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Christian Kuoni (L), CEO and president of Jakob Müller, Switzerland, congratulates Rene Frei, executive vice president of Jakob Müller of America, on the U.S. affiliate’s 20th anniversary. Kuoni presented Frei a crystal formation from the Swiss mountains, to display in the company’s lobby.Photo by Devin Steele |
By Devin Steele
CHARLOTTE, NC — Jakob Müller has enjoyed two decades of success in the United States because of one reason: customers.
That’s the message company officials conveyed to clients, friends, affiliates and guests who turned out for the 20th anniversary celebration of Jakob Müller of America, Inc. on March 11.
“In my opinion, the most important value in corporate life is customer value,” said Christian Kuoni, CEO and president of parent company Jakob Müller, based in Frick, Switzerland. “Where would we be today without our customers?”
Jakob Müller, which designs and builds machines and systems for the production of ribbons and narrow fabrics, celebrated the occasion with an open house, lunch, speakers and entertainment. The company is the world market leader in its field.
To commemorate the event, Kuoni presented Rene Frei, executive vice president of Jakob Müller of America, a crystal formation from the Swiss mountains.
“We have always based our success on building partnerships with our customers and we look forward to many successful projects in the future,” said Frei, reiterating Kuoni’s remarks.
Since building a U.S. headquarters here in 1982, Jakob Müller of America has more than doubled its number of employees to 22 and expanded its facility by about one-third of its original size.
“We have found a home here in Charlotte, NC,” Frei said. “At the beginning we were very fortunate to have found true Southern hospitality. We received a lot of expertise and assistance in various fields from many who are here today.”
Addressing economic conditions, Kuoni admitted that business is difficult worldwide at the moment, but that being privately held has enabled the corporation to fare better than others, he said.
“Everybody tries to explain why this has happened and I have a strong opinion about that,” Kuoni said. “I think it’s due to wrong values. Selfishness and shareholder value thinking were the drivers of the late ’90s and I think this is the main reason business looks bad. This shareholder thinking, this artificial growth, these expectations of productivity gain also affected businesses like ours.
“It has gotten companies into trouble. It also makes manufacturing a useless thing. I don’t believe in shareholder value only.”
Kuoni repeated his mantra about the importance of placing customers first.
“If we think of customers and customer value, then shareholders, at the end of the day, will be happy as well,” he said.
Being family owned and 100 percent self-financed has been a plus, he added.
“That means you can look at long-term goals, even in difficult times,” he said. “We at Jakob Müller especially think about innovation — innovation in products and innovation in machinery. Innovation is not a quarterly thing. You have to work on it all year, continuously. And that, we can do, thanks to our financial situation.
“And it calms your nerves during these difficult times when you know that nobody from the bank is looking down your neck and saying, ‘what the hell are you doing here?’ ”
Kuoni pointed out that, through its efforts toward innovation, it has developed 200 patents.
Other speakers
Another speaker, Alexander Kubli, Swiss consul general based in Atlanta, pointed out that Switzerland ranks among the top seven foreign direct investors into the U.S.
“I am particularly pleased with the Swiss presence in the great state of North Carolina, where 50 Swiss companies are currently domiciled,” he said. “Mecklenburg County will, I’m sure, continue to provide hospitality and a committed work force to the Swiss companies active here and the Mecklenburg community can, in turn, profit from the very sound business practices of the Swiss companies.”
Meanwhile, Mike Almond, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, also congratulated the company for reaching the milestone.
“Jakob Müller is a company that sells everywhere in the world, that has facilities in 10 different countries, 1,000 employees and is known worldwide as the absolute market leader, product leader and technology leader,” he said. “Customers such as Jakob Müller come to the United States, bring their technology, bring their patents and they add to the community woodpile in a place such as Charlotte.
“I hope Charlotte has been good for Jakob Müller because I can tell you for sure that Jakob Müller has been good for Charlotte.”
The Northern Textile Association (NTA), which has the Narrow Elastic Manufacturers Association under its umbrella, was represented at the podium by David Trumbull. He congratulated Jakob Müller on its anniversary before updating the group on activities within his association and trade agreements that will affect the way Müller and others will do business in the future.
“Even before September 11, the textile industry was experiencing hard times,”
Trumbull said. “But we are survivors, and innovative companies are seeking out
new markets, developing new products and adapting to the global market for
textile products.”
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