Markus Spanner and Florian Geistdörfer in Lederhose, Germany
Dear Colleagues,
Last week I visited our colleagues at PI Ceramic in Lederhose with our recently elected (September 1, 2021) Chief Operating Officer, Florian Geistdörfer. First, we got a very informative tour of the site lead by Dr. Patrick Pertsch who took us through the various piezo ceramics production steps. At different stages of the tour, Dr. Patrick Pertsch asked Daniel Voelkel, Operations Manager, to join and so did the Product Area Managers Anett Grochocki, Jörg Gebhardt, and Daniel Kopsch who explained further technical details and showed practical examples from their areas. In the end, we visited the new Building 4, where Steffen Geier, Head of Technology at PIC, explained the plans for further extensions.
It was particularly exciting for us to see how progressively PI Ceramic deals with topics such as automation and digitalization. This was evident when we visited the newest automated production technologies and machines: Thomas Krautheim, Process Technologist in the Multilayer product area, for example, demonstrated the new 3-cell automation line for piezo bending actuator assembly. Furthermore, Anett Grochocki presented Shopfloor Management as an already established and used method for the employees, who on a daily basis flexibly discuss KPIs and current issues on the Shopfloor boards; we were also able to view the Pinboard News on the digital blackboards that are displayed in the production area.
An additional item on our program was the Piezo Technology Strategy workshop with all Heads of department as well as Tony Beswick, the Global Head of Sales EMEA. A SWOT analysis was initially carried out in regard to the successful growth phase of the past years and then the medium-term strategy for the individual departments was discussed. Lastly, the overall strategy for piezo technology was discussed in a brainstorming session on how to leap into the next development stage to become European market leaders for demanding piezo technology. For a consolidated assessment and a decision on the topics, an additional workshop has been planned.
Thank you very much, Dr. Patrick Pertsch and his entire PI Ceramic team for the great preparation and organization! We spent some impressive and intensive days at PI Ceramic and value the mutual and direct exchange which we would like to intensify further!
Best regards
Markus Spanner
Chief Executive Officer