Customer service on the ball

At Uhlmann, customer service is a top priority, and Customer Support Managers Anton Ganser and Reinhard Laib make sure it stays that way. But on the soccer pitch, their commitment to customers can take on a whole new meaning. Holding back in the name of business? For Laib, the team’s go-to man for organizational matters, it’s simple: “We play soccer, and in soccer, the best team wins!”– as repeatedly proven by the Uhlmann team. Like their latest victory, for the third time running, at the Rottendorf Cup – a soccer tournament hosted for the third time by our customer Rottendorf Pharma in Ennigerloh in mid-June. Also playing was Uhlmann CEO Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer, who scored no fewer than two of the four goals that clinched the 4:0 victory over the Ostenfelder Allstars from Rottendorf.

We play soccer, and in soccer, the best team wins!

Reinhard Laib, Customer Support und Team-Manager

And this is Coach Anton Ganser’s recipe for success: “We are a down-to-earth bunch of disciplined and passionate team players.” Whenever the players, not all of whom are active club members, travel to tournaments, fun is never far away! “That’s when we have the best parties in the evenings with our hosts,” says Laib. The fact that such a soccer event usually takes place only once a year, even without a pandemic, is due to the need to reconcile match commitments with the game schedule and family lives of the players who are aged between 18 and 58. This is taken care of by Laib and Ganser. This year, however, the team has already played twice. At the Uhlmann-Halder Cup in Bronnen at the end of June, 19 other teams attended, including those of Rayher, Vetter and Liebherr. Vetter emerged from the tournament as the winner, while Uhlmann came in fourth. With the glorious future of the “Uhlmann Eleven” in mind, Laib and Ganser hope that they will also be able to compete with a mixed team one day: “The Uhlmann women are still a bit hesitant when it comes to soccer, but they are most welcome to join the team,” says Ganser. Anyone at Uhlmann, whether man or woman, who is interested in playing soccer, is welcome to contact Anton Ganser, Reinhard Laib or Kevin Maier.

Report on the Rottendorf Cup by Reinhard Laib

At 9am on June 16, we met up with Pester’s soccer team who arrived at Uhlmann by bus and then traveled together to Ennigerloh in the district of Warendorf / Münsterland in North Rhine-Westphalia. Anton Ganser and Reinhard Laib had organized a “weisswurst” sausage breakfast for everyone at short notice. Thus fortified, we boarded the bus for the 560-kilometer journey. Once there, we were welcomed to the Kröger Hotel by Dr. Silke Huster, Managing Director of Rottendorf Pharma GmbH, Mathias Bali, Head of Packaging and organizer of the cup tournament, and Torsten Reeke, Chairman of the Works Council. Over a beer and dinner, the guests had a chance to get better acquainted. On Friday morning we traveled by bus to the headquarters of Rottendorf Pharma GmbH, where we were given a guided tour of the new production facility. After enjoying a very impressive trip around the fully automated packaging processes – from delivery to removal – we went to the sports grounds of TSV 95 Ostenfelde. As we were only able to travel with ten players for various reasons, we took up a suggestion from Dietmar Pernak, a veteran of Rottendorf, who, as a big fan of Uhlmann machines, was keen to see his son Daniel play in an Uhlmann jersey. This turned out to be a very good decision.

Match: Pester vs Ostenfelder Allstars – Final score: 2:2 Match: Fleigendahler Haie vs Uhlmann – Final score: 0:2 Both teams started very cautiously and showed some healthy respect for each other. Uhlmann was better organized right from the start in the way they played and attacked, so it was not long until Marvin Schmid, after an excellent solo run through the defense, scored the first goal in the eighth minute. The opposing team also had a few chances during the game, but were too slow in retreating to their own half, giving our team multiple opportunities to mount some effective counterattacks, one of which resulted in the second goal in the 12th minute by Markus Tischer. Later on in the game, our goalkeeper Kai Radnik prevented two goals with excellent saves. As the game progressed, the Uhlmann team missed more and more 100 percent chances. Crossbar, post, crossbar and our rival’s excellent goalkeeper who repeatedly risked head and neck and had to use all his skills to prevent an even higher victory by Uhlmann. Thus, having snapped the first “big point”, it was time to take a well-deserved break.

Match: Pester – Fleigendahler Haie – Final score: 5:1
Match: Uhlmann – Ostenfelder Allstars – Final score: 4:0
Our opponent started out very strongly, due in part to some individual mistakes by the Uhlmann team. However, the tide turned pretty quickly when Kevin Maier succeeded in crossing the ball into the penalty area with a well-played attack from the left, allowing Daniel Bussmann to head it into the net and clock up 1:0 for Uhlmann. Now the team was able to open up and play more freely, and create more chances through Daniel Pernak and Michael Müller. These stunning moves should have ended in a goal, but the reaction of the opponent lacked initiative; there was simply no spark to it. The spell for Uhlmann was broken when, following a textbook attack, the opponent was outplayed and Daniel Bussmann, after taking a pass from Kevin Maier and performing a superb move, scored another goal making it 2:0. Five minutes before the end of the game, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer was sent onto the field by coach Anton Ganser to play in forward position. In unique striker manner he lurked at the opponent’s box and, after a cross pass by Marvin Schmid and a short spurt that left him perfectly positioned in front of the goal, bumped up the score to 3:0. By now the rival team was on its last legs, leaving Prof. Dr. -Ing. Matthias Niemeyer free to secure yet another goal only two minutes later, thanks again to a pass from Marvin Schmid. A ‘double’ feat that notched up the score to 4:0 and earned him the jubilant applause of his teammates.

Match: Ostenfelder Allstars – Fleigendahler Haie – Final score: 3:2
Match: Uhlmann – Pester – Final score: 4:0
Since Pester had previously drawn and won, the third game was a showdown for the tournament title. Our match analysis beforehand had shown that numbers 10 and 11 were the key players on Pester’s team. So the plan was to double-mark and practically neutralize them. This plan paid off, leaving Uhlmann with several chances to score during the match which they used. 1:0 Marvin Schmid – 2nd minute, a solo action 2:0 Marvin Schmid – a 40-meter cross from Thomas Glanz 3:0 Daniel Bussmann – a dazzling goal combination 4:0 Markus Tischer – long shot

So, for the third time in a row, the Uhlmann team won the tournament and happily accepted the winner’s trophy from the hands of Dr. Silke Huster.

Uhlmann Team:
Kai Radnik (1), Michael Socher (3), Prof. Dr. Matthias Niemeyer (4), Thomas Glanz (5), Sebastian Baur (6), Anton Ganser (7), Daniel Bussmann (8), Marvin Schmid (10), Kevin Maier (11), Reinhard Laib (13), Markus Tischer (16), Michael Müller (18) Guest player: Daniel Pernak (19)