Driving digital transformation and future viability in the SME sector
Possehl Digital joins Next Level Mittelstand
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This article has been translated for your convenience using machine translation. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation. The official text is the German version of this content.
Lübeck, August 6, 2025 – Possehl Digital, a company of the Lübeck-based Possehl Group and a central driver of its digital transformation, is taking another step towards safeguarding the Group’s future: by joining Next Level Mittelstand (NLM), Possehl Digital is strengthening its innovative power and unlocking new potential for all companies within the Group.
Together, Possehl Digital and Next Level Mittelstand combine “digital strength” with hands-on expertise “from SMEs for SMEs” to achieve real innovation boosts through open collaboration and knowledge sharing.
As the independent digital unit within the long-established Possehl Group—founded in 1847 and today active worldwide with more than 200 companies—Possehl Digital leverages cutting-edge technologies to promote the transformation and competitiveness of medium-sized industrial businesses. Membership in NLM now gives Possehl Digital and other Group companies practical access to proven digital solutions and a strong cooperation and knowledge-sharing network. Peer-to-peer, from SMEs for SMEs.
Together with other NLM members, Possehl Digital will systematically test digital topics and prototypes in so-called “workstreams.” From the outset, two to three like-minded SME members of NLM will be involved, reducing development effort, enabling scalability, and preventing each company from starting from scratch. This allows solutions to be applied across multiple units at once, while the experiences of the NLM community are summarized in compact reports and passed directly on to all Possehl Group companies.
In addition, portfolio companies of the Possehl Group gain the opportunity to further develop their digital offerings within the NLM community, validate them in practice, and—after successful testing—receive the sought-after NLM Approval for their proven “recipes.” Access to a wide range of SME-oriented digital solutions and partner companies strengthens the entire Group in expanding its digital capabilities.
The intensive exchange continues in best-practice forums, management and leadership meetings with other manufacturing SMEs, as well as through structured documentation of results and learnings. Possehl Digital Scouts from Group companies and from Possehl Digital itself play an important role here by filtering relevant digital trends, providing feedback, and ensuring knowledge transfer between the Group and the network. In addition, digital formats such as on-demand updates and webinars are offered to enable a sustainable shared learning curve within the community.
Christoph Haß, Managing Director of Possehl Digital and responsible for the Group’s Digital Division:
“The Next Level Mittelstand membership is a strong, practice-driven catalyst for the digital transformation of our companies. It not only provides access to proven solutions and best practices but also opens direct exchange with other SMEs and industry innovation leaders facing very similar challenges.”
Henrik Schunk, Managing Director of Next Level Mittelstand and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Schunk S.E.:
“The collaboration with Possehl Digital underscores our practical approach of delivering solutions from SMEs for SMEs. Especially within our workstreams, all participants benefit from peer-to-peer exchange, tested developments, and fast, joint implementation, which reduces effort for each individual and drives the industry forward as a whole.”
About Next Level Mittelstand
Next Level Mittelstand is an implementation community for industrial SMEs. It brings members together to jointly develop effective digital solutions that deliver quick wins and foster sustainable growth. Through close collaboration within the community, the digital transformation of German SMEs is systematically advanced.
The goal is to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs through cooperation, knowledge exchange, and the joint development of digital solutions, while spreading proven best practices more widely.
About Possehl Digital and the Possehl Group
As part of the Possehl Group—comprising more than 200 medium-sized industrial companies worldwide—Possehl Digital invests in relevant digital technology firms, providing access to suitable digital offerings for the Group and the wider industry, and thus making an important contribution to the future viability of the industrial SME sector.
The Possehl Group, with around 13,300 employees in over 30 countries, generated revenues of approximately €6.8 billion in fiscal year 2024. Ten independent business divisions, including Mechanical Engineering, Construction, Electronics, and Digital, stand for innovation, diversity, and entrepreneurial responsibility. Possehl Digital develops and tests digital solutions that—through NLM membership—can be made widely available to and scaled across the SME sector.
