Thyssenkrupp looking at further shakeup of Industrial Solutions

ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) - German industrial group Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) is considering a further shakeup of its Industrial Solutions unit, which it is restructuring in the face of weak demand for plant engineering from companies hit by low oil and raw-material prices.

Jens Michael Wegmann, the unit's chief executive, told reporters on Monday that Industrial Solutions - whose activities range from shipbuilding to mining technology to automotive engineering systems - aimed to increase sales from its services business to around a third from 13 percent now, but did not say by when. Its service business is more profitable than construction.

To that end, it will need to redistribute its Germany-focused workforce more evenly around the world, establishing three or four project management competence centres to be closer to customers around the world, Wegmann said, speaking at Thyssenkrupp's headquarters in Essen.

He said he could not yet detail what this would entail in terms of cost or job cuts but Thyssenkrupp is consulting with employee representatives and aims to complete the review by the autumn.

"Our culture is too much focussed on acquiring big projects," Wegmann said. "The people who do that don't have the right mindset to win service contacts."

"German engineering is still a brand in the world but it's not enough on its own - you have to be close to the customer."

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Susan Fenton)