Gerhard Ulmer,
long-time Head of STAMA Sales and now Head of the Schlierbach branch. Samuel
Vuadens, CEO of CHIRON Swiss, including the FACTORY5 brand. Orhan Elbizim,
originally Head of Sales at SCHERER, now Head of the business unit CMS. Three
people who are opening up new potential for the CHIRON Group and designing the
way to a successful future.
Mr. Ulmer, in the previous
speedfactor, you talked to us about the reorganization of the CHIRON Group and
the upcoming changes at the Schlierbach site. How are things looking today?
The weeks leading up to and after the restructuring were extremely strange and
very demanding for everyone. Now we’re sailing in much calmer seas, having
almost completed integrating production into the CHIRON Group Precision
Factory. The experience and knowledge of our colleagues, combined with the
expertise, which was already present at Neuhausen, is a fantastic base on which
to build our future success across all brands.
What are the plans for the
Schlierbach location? How are you designing the future here?
We
are focusing on sales and service.
The CHIRON Group has established a new sales structure into which we can
incorporate our expertise, especially in turnkey solutions. We’re chasing one
target across all brands, achieving the best possible customer satisfaction
with our innovative products. Whether by focusing on »Seconds ahead« or »Excellence
in Manufacturing«, we’re making sure our customers have our full attention for
their current and future requirements.
What is your message to CHIRON Group customers?
When it comes to collaboration, I’d like to reiterate the motto from the International Sales & Service Meeting in March, it captures my sentiment perfectly: Together connected – for tomorrow.
Mr. Vuadens, how do you find being part of
a global Group? What advantages are there for you?
We are very satisfied with our decision to integrate with the CHIRON Group – it was the logical next step for us. Our FACTORY5 products deserve to be known and marketed worldwide, and the CHIRON Group sales network made that possible. The integration has given us great credibility too. The size, strength and reputation of the Group is contributing to further promoting the success of FACTORY5.
What can the Group learn from
the start-up character of CHIRON Swiss?
Our structure is small, agile and digital. The entire organization of the company, as well as our work with our customers, is based on an online platform where everyone is »in one place«. This helps us to be reactive and have full control of the entire value chain. If this digital positioning were to also be successfully established in the CHIRON Group, it could significantly boost our competitive advantage, in my opinion.
What are your goals for the
next five years?
We’re currently working with our brand-new product, the Feed5 handling system, and soon will be releasing the Stock5 palletizing system; both of these are perfect expansions to our Micro5 machining center. Between them, they create a LEAN and autonomous production line. One of our focal points for the next few years is solutions with artificial intelligence, to optimize production processes. You could say we’re planning a digital industrial revolution. We’re also looking to break into new markets, including Europe, China and the USA.
Mr. Elbizim, you were
previously a part of the CHIRON Group as Head of Sales at SCHERER. What made
you decide to move to Retrofit?
I used to work in Project Sales for specialist machines, where you
work very closely with production and assembly, and I always found it very
exciting. In the CMS team, I can really put my knowledge and expertise in
complete processes to good use – from the tailored retrofit process for
machining centers according to customer needs right up to organizational
processing here in-house, creating a future-proof system. I’m really looking
forward to this challenge and also to making my contribution to the success of
the new CHIRON Group organization.
What opportunities does
retrofitting offer, firstly to the customer, but also for the CHIRON Group
itself? What are the biggest advantages in your opinion?
For our customers, purchasing a machining center on which we have
collaborated to make it future-ready, has multiple advantages. For example,
short delivery times, top performance at an attractive price and also the
possibility to break into the world of quality manufacturing on a limited
budget, thanks to the CHIRON Group machines. And, as is ever-more important,
retrofitting conserves resources. The longer a machining center is in use, the
more sustainable it is.
And in your private life do
you prefer buying new or up-cycling?
It really depends on what I need a product for and how long the lifecycle of said product is. It depends on my needs and the situation. But I do take care to only buy things I really need or that I will really like for years to come. I think it’s very positive that we, the CHIRON Group, can offer our customers the option of purchasing new machines and up-cycling their machining centers, or even purchasing a retrofitted system from our inventory.