Stephan Pies is new Managing Director of Bucher Automation Tettnang

Stephan Pies is a native of Tettnang and started work at the company in 2011 – a true home-grown talent who is thoroughly familiar with the situation there. He has a degree in Business Engineering and was most recently Director Sales with signatory authority prior to joining the management team at the beginning of the year. Since 1 April, Pies has officially taken the helm at Bucher Automation Tettnang.

Clear commitment to Tettnang

The timing is perfect: last summer’s change of name was a major landmark in the history of the company. The process is now largely complete, the course has been set and the new boss’s agenda is full to bursting. Stephan Pies’s main priorities will be to press ahead with developing the Bucher Automation in Tettnang, harness synergies within the Group efficiently and take the next step on the strategic growth journey embarked on by his predecessor.

The goal: Consolidate the firm’s leading role in the glass industry

Bucher Automation Tettnang is one of the world’s leading providers of complex automation solutions for plant and equipment manufacturers in the glass producing industry. The idea is that under Pies’s leadership the company will continue to expand and consolidate its already strong market position in this sector. Over the next few years, the company will also devote more and more attention to the still young recycling segment as a business area for the future. Its activities here will centre on the careful and sustainable use of resources along with the recovery of valuable raw materials as well as energy-efficient processes. Pies: “We supply the right automation solutions for this purpose.”

High investments in digitalisation and automation

A large part of the revenue generated in the 2023 financial year has been invested in digitalising and automating in-house production. “We intend to operate within this same corridor in the future, although we hope to increase steadily in absolute terms”, Pies comments. The aim is to stay firmly on the present growth path as far as annual turnover is concerned.

A modern, attractive employer

“If we want to grow, we need qualified staff”, the new Managing Director adds. Bucher Automation currently employs around 90 people in Tettnang. That figure will rise to about 120 in just a few years from now. “In other words, we must continue to evolve as an employer too and offer an attractive, modern and respectful environment that can keep pace with the increased expectations and demands of future generations.” Specifically, for example, this means giving people at the various operational levels more autonomy and responsibility. Stephan Pies, as Managing Director, will then be able to dedicate the necessary time to strategic tasks – yet remain an approachable, personal contact for every single employee.

The right man at the helm

“The fact that Stephan is now taking over as Managing Director here is only logical”, remarks Christian Benz, who in his role as CEO of Bucher Automation AG in Ludwigsburg is also Managing Director of the Tettnang subsidiary. “Nobody knows our company better than he does. He can claim a wealth of experience and knowledge, and above all he has a genuine vision for Bucher Automation Tettnang.” Benz is in no doubt that “The future of our organisation is in exactly the right hands”.