01.08.2011

Interview with Michael Foos

What stimulates you in your work with ALUFORM and what particular aspect is it that makes you enjoy it?

My work as the sales manager of ALUFORM is primarily characterised by having contact with different kinds of people. Building up good relations between the customers and ALUFORM is an exciting task. It is our prime concern to execute orders to the fullest satisfaction of our customers, both in terms of delivery dates and quality standard. Also, having contact with people from different cultural backgrounds - we export our products to many countries - is fascinating and pleasing in its variety.

What are the differences in dealing with people from other cultures?

Well, a striking example here is our business partner from India. You need profound arguments to convince him to see the advantages of aluminium profiles over steel profiles. India is a country with a very long sea coast for which reason buildings in many regions need a special corrosion protection. In this field, we join our efforts to develop new, longer-lasting aluminium profiles that stand the test over decades. The Indian partners like our aluminium products even though they are a relatively new experience for them. Explaining them how something can be built or created with our materials and structural means differs quite a bit from the approach you would choose when dealing with a European.

What are the challenges - India is thousands of kilometres distant - in delivering aluminium profiles from Bernsdorf to Asia?

Yes, why is somebody doing that, buying products from so far away instead of just looking round the corner, buying it cheaper from China or elsewhere? The main reason is: we have the better solutions, the better products, the better quality, the better advisory service. And perhaps also some products which have not been copied or "recreated" yet, at a lower quality level.Together with our partners, we wish to capture a market share by applying the right strategy and on the basis of our know-how. Particularly in India, for this country has an incredibly big market potential.

Mister Foos, where do you see your responsibility when it comes to protecting the environment?

Every individual should think about what he or she is going to leave behind. I myself have children, and it is important for me to leave behind an intact environment - just as I have experienced it and as I am enjoying it. Everyone can make at least a small contribution, for instance by separating waste or by buying sustainably produced things. Or by re-considering if it needs to be a long-distance holiday travel. Or do I take the bicycle rather than the car to go to work or shopping? The possibilities to do something positive are vast for everyone.

What wishes and hopes stimulate you, and what can be implemented in the near future?

First of all, it is not the large-scale wishes like a yacht or a trip to the moon or anything else that I have. What is important for me is: The journey is the reward. In my life and of course also in our company, I strive after having a good time and bringing about something useful and meaningful together with others. For example, planning and building a hall, a roof or a façade which last for many, many years. That's important to me. And when this is accompanied by the building having turned into an attractive architectonic jewel, my pleasure looking at it is much the greater.

Are there wishes you expect to be fulfilled by your very own activities?

wish to harmonise the activities of my outdoor staff with the requirements of our inside staff and production personnel. And if that results in even more satisfied customers, then my efforts were worth it 100 per cent.

In your endeavour to make an essential contribution to sustainability, what opportunities do you see in using ALUFORM products when looking at the matter from the standpoint of the sales manager?

Just like my colleagues, I love the material aluminium. I am totally convinced of the ideal suitability of our products for cladding façades. Even though the manufacture is costly in terms of energy in the beginning, the material has a very, very long service life and can thereafter be recycled many times over and turned into new products, then at a low cost; the material is much too valuable, and it would be a shame to dispose of it after use. For a long time now we have offered our sandwich elements which provide for an excellent thermal insulation of building shells, require little maintenance and are very long-lasting. Further, we equip our standing seam profiles with flexible solar modules and so permit the advantages of solar energy, which is available for free almost everywhere, to be combined with the benefits of a low weight and corrosion resistance of the materials used.

Quality is a key aspect to you. How important do you think is cooperation with customers who do not accept compromises in respect of quality?

Such a customer would be a dream customer! It would be an easy job to meet his requirements. Convincing a customer with a fixation on prices of thinking twice and giving quality, delivery reliability or after-sales service priority is much more difficult. This is where our, the sales department's, job starts, where we see the challenge of tapping new potentials, of stimulating the customers' interests and of fulfilling his wishes.

Okay, let me ask you another provoking question: How do you manage to convince your customers that it is more efficient to use aluminium profiles instead of steel profiles? After all, competitors praise their products just as much and equip them with properties that promise longevity although, in the final analysis, we all know that steel products cannot be as durable as aluminium products.

This is simple because I think every material has its very own optimum purpose. We use steel in the protected zone behind aluminium parts - for substructures, for example. The aluminium profiles are no doubt the interface between inside and outside - they are used for outer shells and protection against the weather. Where a customer wants his façade or roof to last more than 10 or 20 years, our arguments should automatically convince him. On the other hand, if an investor believes a service life of 10 years is enough and then the devil may care, we certainly won't be able to convince him.

In case a customer wants a long-lasting façade, is there an alternative to aluminium?

No, I am sure there is no way around aluminium which, in view of its longevity of 20 to 30 years, has a much better cost-benefit ratio than any other material.

Put in a nutshell: He who buys cheap buys twice!

He'll buy twice or even more times with certainty!

Thank you very much for the interview!