An interview with Lucas Pedretti

CU: Mr. Pedretti, you have been Head of Sales at Hirschmann Mobile Machine Control Solutions for four months now. How do you feel?

LP: Thanks for asking. The first few months in any new position are usually the most important and challenging ones. This relatively short period of time can be both difficult and rewarding for both the newcomer and the organization. That has also been the case with me. The colleagues in Ettlingen, the United States, and China warmly welcomed me. Right away, I was acutely conscious of the very challenging nature of my new job. From the very first day, it was clear to me that I had joined a high-performance team in a fast-moving industry. I also know that I am up to the task and able to make a real contribution.

CU: What past experience did you bring with you? Could you sketch your training and career before coming to Hirschmann?

LP: After graduating from a technically oriented secondary school, I studied electronic engineering in Buenos Aires, which is where I am from. Buenos Aires is a large, cosmopolitan city on the ocean, and I think that growing up in that environment makes you want to travel. So far I have lived and worked in five different countries.
When I was still a university student I began working for Festo, a world-class German company active in the field of industrial automation. Although I had a technical background, I very quickly gravitated toward international sales and marketing. I worked in Argentina, Italy, and Germany. I left Festo to occupy an even more interesting position at Omrom, an American-Japanese corporation with a number of business units devoted to electronic components and industrial automation. I was responsible for several of its product categories at the Buenos Aires branch.
Last year I then decided to round out my work experience by doing a full-time course of studies in Britain to get a masters degree in business administration.
As a result of my almost 15-year professional career, I know the ins and outs of the OEM business in the field of industrial automation. If you want to win an OEM customer, you have to take two things into account: team selling – in a highly complex technical business – and the benefits that customers can expect. At the end of the day what counts for OEM customers is your continuously good offer.

CU: What further challenges are you facing in your new area of responsibility?

LP: My main task is to grow our business. Hirschman Mobile Machine Control Solutions wants to become the world leader in automation solutions for heavy mobile machines, while also maintaining its earning power so it can make investments in its future. Both of these goals call for a sound strategy. I believe that our success depends on experience and seizing new business opportunities – and I am convinced that I can contribute to both.

CU: How can you help drive the company’s growth?

LP: I am a goal-oriented team player. If the company expects the department I head to drive international growth, then I will form teams of competent specialists to pursue that goal. And I could hardly be more satisfied and happy with my sales team and the experts and specialists I have at my disposal around the world.
We are continuing to do business in a highly competitive market. And we are succeeding in winning customers that are more coveted than ever before, in order to conquer a larger share of the global market. We also sell electronic components for machines that are used in rough environments.
All of this makes my job a very demanding one. So how can I help drive the company’s growth? My answer is, once again: with experience and by seizing new business opportunities.

CU: The aspects of safety competence and safety standards are growing in importance. Are you referring to them when you talk about “new business opportunities”?

LP: As already mentioned, our customers are fighting to sell competitive machines in a challenging market. If we want to be their partner, we have to be the best in terms of safety competence and compliance with safety standards. And in fact, our products conform to the strictest standards for a wide range of applications.
But how can we work profitably? I have no doubt that we can do this. Hirschmann Mobile Machine Control Solutions possesses the required experience in product development and the OEM business, as well as the young management team it needs to succeed.

CU: Mr. Pedretti, thank you very much for talking with us. We wish you much success at Hirschmann MCS!

LP: Thank you.

CONTROL unlimited
February 2012