IN THE DOCK
JACKED UP FOR SUCCESS
Stephan Trauth, managing director of Mi-Jack Europe, discusses the challenges of new ways of working.
W
hat happens when a traditional industry must transition to new ways of
working? For Stephan Trauth, managing director of Mi-Jack Europe, this poses an enjoyable challenge. “Our industry is quite conservative overall,” he says. “Of course there are early adopters, but generally people are quite fixed in their ways. That mindset doesn’t change by itself, but it is changing. No one can hide from market trends forever. “Customers are much more open to having conversations about technology adoption than they were a decade or two decades ago. But those conversations have to be focused on the value your technology can provide.”
Technology nexus For much of his career, Trauth has worked at the interface between technology and machines. “The part I still love the most about my job is that whole journey from project kick-off to successful delivery,” he says. “I really enjoy having that helicopter view of the project and seeing all the parts coming together to move as one.” He has experience on both sides of the equation, having started in product engineering before moving into sales. “From the very beginning, I was in technical roles, then that progressed to sales. It taught me a valuable lesson on how challenging sales can be.” His career path demonstrates a rapid rise over a decade: across five companies he moved from project engineer to vice- president of sales within just 10 years. The VP role that came in 2017 was at
Yardeye, an exciting new company based in Karlsruhe, Germany, with leading-edge
vi | October 2026 |
www.hoistmagazine.com Stephan Trauth, managing director, Mi-Jack Europe.
technology. “This was an interesting move for me. I went from a company that was very good at solving specific technical problems to a company that looked strategically at the bigger picture.” Yardeye was a joint venture between Indurad, a provider of anti-collision technology to the mining industry, and Austrian crane manufacturer Künz. Its aim was to repurpose industrial radar technology for the ports and terminals sector. It quickly became a leader in automation, collision avoidance and work zone protection solutions for the container handling equipment industry.
Union approval The origins of Yardeye can be traced back to GCT Deltaport on Canada’s west coast. The terminal was using automated Künz cranes, but the unions had mandated that no worker could operate underneath a fully automated crane. This created a significant challenge: how could GCT maintain the productivity benefits of automation while ensuring that workers were protected? GCT identified Indurad to help solve this challenge, which laid the foundations for Yardeye. Acceptance at GCT meant that word travelled fast. “Terminal operators on the east coast knew that if the west coast unions approved it, their unions would approve it too. And that is why a large amount of the American ports and terminals industry jumped on this train. Our industry is quite small, and everyone talks to each other, so word of mouth spread quickly – and a customer reference is always the best sales tool you can have.” Trauth enjoyed this time at an agile start-up. “It wasn’t like joining a mid-sized company, with all the cultural issues that come with established processes. We could react very quickly, thanks to a young team with a very positive and
creative mindset. I started in 2017 and my first employee joined at the very start of 2018. I am proud to say he is still here.” Funding was a limiting factor. While the
parent company was supportive, it wanted Yardeye to self-fund. “This was a real challenge, but probably our biggest success was that we made a profit every single year from the founding in 2017 up to the sale five years later.”
Mi-Jack acquisition Mi-Jack, a US-based manufacturer of rubber- tyred gantry (RTG) cranes and part of the
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