The man who keeps the business running while the systems are rebuilt — and gaining ground once they are.
They are not separate disciplines but fields that interact in every serious initiative.
"Digital Business Strategy for the Mittelstand" (Haufe Verlag) — a standard reference for digital business development in the B2B mid-market. DDIM membership. Co-investor and extended leadership team at Vision Healthcare (2019–2022).
Strategic decisions in mid-sized companies are implemented through people, not through directives. Digital initiatives are decided on the organisation far more than on the technology. Early involvement of line management, transparent communication, clear structures — and the team enabled to carry the solution forward independently after the mandate ends. Knowledge transfer is part of the mandate, not an add-on. Follow-through means: structures remain after the mandate holder leaves.
Building digital sales and marketing channels, growing in multiple markets simultaneously, realising new business models. Strategy slides are the starting point — what is needed is operational discipline: assortment, channels, fulfilment, country-specific compliance, local teams. Forward-thinking, because markets are growing tougher faster than the room for correction allows.
Vision Healthcare (2019–2022) — revenue growth from €20M to €35M+ through expansion of digital sales and marketing channels.
Platform initiatives carry the digital business. I take operational leadership — from architecture decisions through migration to operational stabilisation. Four levels in parallel: structural, business, people, technology. What counts: deadlines hold, the business keeps running every day, the team carries the result after me.
BOMAG (2022–2025) — €100M+ in online revenue kept running through every single day of the S/4HANA transition; 10 countries and subsidiaries, on-time completion.
AI is not a standalone field but a layer on the existing platform architecture. Three questions are clarified first: which use cases actually carry weight, which data basis is robust, which staff will be enabled. Only then does construction begin — step by step, with operational owners rather than external promises. Preparation has been running for two years, methodically and substantively.
Selected from over 25 years of operational practice in B2B initiatives.
At BOMAG, €100M+ in online revenue kept running through every single day of the S/4HANA transition. On-time completion across 10 countries and subsidiaries.
At BOMAG I took operational leadership of transferring an existing €100M+ B2B ordering business into a true online shop — Intershop Headless, with SAP S/4HANA as the real-time source of availability, portfolio, and customer-specific pricing. Instead of a big-bang approach, a controlled soft-launch strategy with staggered roll-outs across 10 countries and subsidiaries and stepwise load management. Early involvement of line managers, transparent communication, clear structures — the e-commerce community that emerged carries the initiative forward beyond the mandate. The business kept running through every single day of the transition; on-time completion.
€20M → €35M+ through channel expansion in core markets Germany and Austria · Platform roll-out into four new markets.
At Vision Healthcare I served as Director of E-Commerce and was simultaneously co-investor and part of the extended leadership team. The group held several D2C healthcare brands; the core brand Vitaminexpress has been established in Germany and Austria for over 30 years. The mandate had two lines: channel expansion in the core markets — performance marketing, new digital touchpoints, optimisation of customer acquisition and lifetime value — and a platform roll-out into four new markets (Switzerland, Italy, France, UK) as preparation for the next growth phase. The revenue increase from €20M to €35M+ was carried by channel expansion in the core markets; the new markets were positioned for longer-term growth horizons.
Expanding the online portfolio together with the country organisations — bringing products previously sold offline only into the digital channel — jointly with the country organisations.
At Heidelberger Druckmaschinen I served as Head of E-Commerce, leading digital business development for one of the world's leading manufacturers of printing presses. The sales network across more than thirty countries was already in place — the task was not to build it, but to expand the online portfolio. Beyond consumables already available online, customers could now purchase higher-value wear parts digitally, through a configurator that let them select exactly what they needed. The implementation was carried out jointly with the country organisations, adapted to each local market. The underlying logic: international sales-growth-hacking — surfacing business opportunities through joint work between headquarters and local teams. What emerged was new business in the digital channel, beyond the existing base.
Methodology for digital initiatives in mid-sized companies — written from operational practice, with checklists and international case studies.
"Digital Business Strategie für den Mittelstand" was published in 2017 by Haufe-Lexware — one of the leading professional publishers for business practice in the German-speaking world. The book documents my approach for B2B digital initiatives: from analysis of the starting position, through strategy development, to concrete implementation — with checklists at the end of each phase and international case studies from Japan and China. The book is in German.
From mandate to analysis to strategy to implementation — structured, reproducible, with checklists at the end of each phase. Including established tools such as SWOT, Five Forces and the "Eight Principles for Successful Digital Transformation".
Written for managers in mid-sized companies and industrial enterprises developing existing business models digitally. Pragmatism that carries through the working day — and depth that reaches beyond the single initiative.
Concrete methods for strategy development, team building, change management and digital value creation. Plus international case studies from Japan and China — culturally contextualised, with implications for the mid-market in international business.
The central challenge for the German Mittelstand lies in developing existing business models with the help of digital infrastructure. — From the introduction
Direct, confidential, clear. The first conversation is non-binding.
For structured initial inquiries and mandate alignment — to schedule a 30-minute call directly, use the button at the top of the page.
michael@kraewing.de →Mobile, weekdays 9 to 18, callback if unreachable
+49 159 01073782 →For networking and longer-term contact
in/michael-kraewing →