Uwe Kobbert
Founder and CEO of symestic GmbH. Over 30 years in the manufacturing industry. Dipl.-Ing. Telecommunications Engineering/Electronics.
I have been working on one question since 1989: how do you make production processes measurable, controllable and better? First as a consultant at SAS, then as Head of Industry at STERIA, where I was responsible for process control systems and Manufacturing Execution Systems in the food and beverage industry.
In 1995, I founded symestic GmbH in Dossenheim near Heidelberg. The conviction then was the same as it is today:
Manufacturing companies need transparency about what is happening on the shop floor. Without real-time data, downtime remains invisible, losses are estimated rather than measured, and decisions are based on gut feeling.
In the early years, we delivered classic MES projects. On-premise, individually configured, with everything that comes with it:
Server rooms, lengthy implementations, costly maintenance. It worked, but it was slow and expensive. Especially for mid-sized companies, the entry into professional production data collection was often too complex and too costly.
The strategic decision that changed SYMESTIC came in the mid-2010s:
We stopped moving existing software to the cloud and instead built a completely new platform from the ground up. Cloud-native, on Microsoft Azure, with microservice architecture and an API-first approach. No lift-and-shift, but a fresh start.
The result:
The SYMESTIC Cloud MES platform, now deployed in 18 countries across four continents. Over 15,000 machines are connected, from injection molding machines in the automotive industry to CNC machining centers in metal processing and packaging lines in the food industry. The platform is entirely self-funded, without external investors, because it matters to me that we determine the strategic direction ourselves.
What drives me:
Over three decades, I have seen hundreds of manufacturing operations from the inside. Every company believes it knows its production. But almost every time we switch on automatic data collection for the first time, a different picture emerges than expected. Availability is lower, micro-stoppages are more frequent, setup times are longer than assumed. Not because the people work poorly, but because without data, perception is systematically distorted.
Solving that problem is what I work on every day.
Career
Since 1995: symestic GmbH, Founder and CEO. Built the company from inception to a cloud-native MES platform with an international customer base. Responsible for strategy, product vision and business development.
1992-1995: STERIA Software Partner GmbH, Head of Industry. Responsible for process control systems and Manufacturing Execution Systems in the food and beverage industry.
1989-1992: SAS, Consultant. Industrial consulting at the Heidelberg office.
Areas of expertise
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), OEE and production KPIs, shopfloor management, cloud-native manufacturing software, Industry 4.0, lean production, industrial automation, process control systems, ERP-MES integration, PLC programming, JIT/JIS processes, batch manufacturing, automotive production, food and beverage industry.
SYMESTIC in numbers
Over 15,000 connected machines worldwide. 18 countries across four continents. Over 5,000 active users. 0% customer churn in 2024. Approximately 150% SaaS growth in 2024. 25+ years of MES experience. Self-funded without external investors.
In the SYMESTIC Blog
I write about what I learn from working with manufacturing companies every day: how OEE works in practice, why most MES projects fail at implementation rather than at the software, and what separates companies that collect data from those that use it to measurably improve their production.
Contact
Email: uwe.kobbert@symestic.com
Start working with SYMESTIC today to boost your productivity, efficiency, and quality!
