Voices
Roger Walch in the spotlight
You’ve been with us since Spring of last year and assumed total responsibility for sales and marketing direction at the beginning of this year. How have you settled in? The role is significantly more complex than anyone could imagine.
Absolutely! It was made very easy for me. I was welcomed with open arms. Levels of cooperation were and remain immense. Working with my predecessor Martin Jeitler (now on the Board of Directors and with BOPP for 48 years) is both efficient and enjoyable. He gives me unconditional support. I value that, and also him as a person a lot.
Who is Roger Walch?
A passionate business and marketing professional who loves to establish long term customer relationships, to see how colleagues and organisations develop with him and around him, who lives a healthy mistake culture seeing such as an opportunity to make things better going forward. I enjoy change – stagnation makes me suspicious. I believe in evolution. I am sociable and people would probably describe me as extrovert and rather emotional.
How does your professional career look?
I completed a commercial apprenticeship and then further education in the fields of marketing, leadership and business management. My career began in the plastics industry. My employer at the time manufactured products for the food industry and medical parts. I then worked in injection mold making, at one of the global champions in the field. During that time, I gained a significant amount of my technical background ‘on the job’. For 13 years, I worked with a well-known Swiss SME in drinking water filtration – many of those years as part of the management team being responsible for sales and marketing. Before I joined BOPP, I managed for two years the international business for a Chinese manufacturer of aseptic packaging.
You come from the plastics industry to a metalworking business. Are there similarities?
Always. But in general: I am happy and thankful to be back with a Swiss SME, manufacturing in this country yet serving worldwide markets. You could say that I live for this type of company.
Where does BOPP stand out in comparison with your previous employers?
BOPP has the most distinctive niche product and is the clearest ‘Hidden Champion’. We serve an impressive number of differing markets and most people come in touch with our products indirectly on a daily basis. Despite this, almost no one in the general public is aware of us. Another thing is the above average length of service of our employees. 50% of our people have been with the company for more than 10 years. In my opinion, that speaks volumes for our business.
What have you learned to particularly appreciate during almost a year with BOPP?
The excellent working environment and the helpful and supportive culture amongst all our employees as well as within the management team. You could almost use the term ‘familiar’, despite having a global workforce of almost 500 people. We also laugh a lot despite all the hard work to advance the business. That’s important to me. I am convinced it is an important factor in our success both to date and into the future.
How does BOPP work as well as it does? As an international player in an expensive country like Switzerland, the starting position is not always easy.
We are very customer-orientated. I quote again our technical director who works and leads by the motto ‘there is no such thing as impossible’. We work together with our customers to find solutions.
Secondly, our relatively high stock levels with a wide product range, guaranteeing short lead times. This is key for a product which takes a long time to produce and requires a variety of manufacturing stages.
We are also financially independent and can therefore respond very quickly to different and ever-changing customer requirements.
Fourth, we are well set up internationally. We have a great network of subsidiaries and professional representation, which ensures the necessary close proximity to our customers.
Last but not least our deep, vertical integration. As an example, I cite our own wire drawing plant – and also because none of our competitors has this advantage. Also there is significant perceived value here, tied in with the flexibility already mentioned.
What does it take to be successful in sales, and what constitutes a good sales person in your opinion?
In the first instance, good social skills and empathy. In sales, you need to sense what type of person is sitting at the other side of the table or, in today’s world, in front of the other computer. Active listening is important – real, active listening. Then the necessary technical competence, but also the courage and personality not to answer something directly at the right moment. In such situations, reliability is required in ensuring that the customer receives the information needed in a timely manner.
I want to see some hunter mentality. That means you must have a healthy hunger for success and the drive to learn constantly, to be perceptive and distinctive to get ahead.
What is your personal vision for BOPP?
To further increase turnover and profitability at a healthy pace. To establish and secure BOPP better in markets where we are not yet currently optimally represented.
Financially, to further secure our independence. And also obviously to find our way forward in this difficult geopolitical environment. That is one of the main tasks every business is facing ; to constantly adapt to changing circumstances and framework conditions. That’s evolution.
It is also vital we make sure being able to recruit the right people – young people too, who we can train up in terms of our niche products and who will play a role in the future of the business.
And finally, what does Roger do in his leisure time?
I like to keep up with my friends over a glass or two of good wine and a good meal. I am a very sociable person who enjoys surrounding himself with people.
Even as a small boy, I was fascinated by flying. Then, I had to satisfy this with a Commodore 64 and a joystick – now I am qualified to fly a small plane in the real world, which gives me great pleasure.
Also, I enjoy exercising , fairly regularly. A wise man once said to me ‘challenge your body, or at some time your body will challenge you’. That has stayed with me.
Resumé:
Roger Walch is 48 years old, married with two grown up children aged 18 and 21. He lives in Bassersdorf near Zürich. Roger is well travelled, both privately and for business, and as a ‘global citizen’ feels relatively quickly at home wherever he goes.
