Women Power in Pallet Production: Mercer Torgau Embraces Diversity

Female leadership plays a key role in Mercer Torgau’s pallet production, driving efficiency and fostering a strong team culture.

Located in Torgau, a town in Saxony, Germany, Mercer Torgau is a major employer in the region.

The 800-employee plant focuses on pallet production, operating eight state-of-the-art, partially fully automated pallet lines. This complex operation, with its sophisticated intralogistics, presents daily technical challenges requiring significant maintenance expertise. The plant is also known for its diverse, multicultural workforce.

Female leadership dominates

What makes pallet production in Torgau special, however, is the remarkable leadership structure: the entire management level, consisting of division management, deputy division management, shift supervisors and maintenance coordinators, is led and organized by women, with two male exceptions. This unique constellation impressively underscores how Mercer relies on diversity and the strength of its female leaders.

Michael Kahn, head of pallet production at Mercer Torgau, is proud of the percentage of women in his department. Currently, 16.6% of the 114 employees are women. He explains that the physically demanding work on the production lines can be challenging for women, which is why they are more often assigned to the automated lines during the shifts. Kahn emphasizes that equal pay has been a matter of course at Mercer for years – the same work is paid the same.

Particularly noteworthy is the high proportion of women in management positions in the department. 82% of managers are women, including work preparation, deputy division management, maintenance coordination, management of internal transport, shift management in a four-shift operation, FIFO warehouse coordination and CIP management.

The advantages female leadership

The development of this strong female presence in management positions began with the search for new shift supervisors. Mercer decided to target women, ideally homegrown bilinguals from the department who know the products and materials. Kahn is confident that the entire company will benefit from appointing female managers to these and other positions: “Right from the start, the women have impressed with their assertiveness, flexibility, willingness to learn and quick thinking. They also confidently express their opinions to colleagues and speak openly. They demonstrate their organizational skills, their understanding of machines and processes, and their ability to intervene decisively at crucial moments daily. In doing so, they positively influence the team culture and cohesion.”

Success stories of female managers

Susann Brümmer, assistant to pallet production and work preparation, is a true all-rounder at Mercer Torgau. She has been with the company since 2012 as a block inserter. She soon became a plant operator and then a shift supervisor. Today, she works as an assistant in work preparation for pallet production—a task she visibly enjoys.

“I appreciate the opportunities that such a large company offers me. In addition, I receive the necessary support and can further my education when needed. The group’s values, such as courage and respectful interaction, are in line with my own.”

Susann has an important role: “I’m basically a jack of all trades,” she says with a laugh. “Because of the many tasks I have a very good overview of how production is running, where there are currently bottlenecks or which employee is on vacation.” At peak times, around 170 employees work in the pallet plant. Susann knows each one of them: “I’m often the first point of contact for my colleagues. Since I maintain and evaluate the employee data for our area, I’m well informed and can provide support quickly. Through good communication with all colleagues, we have improved our workflow in recent years,” emphasizes Susann Brümmer, underlining the importance of teamwork.

The second focus of her work is production planning. This involves comparing production figures and quantities and entering them in planning and reporting tools. These are used to create the production plan, the orders and all relevant documents for the shift supervisors. Together with the division manager and the team, the plans for the coming days are drawn up on the basis of the orders at hand.

Susann Brümmer exemplifies how motivation, commitment and a positive attitude can lead to success in a technical environment. Despite her success, Susann Brümmer also faces challenges, particularly in dealing with colleagues from other nations and in getting her ideas accepted.

Based on her experiences, she advises other women who want to pursue careers in male-dominated professions: “You have to stay motivated and interested. You can’t be too sensitive and you can’t take everything personally.”