Interview
CEO celebrates 30 years with reichelt
Speaking to Ulf Timmermann, CEO of reichelt, CIE editor Amy Wallington finds out about the last 30 years with the company and what new things are happening now as the company branches out internationally
next few years and was made the head of electronics. He then convinced Mrs Reichelt to install a high-tech modern commission system to meet the company’s increasing needs. Timmermann set to work on designing the custom-made technologies which now characterise the company’s operations. His belief was that the company should not settle for out-of-the- box industry standards as he wanted to push it to be the best version of itself and go beyond the industry standard which was the challenge he set for himself. In 2005, the company expanded even
more building a logistics centre in expanded facilities. In this new space, reichelt could now promote, sort, pack and ship over 30,000 items. There is currently a third expansion taking place at the moment. “The biggest and newest thing happening at reichelt at the moment is the new logistics centre,” said Timmermann. “This will double the space
we have currently. And that is taking most of our focus at the moment. We really want to bring it to life. Our call centre is also having to move and we have a big expansion in the segment product management and marketing.” About six years ago, Mrs Reichelt
retired and sold the company to Daetwyler Holding AG, a Switzerland- based holding company and supplier, and distributor of technical and electronic components. The company appointed a temporary manager who was succeeded by Ulf Timmermann as CEO in October of that year. He has been joined in the management team by managing directors, Friedel Grunwald and Hermann Herzog. “We were really a little bit afraid because we were now a member of such a big holding, we heard a lot of interesting stories about it. I think some changes were made because we started moving faster. We opened our
R
eichelt was founded by a husband and wife in May, 1969. The first item on sale was an antennae
amplifier, which was advertised in the local newspaper. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last and in 1990, Mrs Reichelt took full ownership of the company, when it had just 20 employees and was badly in debt. Now the current CEO, Ulf Timmermann, speaks about how he started working on the shop floor of the company of 20 people, to slowly building the business as he worked his way up to become CEO of the company that now has 250 people.
Asked how the last 30 years has
been, Timmermann said, “It has been and is exciting! I had the wonderful opportunity to help form and shape reichelt in its early days. I became a shop floor manager at reichelt on 1st July, 1986 and I treasure all the memories and my experiences from the beginning at the reichelt shop, our
14 July/August 2016
Oldenburg subsidiary and in the early stages of the computer age. Most of my colleagues – today my employees – are dear to my heart and today I lead a company that feels like a family. I feel that this attitude will guarantee the further growth of our company.” It is obvious that Timmermann had a lot of love for the company and saw the potential from early on as he pushed the business to success as he worked his way up. “For me, I saw a lot of potential where we could move forwards. It was a mixture of having fun where we work and really seeing the potential and appreciating that you are always on top of everything. Then the customer recognises it as well and carries on buying our products.”
By 1996, the company had 80 employees and had moved to the neighbouring town of Sande in order to accommodate further growth. Timmermann was steadily working his way up through the business over the
Components in Electronics
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