How Switzerland remained a high -cost manufacturing power in the sea

In one of the wings of the sprawling headquarters, mix a few dozen “main perfumes” bottles to create the following luxury perfumes for ACQUA DI GIO or CK, or a new client cleaner aimed at reaching new customers in Singapore, the United States or the Middle East. There are thousands of bottles, many of whom contain copyright -protected odors. A friendly robot brings them to perfumes, saving time.

Soon, there is a more traditional traditional factory location, as giant industrial mixers result in firmenich. A few workers ignore the process. Others choose liquids in trucks and send them all over Europe and the world.

In another central building, all office workers, perfume workers and workers are mixed at lunch. In some way, it seems to be a bounce until the 1960s, which is the high tide of the municipality of manufacturing in Europe after the war, before the use of external sources of industrial activity from the West to low -cost economies such as China.

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DSM-FIRMINICH rank Fortune 500 Europe

How a century-old industrial company, such as the DSM-FIRMINICH company after its merger for 2023 with the Dutch Chemical Company DSM), managed to stay competitive globally today, given that a large share of cost is in the most expensive country in the world? Is the approach of Firmenich and other Swiss companies like it complicates any lessons for the rest of Europe for companies as it tries to restore their feet in global markets?

Deep talent

There are good reasons for the desire to learn from the Switzerland experience. Its economy today is a shorter that challenges gravity. Despite the presence of a safe haven that stands at record levels against the dollar and the euro, and despite the vision of the erosion of some of its historical competitive advantages, such as the confidentiality of banks and the access to customs tariffs to global markets, it has so far retained its status as one of the most productive, distinctive, and innovative economies in the world.

Example: with 12 companies In The Fortune Global 500 and 36 on Fortune 500 Eurobe, Switzerland has the highest intensity for the individual in these companies in the world. Like Forerich, many of them continue Make Things in their homeland.

During the past few months, I tried to understand what is the secret of modern industrial success in Switzerland. I visited Hitachi The high -voltage key manufacturer in Energy in a polished neighborhood, but it is still industrial in Zurich. I spoke to the OUBOTER family of textile producers who have turned into specialists, who created modern kick scooters and sold 70 million units of “Micro” worldwide, and to ON CEO, with more than $ 3 in sales. I spent time throughout Lausanne, as EPFL created an expansion incubator. She visited the DSM-FIRMINICH website in Geneva.

If there is one magic component of permanent economic success in Switzerland, it is found, it often combines its works with blue collars and innovation with white collars. Switzerland was built, like Germany, 20^Y-The century, the industrial economy, is to train and evaluate all types of workers -those that work with their hands and those that work in an office. But unlike most places, this system lasts to this day.

In DSM-FIRMINICH, for example, the CEO of Dimitri De Vreeze explained, the company has turned the complexity that was enabled by the talent base into an effective entry barrier.

Three components of this complexity constitute: “component tools box” with 1,800 copyright scents, which were created by its perfumes over decades; The “Creation Center” where a few dozen perfumes, who have been trained internally over many years, work with customers with the needs of consumer; The AI ​​and Organizational Intelligence Office is necessary to establish and agree to new ingredients.

He said: “It is a complex system with thousands of ingredients, allocated outputs, and deep experience. But this also means that if a competitor wants to copy, buying our talent alone will not be sufficient; they will need the base of components and operations, which take decades for construction.”

Research in the ecosystem

This competitive edge-including its blue and white contributions with white collars-is also possible because of the full ecosystems of Geneva for this industry.

At its headquarters, graduates at the Technical University work alongside factory workers to create magic doses of Firmenich. Elsewhere on Lake Geneva, competitors such as JivodanAnd (potential) customers such as P&G and NestleTechnical schools such as EPFL, or globally famous hospitality college école hôtelière de lausanne.

Dimitri De Vreeze is far from the only Fortune 500 company that benefits from the unique Nexus in Switzerland. In Basel, Varma Roche giants and NovartisChemical companies such as Syntenta, benefit from a similar setting and contribute to it, with local universities and “Fachhochschule” (commercial schools) that provide scientific workers and skill that support multinational companies, and their unique location by the River River that provides natural capital services, such as maritime transport, links with Germany and oven, and industrial access to water.

“It is a complex system with thousands of ingredients, allocated outputs, and deep experience.” Freez, CEO of DSM-FIRMEN

Even Zurich is called the Swiss Silicon Valley, as it is home to ETH, the leading technical university in Europe, the industrial giant like ABB And Hitachi Energy, European Research and Development focuses from large American technology companies such as alphabetand MicrosoftAnd IBMAnd good innovators for consumers such as Runni and Mini Electric Car Microolo, a group of small mobility systems in Ouboter.

In all these places, the availability of wide talents-whether as founders or workers in the field of knowledge or workers with high blue collars-is seen as an essential element in the success of the corporate ecosystems. Other relations between universities and businesses are other.

“The Swiss ecosystem is very important.” For example, the company’s original “cloud” technology was developed, by ETH Zurich researcher, then purchased by the startup company.

To this day, Hoffman said: “All our products are designed in Switzerland, and we are working a lot with universities, especially on sustainability and material science.”

It is a common story here, across the sectors. In Geneva, for example, a nuclear invention of researchers in the early first decade of the twentieth century led to the establishment of a new cancer treatment, and eventually, its acquisition of $ 4 billion by Novartis.

Exchange

When scientific research does not play a direct role in establishing startups, the other link in the Swiss economy does: the link between industries, industry and financing.

WIM OUBOTER also remembers, when he created microscopic navigation systems – now the global pioneer in motorcycle – 25 years ago in Zurich, two elements helped him a lot: a letter of intentions from the joint SWATCH project for the smart car, commitment to purchasing the first batch of motorcycles, and reaching the capital of Swiss, which caused themselves in Capital Capital.

“All of our products are designed in Switzerland, and we are working a lot with universities, especially on sustainability and material science.”

Martin Hoffman, CEO of ON

In other words, the current industrial and financial ecosystem often helps the emerging industries, and benefits from them.

The result of skilled workers, universities, banks, and the current industrial interconnection together becomes in many ways, including, of course, a better layer of entrepreneurs and capitalists who own and publish billions of Swiss francs.

But in particular, there are two people who explain the participation of the Alps’s economy on a large scale: Swiss stability is only 2.8 %, which means that the country is near full employment. And, for her middle The salary of approximately $ 90,000 a year, 50 % higher in the United States, although there is a total local product similar to the individual.

What is the Swiss Fortune 500 companies for the rest of Europe and the world?

It will be possible to say that the Switzerland model for joint success can be applied to any company or economy, or in reality that all Swiss multinationals choose to produce their goods locally.

Some, including Micro, Micro, and Logitech, manufacture almost all of their products in Asia, due to low costs and experience in comprehensive manufacturing there.

Many of those who still produce a large share of their products in cities and towns such as Genevie, Veyy and Zurich-such as Arm Nespresso Coffee’s Nespresso, DSM-FIRMIICH, heavy industrial equipment manufacturers such as ABB and Hitachi Energy-are not used to do so competitively.

In some cases, for example, because specialized knowledge sometimes concerns more than one cost, while in other cases, this is due to the cost of some Swiss products fading compared to the total cost of projects that are part of it.

However, there are lessons that can apply to companies and policy makers anywhere. The value of each part of the corporate environmental system, from the factory factor to the next opponent. Be a self -interested and interested at the same time: If you succeed, invest your revenues in startups and innovative companies.

And do not try to provide penalties in manufacturing or other knowledge built through the use of external sources, if you may lose your rugs (or billions of Swiss franc) below the line.