Interview with new General Manager of Electronic Control Systems (ECS)
Interview with new General Manager of Electronic Control Systems (ECS)
CU:
Mr Pfeffer, it’s only been a few days since you arrived in Ettlingen, how are you settling in?
JP:
Thank you, I am fine. The reception I got was great and Baden certainly has its charms – although it pains the Swabian in me to admit it.
CU:
Can you tell us a little bit more about your career path before you joined Hirschmann?
JP:
I started my professional career after completing my degree in physics and did an MBA alongside my job. It was in companies of the electronic measuring technology sector and of the automotive supplier sector where I made the most important professional experience.
CU:
The economy is in a severe crisis, this certainly doesn’t make for an easy start. How do you see the coming months, on what would you like to put emphasis?
JP:
First of all, it’s all about overcoming the crisis. The entire construction machinery sector had – and still has – a very hard year. I am saying this in all honesty: Hirschmann ECS had a drop of 45% in the business year 2008/2009 in comparison to the previous year. Our staff contributed in maintaining important know-how in the company by agreeing to reduced working hours. Now we have to make decisions and take the right measures in order to secure our business and to find in cooperation with our customers and partners solutions to overcome the crisis.
CU:
What kind of measures are you talking about?
JP:
We had a critical look at our processes and are now going to optimize some of them. This is for me, however, also an ongoing process. It concerns e.g. customer service – our main improvement potentials are: on-time delivery and quality orientation. We are convinced that great customer relationship will secure our success in the long-term. To achieve this, we have to approach our customers in a more pro-active way.
CU:
Do you see the bauma 2010 as an important platform for customer relations?
JP:
Yes, without a doubt. I am very curious: This is going to be my first bauma! We have set ourselves two main goals: For one, we will exhibit our solutions for the control of mobile machines and present our innovations. And we want to check out market development and listen carefully to what our customers say.
CU:
What can we expect to see at the Hirschmann booth?
JP:
I don’t really want to give everything away as yet. I promise you, however, that we will inform you in time for bauma 2010 via Control unlimited.
CU:
What are your first impressions of ECS?
JP:
I really only have a few first impressions at the moment. I can say, however, that we are definitely a company with a lot of know-how. Our customer relationships are grown over many years and are an important basis. There is still potential for improvement and some unexploited opportunities in the market.
CU:
Mr Pfeffer, thank you very much for this open conversation, and we wish you all the best and lots of success at Hirschmann ECS!
CONTROL unlimited
November 2009