My contributions: Co-inventor of our last 4 patents, including two pending applications, all related to new hydraulics for centrifugal slurry pumps with a high solid and/or gas content.Initiator and manager of the development of a preventive maintenance IOT solution for centrifugal pumps in partnership with ABB and Microsoft (real-time remote measurement of the characteristics of pumps in service and generation of alarms in case of specific problems).My role as a technical referent concerning our products, markets and applications for our management and the whole team in our company.Development of our joint venture in China, which today has become our largest market, and our branch office in India, which with more than 100 employees is our main supplier of stainless steel investment castings. I learned: ➜ Understanding the cultural differences between Switzerland, China and India. Interpret the Asian way of being, body language, vocabulary and management in order to develop/implement our branches by taking advantage of local strengths.➜ How an SME like ours manages to arouse the interest of large groups such as ABB and Microsoft includes the big difference in our resources.

During all these years, I have taken immense pleasure in developing our company, which is today a recognized jewel and, among others, the world leader in reactor loop pumps. A big thank you to all those who have supported and helped me in my tasks for all that we have accomplished together: "you can all be particularly proud because it would simply have been impossible without you". I learned: ➜ To be curious in order to understand the cultural and value diversity, but also, not to miss an opportunity.➜ To find the right people and partners to bring together in a project to collaborate and contribute to its success.➜ To integrate and facilitate the active participation of Generation Y managers and employees within the family business as well as in our Asian companies/branches (India and China) as they are the future.

Emile Egger is an independent family owned company specializes in pumping slurries, aerated liquids and liquids at high temperatures and pressures, as well as in flow measurement and regulation. For nearly 70 years, EGGER has developed and manufactured centrifugal pumps for difficult liquids and Iris® diaphragm control valvesDuring this period my challenge were :• Reduce our dependence on the European market and the Euro by founding our branch office in India, the USA and then our joint venture in China.• Management of successive crises, including the abandonment of the SNB minimum exchange rate in 2015, with the research and development of markets and applications with higher added value requiring the establishment of a project department.• Implementation of a global and unique IT system (ERP & CRM) in the group in order to guarantee the transparency of costs and commercial actions between our two production sites in Switzerland and India as well as with our 10 other European branches. This concept led Egger to be selected by Microsoft, as the only European company, as part of its TAP (Technology Adoption Program) with 7 other companies worldwide.I particulary appreciated :➜ The agility, the continuous questioning but also the humility necessary to manage this very turbulent period for the whole industry in Switzerland and particularly for an SME like ours exporting more than 80% of its products.➜ The number of opportunities present in this kind of period and the fact that we have to keep a positive outlook while guiding a team of more than 400 people.

Egger Pumps Shanghai Co. Ltd. is our only joint venture in the group of Emile Egger responsible for the sales, service and support of Egger products in China.Contributions & learnings➜ Thanks to the longstanding friendship with our partner Henry, he introduced me to the Chinese culture and traditions and on my side, the technical knowledge and support of our Swiss-based team, a real success story.➜ Another discovery for me was the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit, a decision is quickly taken mainly based on a simple feeling of mutual trust which often makes a contract seem obsolete. In case of difficulty, they expect the partner to react immediately and independently of who is responsible for the problem, they will always find a way to compensate for the costs incurred if they have obtained the expected support.➜ The key importance of choosing the right agent for a specific client (and not for a market) as he is the one who will ensure the first bond of trust between the client and us.

EGGER TURO PUMPS North America, Inc. is the official subsidiary of Emile Egger responsible for the sales, service and support of the Egger products in North America.Contributions & learnings➜ As a European manufacture, it is complicated to sell a product made here without a great technical superiority.➜ The difference in technical sensitivity between us makes it even more difficult to demonstrate this superiority and for them to understand and accept it.➜ As for China, the importance of the good agent recognized and respected by the customer is fundamental.➜ Friendship is very volatile and mainly based on the fact of being able to do business together, which is the opposite of Asia.

Egger Pumps India PVT. LTD. is the official subsidiary of Emile Egger responsible for the sales, part manufacturing, service and support of the Egger products in India.Contributions & learnings➜ A very beautiful discovery which requires time and especially patience, a lot of it.➜ Their technical level as well as the spirit of analysis is very good but their biggest difficulty is the decision making even if they have the solution in front of them. This is clearly where our added value can be.➜ It is much easier to build a relationship of trust with the younger generation who are eager to learn and are often much more critical towards some old traditions from another time in fact➜ If we want to be able to build with them, we have to accept the immense difference between our way of life and theirs, between our reciprocal incomes, the fact that for them, a job created allows a large family to live decently, which is more important than just profitability, and that religious beliefs are simply always present.