water management. Augmented reality is used as a part of the operations technology, and in the open-plan building, seating groups with fully automatic lighting distribution and seat recognition invite guests to linger. The PV system on the roof feeds renewable energy into a system to which, among other loads, the charging stations for electric vehicles are connected. “Naturally, with automatic occupancy displays and billing.” adds Schröder.

Innovation in the team

Where does a facility manager actually get the information about such technologies and their possible use in the company’s own buildings? Why is Schröder so close to the developers and the product portfolio (“I’m practically swimming in our 80,000 products and help myself to them.”)? A visit to Frank Schröder’s department makes it clear how unusually this operating technician understands his area of responsibility. After all, this is where technicians sit together with in-house software developers who work together to use the company’s own hardware and software products in its own buildings. “We are system integrators in our own company,” is how they describe their unusual job. And add: “What we do and are allowed to do here is unheard of anywhere else.” Looking at the events at which Schröder is invited to speak, it is safe to assume that Phoenix Contact’s example is likely to set a precedent. Frank Schröder not only links the company’s own products to profitable new and unimagined tasks in buildings, but also gives new impetus to the entire industrial architecture. The disruptor is also revolutionizing the job description of the industrial and building technology engineer.

Phoenix Contact Gebäudeautomation
Der Gebäudeflüsterer

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