THE INTERVIEW
Company profile
Schmalz is the global market leader in vacuum automation and ergonomic handling solutions. Schmalz products are used worldwide in applications in the food/pharma, logistics, glass, metal, automotive, packaging, and wood industry sectors. The wide range of products in the
Vacuum Automation unit includes individual components such as suction cups and vacuum generators, as well as complete gripping systems and clamping solutions for holding workpieces. The Handling Systems unit offers innovative handling solutions with vacuum lifters and crane systems for industrial applications. With comprehensive consulting, a
focus on innovation and first-class quality, Schmalz offers its customers long-lasting benefits. Schmalz’s intelligent solutions make production and logistics processes more flexible and efficient, while also preparing them for the increasing trend toward digitalisation.
With its own locations and its sales partners, Schmalz is represented in more than 80 countries and in all important markets. The family-owned company founded in 1910 has over 1,800 employees at its headquarters in Glatten (in the Black Forest region of Germany) and its 31 international subsidiaries. Schmalz’s US headquarters in Raleigh, NC, has been in operation since 1993 and employs over 125 people.
30 Winter 2024 |
ochmagazine.com
overwhelming. I decided to step back, but stay in the same industry. A lot of the custom products we were making
were for Schmalz. I knew the people and the president very well. So, when I decided I needed to make a change he was the first one to reach out to me and invited me to join the company. Any time you're working on projects, there are always times when things don't exactly go as planned and you have to step back, reevaluate it, make changes and come up with a solution that works. There have been failures along the way, but none of them have been catastrophic.
OCH: What do you like about this business? LB: I enjoy dealing with other people in the industry. Not only engineers, but marketing people from different companies – some are competitors, some are not. For example, we produce our own cranes here, but we also partner with Gorbel. For years, we sold Gorbel cranes before deciding to make our own, but we still work with Gorbel on a regular basis. In MMA also, it's been great getting to know people who lead these other industries and companies. When you have a similar interest, there's a natural synergy in the group. It's funny because when people ask me “what do you do for a living”, it's hard to explain it to somebody who's not in the industry. So, it always helps
Schmalz's US facility in Raleigh, NC.
to be in a group that understands exactly what you do.
I enjoy working on custom projects with our outside sales guys. I also like working with our younger application engineers, to help them with custom projects they're working on to try to mentor them and advance their knowledge base, passing on what I've learned over the last 40 years to someone else who can learn from my experiences and mistakes.
OCH: What do you dislike about this business? LB: Overall I enjoy this industry, but the crane and lifting products that we produce can be mis-applied and misused. Despite repeated training and warnings, some end users decide not to follow our recommendations, resulting in a situation where operators are put at physical risk. First and foremost, our focus is on making sure we provide a safe product. For me, the old adage of ‘the customer is always right’ doesn’t apply to safety. Sometimes I have to make that abundantly clear to our customers, which does not make me the most popular guy in the room. I accept that as the responsibility that I must carry as the engineer.
OCH: What makes your company unique? LB: Schmalz is a German-based company, which has been in business for over 100 years, and
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