The golden Oscar on the shelf speaks volumes. Roberto Zürcher, Managing Director of Uhlmann Höfliger Schweiz GmbH, received it from his employees in 2015 to mark the company’s tenth anniversary. The joint venture between Uhlmann and Höfliger in Arlesheim, near Basel, was founded in 2005. Zürcher has been involved from the outset: “My whole professional life has been centered on packaging – a world in which everyone knows everyone else. And that’s how I got to know Uhlmann’s Managing Director Sales at the time. He wanted to set up a sales company for Switzerland together with Harro Höfliger Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH. In January 2005, the joint sales and service company was founded, with Roberto Zürcher at the helm.
Meanwhile, the team has grown to six members: Manuela Hummel has also been on board since 2005 and is officially the Office Manager, but for Zürcher, she is above all “the heart and soul” of the company. Michael Kuhn has been working here as Service Manager for Uhlmann since 2018, and his Harro Höfliger counterpart since 2020 is Stefan Burkhardt. Service technician Marc Hartzer has been looking after the customers of both companies since 2013, and an additional service technician is currently still being sought. Jan Paetzold, as Senior Sales Manager, is chiefly responsible for Harro Höfliger in Switzerland and has been assisting Roberto Zürcher since 2014.
Two companies under one roof
Zürcher takes his job of representing two different companies and their products very seriously: “I see myself as the go-to-person when it comes to finding solutions for our customers. Maintaining integrity is essential, and we tell our customers quite openly what we feel is the best solution for them.”
Customers benefit from the alliance thanks to the broader product portfolio. And the two companies profit from being able to offer individual customers a lot more, simply by working together rather than on their own. “If someone asks for a Harro capsule filling machine, we naturally ask them how they pack their capsules; and that’s when we bring a blister machine from Uhlmann into play,” says Zürcher.
Welcome to the office of Uhlmann Höfliger Schweiz GmbH!
Packaging, packaging, packaging - and an Oscar for the boss.
The good soul of the office, Manuela Hummel, takes care of the homely greenery.
At the team event 2019, the packaging experts went to the horse whisperer.
For the team members, who are also assigned to different customers, this means that everyone must be familiar with the other partner’s portfolio. “One voice to the customer”, i.e., having a single point of contact for each customer, is crucial to building trust. But if, for example, Jan Paetzold is dealing with a customer looking for a capsule filling machine, and that customer needs a blister machine, he tells them that we can provide one and that he will pass the query on to me,” says the Managing Director.
Passionate about packaging
Hence, the six-strong team looks after the entire pharmaceuticals manufacturing industry in Switzerland. Harro has also added other industries to its customer base, including a large food company that packs its coffee capsules using Harro Höfliger machines.
Coffee capsules and everything that comes packaged are also among the things that Roberto Zürcher looks at very closely when shopping: “I always examine how something has been packed. It just goes with the territory. And I can see straight away if the packaging is no good.”
It’s hard to imagine such an experienced packaging specialist getting really worked up about anything. Commenting on the past few months of COVID-related travel restrictions, which doesn’t make life for a sales and service company any easier, Zürcher simply says: “We just had to get creative.” And the Swiss team delivered: for example by winning four new customers who previously had no Uhlmann or Harro machines. “We also got some fantastic help from everyone in the parent companies”, he says, praising the team effort.
The connections to the headquarters in Laupheim and Allmersbach im Tal are good. And in normal times, Zürcher travels to Laupheim at least once a month, and trainees also come to Arlesheim, as well as service technicians visiting customers nearby. Customers are naturally always welcome, too. And at the small coffee counter in the rooms above a print shop, Roberto Zürcher and his team always find a spot and time for a chat – for instance about the packaging in the large shelf.
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