There was this moment when Samantha Ker finally knew that the Agency Day had been a resounding success: “On the last day after the end of the event, I got to witness our sales part­ners exchanging sales tactics and pointers with each other. It was grat­i­fying to see our part­ners helping each other.” The Marketing Manager of Uhlmann Singa­pore had spent three months preparing the two-and-a-half-day event for colleagues, repre­sen­ta­tives, and sales part­ners in the Asia-Pacific region. Orig­i­nally slated for 2020, the event had to be post­poned due to the pandemic.

Twenty-five partic­i­pants from 14 coun­tries

And finally, the moment had arrived: Uhlmann Singa­pore was able to welcome a total of 25 partic­i­pants to the Indone­sian island of Bali, two of whom took part virtu­ally. Four­teen nations were repre­sented: Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singa­pore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thai­land, Pakistan, Philip­pines, Vietnam and Germany. And every­thing – from selecting and plan­ning the program, and coor­di­nating the arrival of all partic­i­pants, to hosting the event with Aga Wirya, Sales Director of Uhlmann Singa­pore – was in Samantha Ker’s hands.

It was grat­i­fying to see our part­ners helping each other.

Samantha Ker, Marketing Manager Uhlmann Singa­pore

“It was the first time we had planned an event with all our repre­sen­ta­tives in one place over­seas. And there were a few mile­stones to pass on the way: First of all, the repre­sen­ta­tives had to be gener­ally willing and able to partic­i­pate in such an event. Then we had to find reli­able local providers to stage the event. And finally, we needed the support of our Uhlmann employees,” she explains.

We all tend to bond more closely with people we’ve actu­ally met before in the flesh.

Peter Zeller, Tech­nical Sales Manager Asia Pacific

Also attending was Peter Zeller, Tech­nical Sales Manager Asia Pacific. Normally based in Laupheim, he was glad for the oppor­tu­nity to person­ally meet the people he works with: “One thing we’ve defi­nitely learned from the pandemic is that you can connect virtu­ally as well in person. But meeting face to face is impor­tant, espe­cially in the Asian culture. The fact is, we all tend to bond more closely with people we’ve actu­ally met before in the flesh – it’s in our nature. And anyone attending a virtual event tends to switch off if it goes on for too long.”

For me, it was refreshing to see people from such diverse back­grounds and cultures working together to find a solu­tion.

Aga Wirya, Sales Director Uhlmann Singa­pore

And it really was a packed agenda that awaited the Agency Day visi­tors. Day #1 started with colleagues from Uhlmann Singa­pore and Uhlmann India reporting on inno­va­tions and trends in our industry. For example, Giacomo Rinaldi, Managing Director of Uhlmann Singa­pore until March 31, 2023, and Sumeet Arora, Managing Director of Uhlmann India, provided an overview of the Asia-Pacific market, while Aga Wirya reported on sales activ­i­ties, and Peter Zeller held a product training session for Uhlmann machines. On Day #2 of the event, it was the repre­sen­ta­tives’ turn to take the stage where they each gave a 30-minute talk on their respec­tive markets, their customers and their needs. On the last half-day of the event, the atten­dees teamed up in various work­shops to address the issues of sustain­ability and goal setting, and also got to jointly witness the special features of the Blister machine B 1330 and the Cartoner C 130.

Summing up, Aga Wirya says: “The repre­sen­ta­tives talked openly about issues that were currently on their minds; and this led to a construc­tive, inter­ac­tive discus­sion where we got the chance to tackle the issues together. It was refreshing for me to see people from such diverse back­grounds and cultures working together to find a solu­tion.” And for the Sales Director, the event defi­nitely brought more bene­fits than just connecting people: “In an inter­ac­tive session between Uhlmann and the repre­sen­ta­tives, clear goals and commit­ment from both sides were estab­lished and on top, we agreed on a stan­dard approach that will lead to signif­i­cant resource savings for Uhlmann and our repre­sen­ta­tives and, above all, improve our response time to customers.”

Impres­sions from Agency Day 2023