When Manuel Maldonado talks about it in his Spanish-Swiss-German accent, it all sounds pretty simple. Yet it was certainly no walk in the park to expand Uhlmann’s market share on the Iberian Penin­sula from nine to over 60 percent since Uhlmann Ibérica was founded back in 2003.

Asked by Uhlmann’s Sales Manager at the time whether he was inter­ested in setting up the subsidiary in Tres Cantos north of Madrid, Maldonado said yes! And, having already set up new sites for two other compa­nies, he had plenty of expe­ri­ence to bring to the table. “It wasn’t easy to launch compa­nies like these on the market. That’s where you learn how to do it right. When you have this expe­ri­ence, plus a company as powerful and as good as Uhlmann behind you, it’s actu­ally not that diffi­cult,” says the 65-year-old, who spent the first 33 years of his life in Switzer­land and Germany.

Opti­mally posi­tioned

But for Maldonado, the real reason for his success lies in his current team of ten. And he has his very own theory for the perfect team set-up: “It’s like a table with three legs. These three legs are compe­tence, team spirit and moti­va­tion. If one of the legs is weak, it doesn’t work – like if you have employees who are highly moti­vated but can’t work in a team.” Maldonado knows what it takes to inspire employees: “What moti­vates employees is giving them a real chance to help shape the company, and when they feel that they have a say and can take their own deci­sions, and that they are empow­ered. Many compa­nies say ‘your job is to do this and that’ – but then they fail to give staff the chance to make deci­sions them­selves. It’s crucial to deliver on your promises and to take your employees on board. The message must be clear that each and every one of us is impor­tant to the company’s success.”

Leading with style

That’s why Maldonado makes it his personal commit­ment to engage with his staff and regu­larly goes out with them for lunch or dinner. “This is when you also get to hear about people’s private concerns. If I see someone walking around a little bleary-eyed, I invite them to lunch and see if I can help in any way. To me, personal inter­ac­tion is vital.” And also working to improve your­self: “The moment you think you know every­thing, that’s when you’re lost. Even employees can be right from time to time,” says the ever-cheerful Manuel Maldonado with a twinkle in his eye. His success is testa­ment to his approach­able lead­er­ship style. Employees do not quit at Uhlmann Ibérica. They are, in fact, excep­tion­ally committed: If a machine stops at a customer’s site, everyone drops what they are doing and works on getting it up and running again as quickly as possible. Because this is some­thing else Manuel Maldonado knows: “The customers are the ones who pay our wages. We can’t afford to lose any of them.”

What moti­vates employees is giving them a real chance to help shape the company.

Manuel Maldonado, Managing Director Uhlmann Ibérica

A diffi­cult market

This is espe­cially true given that in Spain and Portugal, Uhlmann is oper­ating in a fiercely compet­i­tive market. “No new plants are being built here – it’s not China, not India, nor South America where invest­ments are being made. We succeed by simply being much better than our competi­tors, offering supe­rior service, with highly skilled employees, working local for local, meaning that tech­ni­cians no longer have to travel from Laupheim to repair machines. Uhlmann Ibérica’s credo is there­fore: “An Uhlmann machine never stands still,” explains Maldonado, who himself is always on the go: “It may be time to think about a successor, but I will never just sit around twid­dling my thumbs.” The colleagues in Tres Cantos have set them­selves quite a goal for the coming years – and that’s to replace some 300 machines from our competi­tors that are still around on the Iberian Penin­sula with Uhlmann machines. Maldonado cannot yet promise whether this can be achieved by the time the company cele­brates its 20th anniver­sary next year. But either way, this party is guar­an­teed to get the tables shaking.

Uhlmann Ibérica welcomes visi­tors with a bright, friendly office.

Managing Director Manuel Maldonado has felt at home at Uhlmann for almost 20 years.