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PROFILE REICHLE AND DE-MASSARI


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Swiss reliability on a global stage


Fifty years after its formation in a tiny workshop, Reichle and De-Massari is thriving – and still stressing the importance of providing the highest-quality products. Tim Gillett reports


I


n 1964 Renato De-Massari and Hans Reichle developed what was, at the time, a revolutionary telephone outlet. Little did they know, but this development laid the


cornerstone for Reichle and De-Massari (R&M), which these days employs 750 people in more than 30 countries. Te company’s stated goal remains largely the same five decades later: to offer customers top-quality solutions for excellent communication networks. Te garages and homes of the Reichle family


in Wetzikon and of the De-Massari family in Pfafausen served as offices, workshops and warehouses, with the two men working alongside their wives. Until just two years ago the company was


still largely a family affair, with two sons of Hans Reichle heavily involved in the management of R&M. Speaking to Fibre Systems, R&M’s managing


director for western Europe, Edgar van Essen, explains that a concerted effort to grow the company more aggressively led to the appointment of Michel Riva as CEO in August


12 FIBRE SYSTEMS Issue 3 • Spring 2014


Members of the R&M London team: Geoff Dear (technical manager), Pete Gough (MD UK&I), Barry Silverman (SrAM) and Edgar van Essen


2012 – and, a few months later, van Essen himself. Van Essen explains: ‘I have to say the efforts


to develop the company on a global basis have really paid off – we have changed from being a typical Swiss company to something much more international; now there is a very big focus on global business. Tough we had done a lot of good work in the past, there is definitely an increased momentum in the company. Like many Swiss companies much of our early growth had been in Germany, but with the new management on board there is an increased effort to become a global company and a renewed ambition throughout. Te company’s headquarters are still in


Wetzikon, in the Zürcher Oberland area of Switzerland, near the capital, Zurich. However, each of the eight strategic regions around the world are run more or less independently, with their own profit and loss accounts. ‘ We are


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