HellermannTyton: Mr Slezak, what led up to it?
André Slezak: We do a lot of work with electrical equipment and industrial automation. We have a lot of customers in these fields which supply the automotive industry, including in Great Britain and the USA. You might say that we are virtually an international company, at least with regard to the customers of our customers.
‘we are virtually an international company’
Because of this, our orders began to feel the effects of the political situation in as early as 2019, all I’ll say is Trump and Johnson... But the whole thing really came to a head when the first reports of a new, highly infectious virus began to come out of China at the beginning of last year.
HellermannTyton: What challenge were you facing then?
André Slezak: At the start, we all thought that it wouldn’t be so bad, that it would be over by summer. At that point, we still had lots of active projects that we were just bringing to a close.
‘clever and careful’
However, I realised in the first quarter of 2020 that it was going to be a much bigger issue that we would have to prepare for – cleverly and carefully. That is what I said to my staff too. Some of them were still completely unaware of the scale at that point.
HellermannTyton: What was your moment of change?
André Slezak: Initially, I was of course focused on bringing in new orders, and we were quick to adapt and begin looking beyond the end of our own noses and accepting even unusual orders. So not just thinking about our traditional business that we can do blindfolded, but also more complex orders with more investment in preparation and follow-up work. We simply had to broaden our own horizons.
‘we simply had to broaden our own horizons’
In spring 2020, we had the opportunity to bid for a project to digitise the schools in the town of Uetersen. It was a project involving both electrical engineering and network technology. That was something we had to get to grips with first. But it worked! We received an order for a school and were even able to attract a number of follow-up orders for other schools over the course of what turned out to be an excellent job.
HellermannTyton: What is the situation like now?
André Slezak: Now we are up to our eyeballs in various digitisation jobs and have built up a wealth of expertise in the field. Of course, it’s a tremendous help to have references in this field as the demand is extremely high there at the moment and something like this is now really easy for us.
‘doing something different opens up new possibilities’
I am someone who isn’t afraid to try things, to do something new or to do something different – it opens up new possibilities.
That’s also why I signed up to do this interview; I have never done something like this before.
HellermannTyton: And you won't regret it, Mr Slezak. Thank you very much! It was very interesting and we wish you every success in the future. And stay healthy!
What did you think about Mr Slezak’s story?
What challenges did you face in the context of the pandemic?
Tell us about how you changed, we’re excited to hear it! Contact us.
