It was not an easy task for Christian Lukas to take over the General Management of the St. Georgen located Grässlin GmbH in February 2011.
After two acquisitions through North American companies, first by corporation GE, then by the family owned Intermatic Inc., Grässlin found itself in a not only in an identity crisis but also in a creative crisis. And the often changing general management over the past eleven years made continuity almost impossible.
Nevertheless, the employees, some of them already part of the company when founder Dieter Grässlin was still around, stayed confident and motivated.
For seven years Grässlin has now been part of the family owned Intermatic Inc. - like Grässlin a manufacturer of energy control solutions and with a similar background as the Black Forest located company. Intermatic relies on German engineering competencies and therefore supports its St. Georgen subsidiary by all means. So the company as well as its financial results finally improved during the last years. And what might be even more important for the Grässlin employees: Eventually a course was adopted which is expected to lead the traditional company into a future that will be as successful as the past before the first acquisition.
This is the right time for Christian Lukas to attend to new job-related challenges.
The only General Manager will be Rick Boutilier who up to now supported Christian Lukas with this. But to be the only General Manager doesn't mean he will be alone. The local management team, consisting of authorized officers Paulina Kowalkowska and Jochem Rehms, Technology Manager Michael Bartle, Supply Chain Manager Claus Reuter, Operations Manager Gabor Falvay, and Quality Manager Thomas Stahl, is well established within Grässlin. Mr. Lukas' function as Head of Sales and Marketing will be split in two. In the future Axel Schuler, who will join Grässlin by June 2014, will be The Product Marketing Manager while former OEM Sales Manager Bernhard Blaffert will lead the whole Sales department.
This new, leaner company structure is according to Intermatic's organization which has proved itself over the years. Now the decision making process is shorter and faster which is essential for an efficient organization and offers synergy effects for the whole Group.
Looking to the future the whole management team is very confident in spite of difficult economic conditions. "Grässlin is a traditional company which had to prove itself in the past for several times - and did this very well." Mrs. Kowalkowska sums the mood in the management team up. "We appreciate the commitment of our teams and the whole work force very much. Our employees have proved that they back our company up and we are very proud of the longtime commitment of our employees."
But in the future, short term and long term, the work force shall be increased.
Especially for the core department Technology Grässlin is searching for ambitious and motivated people to reach the ambitious goals for the upcoming year, including for example the expansion of the product portfolio.
By end of last year the Technology department returned home to the Black Forest from Spanish capital Madrid - a clear commitment to the location and strengthening of the Grässlin head quarter. Step by step the formerly "outsourced" departments Product management and Technology will be built up locally. Technology Manager Michael Bartle came from measuring devices manufacturer testo AG to Grässlin GmbH to face this exciting challenge.
The company sees a huge growth potential in all its markets because Grässlin is still very popular with all its partners and worldwide. For Mr. Bartle and his team this fact provides the chance to help shaping the company's future in a significant way. The first developer was hired in August last year, by now the department counts nine persons.
Both Grässlin and Intermatic are convinced that these measures will promote the innovation and the quality of the Grässlin brand so requirements and demands of the supplied markets can be further exceeded in the future and Grässlin's reputation will be held high.
Therefore Grässlin faces a auspicious future in which they will still be one of the industry's movers and shakers.
After two acquisitions through North American companies, first by corporation GE, then by the family owned Intermatic Inc., Grässlin found itself in a not only in an identity crisis but also in a creative crisis. And the often changing general management over the past eleven years made continuity almost impossible.
Nevertheless, the employees, some of them already part of the company when founder Dieter Grässlin was still around, stayed confident and motivated.
For seven years Grässlin has now been part of the family owned Intermatic Inc. - like Grässlin a manufacturer of energy control solutions and with a similar background as the Black Forest located company. Intermatic relies on German engineering competencies and therefore supports its St. Georgen subsidiary by all means. So the company as well as its financial results finally improved during the last years. And what might be even more important for the Grässlin employees: Eventually a course was adopted which is expected to lead the traditional company into a future that will be as successful as the past before the first acquisition.
This is the right time for Christian Lukas to attend to new job-related challenges.
The only General Manager will be Rick Boutilier who up to now supported Christian Lukas with this. But to be the only General Manager doesn't mean he will be alone. The local management team, consisting of authorized officers Paulina Kowalkowska and Jochem Rehms, Technology Manager Michael Bartle, Supply Chain Manager Claus Reuter, Operations Manager Gabor Falvay, and Quality Manager Thomas Stahl, is well established within Grässlin. Mr. Lukas' function as Head of Sales and Marketing will be split in two. In the future Axel Schuler, who will join Grässlin by June 2014, will be The Product Marketing Manager while former OEM Sales Manager Bernhard Blaffert will lead the whole Sales department.
This new, leaner company structure is according to Intermatic's organization which has proved itself over the years. Now the decision making process is shorter and faster which is essential for an efficient organization and offers synergy effects for the whole Group.
Looking to the future the whole management team is very confident in spite of difficult economic conditions. "Grässlin is a traditional company which had to prove itself in the past for several times - and did this very well." Mrs. Kowalkowska sums the mood in the management team up. "We appreciate the commitment of our teams and the whole work force very much. Our employees have proved that they back our company up and we are very proud of the longtime commitment of our employees."
But in the future, short term and long term, the work force shall be increased.
Especially for the core department Technology Grässlin is searching for ambitious and motivated people to reach the ambitious goals for the upcoming year, including for example the expansion of the product portfolio.
By end of last year the Technology department returned home to the Black Forest from Spanish capital Madrid - a clear commitment to the location and strengthening of the Grässlin head quarter. Step by step the formerly "outsourced" departments Product management and Technology will be built up locally. Technology Manager Michael Bartle came from measuring devices manufacturer testo AG to Grässlin GmbH to face this exciting challenge.
The company sees a huge growth potential in all its markets because Grässlin is still very popular with all its partners and worldwide. For Mr. Bartle and his team this fact provides the chance to help shaping the company's future in a significant way. The first developer was hired in August last year, by now the department counts nine persons.
Both Grässlin and Intermatic are convinced that these measures will promote the innovation and the quality of the Grässlin brand so requirements and demands of the supplied markets can be further exceeded in the future and Grässlin's reputation will be held high.
Therefore Grässlin faces a auspicious future in which they will still be one of the industry's movers and shakers.
