Storage system manufacturer RCT Power and E2MSservice provider BMK have enjoyed a close and successful business relationship for many years. Both medium-sized companies are characterized by sustainable business practices. What does that mean in detail? Managing Directors Thomas Hauser (RCT Power) and Nafi Pajaziti (BMK electronic services) in a PLUS interview.
How can a medium-sized company hold its own in the market?
Nafi PajazitiThomasHauser: I don't have the formula for success yet, but it clearly needs a strong team with specialist expertise, a great drive for innovation and a shared vision. Our motivation is climate protection. We want to drive forward the expansion of solar energy with efficient and sustainable solar storage systems. Our sophisticated storage systems make it possible to use solar energy more intelligently and make homes more energy-independent.
Many of our competitors are backed by large corporations. RCT Power, on the other hand, is a medium-sized company with a great and very experienced team that cultivates long-term customer relationships and attaches great importance to personal customer service. Our business partners appreciate this. We are not yet one of the biggest, but the RCT Power storage system is one of the best on the market. This was confirmed once again this year by the independent power storage inspection carried out by the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW).
Nafi Pajaziti: The EMS market in Europe has great potential. Digitalization is creating growth. However, there is great price pressure and vertical integration is increasing. It is comparable to a shark tank in which small fish are swallowed up by large ones. It is therefore important to be agile and focused. BMK's corporate development has been characterized by sustainable organic growth for 27 years.
The focus is on the customer, with whom we maintain long-term partnerships. Investments are implemented quickly and flexibly. Thanks to our BU concept, customers have a contact person with whom they can work out solutions. The difference to a finished product is that we offer a comprehensive portfolio of services and define these together with the customer.
For example, we developed a new application specifically for a rework project with the machine manufacturer Finetech. It is a special nozzle that can be used to detach several memories from the PCB at the same time in order to reduce the thermal load.
What is your recipe for success? Why do RCT and BMK together deliver such good results?
Pajaziti: Our customers come from different industries with very different project requirements. BMK is positioned in such a way that we can act flexibly and quickly in a customer-optimized manner. The range of possibilities is constantly expanding. Our customers appreciate this - mostly long-term customers. For RCT's projects, BMK has created a fast, active supply chain in combination with a professional production structure based on lean principles. RCT Power and BMK are partners at eye level. In terms of company size and the associated culture and communication structure, as well as the shared mindset. For both BMK and RCT Power, the focus is on long-term success based on genuine customer benefit.
Hauser: Our customers receive a highly efficient storage system from a single source. Both the battery and the inverter are from RCT Power and are therefore perfectly matched. Our customers can rely on RCT Power. Our systems really do what we say they do. In other words, they perform even better. This was demonstrated during the HTW's 2021 electricity storage inspection. The data we submitted was checked in the laboratory test. It turned out that both of our systems have higher usable storage capacities than we stated. That's all the better, of course. To achieve such outstanding results, we need partners who live our vision and can flexibly integrate themselves into processes. For us, BMK is not just a service provider, but part of the whole.
How did the business relationship develop?
Hauser: We have been working successfully with BMK since mid-2019. BMK has always been a reliable and fast partner for warehousing and picking our battery storage systems for photovoltaic systems. We then wanted BMK to take on further tasks for our inverter production. We are delighted with the flexible and professional implementation. Our time-to-market is shortened and together we make the difference for our customers.
Pajaziti: RCT Power was extremely satisfied with the first services provided and wanted further added value from BMK. In general, we are seeing growth with customers like RCT Power, whose products and services focus on environmental protection and resource efficiency, i.e. sustainability.
What significance does sustainable business have for you?
Pajaziti: We want to live up to our responsibility towards the environment as well as current and future generations. By constantly improving our processes, we are continuously increasing BMK's environmental performance. We are EMAS certified. We advise our customers on sustainability so that they do not have to dispose of their products, but can reuse them with little effort - according to the principle of 'rebuilding instead of producing new'. These solutions are both economically and ecologically profitable. As an active contribution to resource conservation, the sustainable business model was awarded the Augsburg Future Prize in 2020 and the 1st Bavarian Resource Efficiency Prize in 2021. We want to move the world without using up the earth!
Hauser: Sustainability is the be-all and end-all. If we don't operate more sustainably, we are depriving future generations of the basis of life. As a manufacturer, it is therefore our responsibility to question existing technologies and continuously improve our battery storage systems. In addition, a medium-sized company has to deal with how it uses its resources on a daily basis. This is not always easy. But it is clear to us that we want sustainable company growth, and to achieve this, we have to surpass ourselves a little every day.
How do you involve your employees in this?
Pajaziti: At BMK, the enthusiasm for electronics is palpable. We work at the cutting edge. As digitalization progresses, more and more devices are becoming intelligent across all industries. BMK employees are surrounded by devices that are also developed and manufactured at BMK: From sliding doors on public transport and snow cannons to smart homes and inverters. This experience inspires and motivates him. With challenging, diverse tasks in a customer and performance-oriented environment and flat hierarchies, we enable even career starters to quickly take on responsibility. Employees are involved in decision-making processes and have the opportunity to put forward their own ideas. For example, everyone was involved in the EMAS validation process, from the management to the trainees, and they support the goals together. This is the only way a company can align itself sustainably.
Hauser: Transparency and trust are our top priorities. Flat hierarchies, an open communication culture and joint decisions are fundamental. Of course, this also means dealing with other points of view and expectations. Sometimes that can be exhausting. However, it makes it possible to adopt diverse perspectives, involve employees and thus make sustainable decisions. Personally, I see diversity as an enrichment. Our team is made up of different nationalities and people at different stages of their lives. Some employees have been working from home since the beginning of their career. We therefore consciously take time for personal exchange and meet regularly. At the end of the day, what counts is that everyone has the right space for their tasks and implements them in the best possible way.
What role do partners/suppliers play in this?
Pajaziti: Interaction is very important, because the whole is more than the sum of the parts. By this I mean that two agile medium-sized market players can certainly compete with the 'big players' in terms of performance, not only in terms of the absolute performance data of the devices, but also in terms of customer-relevant aspects such as delivery times or the service offering. BMK attaches great importance to sustainable business relationships. Customers are long-term partners at eye level and we have set up an optimized supply chain with our supplier network. BMK SMETA has been audited since the beginning of the year. This is confirmation of our philosophy in our daily dealings with people. BMK takes its corporate social responsibility seriously.
The business relationship with RCT Power is a good example of a successful partnership that is developing and winning over the market.
Hauser: It doesn't work without good suppliers. No one is successful on their own. As a medium-sized company in global competition, we have to be agile, and that requires reliable business partners who treat us as equals. BMK is such a partner.
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