#6 Design, Data and Global Growth – Michael Gubisch on Building Smart Elevator Interfaces

00:00:01: So welcome to a new episode of Lifts and Leaders by InterLift and today I'm joined by someone who has shaped the international growth and innovation spirit of the industry and we are really keen that he's here.

00:00:18: Sheva Group is a well-known company within the industry and they are known for high quality operating panels.

00:00:27: A very elegant design and smart technology.

00:00:32: and Michael Gubisch or Michael Gubisch as we say in Germany.

00:00:37: Michael is right now here with us.

00:00:39: He's with the company since two thousand and two and since then.

00:00:46: the company is part of his story and so it is in this podcast and right now he is managing director.

00:00:53: he's here.

00:00:54: he's joining us as lifting leaders.

00:00:55: hi Michael welcome.

00:00:57: thank you very much.

00:00:58: thank you Denise and thank you of course all the people which are hearing us later on.

00:01:02: thank you nice to having me here

00:01:04: yeah so we start with kind of personal introduction and your path into the industry.

00:01:11: And so we're talking about Schaefer.

00:01:14: And so what brought you into this company or even above into the elevator industry?

00:01:20: Okay.

00:01:21: Yeah, that's a long story.

00:01:22: We don't have the time.

00:01:23: But being now in the industry for almost twenty five years and being managing director of the Schaefer Group, I think it's more than twenty years already.

00:01:32: Actually, I was on my way between two parts in the world and then I landed in Sigmaringen which is pretty much in the south so close to Swiss border and then I started with the industry.

00:01:46: and to be honest I since since first day I really love it I really love it and I'm sure with all your other people are sitting here that you guys they will say Exactly the same.

00:01:59: So we are a family.

00:02:00: Everybody knows each other.

00:02:02: You know, we come together worldwide.

00:02:03: Everybody is same people, same products.

00:02:05: You know, we have also a very, very international product.

00:02:09: And yeah, it's I like it.

00:02:10: I like it a lot.

00:02:11: I like it a lot.

00:02:12: So Schäfer is also a member, a founding member of the Association and also for founding InterLift.

00:02:21: And so it was where everything begins.

00:02:23: So.

00:02:25: Was there a special moment for you where you said, okay, I'm exactly right here where I belong?

00:02:32: Yeah, okay.

00:02:33: Yeah, maybe it's a journey.

00:02:34: Maybe it's, of course, it's one step by step.

00:02:37: Let's call it that way.

00:02:39: And yeah, and I remember, I think it's now twelve or... Thirteen's show I'm doing and I see all the things you know all the booth is and I see of course people and also I see generations you.

00:02:55: Even today we got a couple of older people with Schaefer.

00:03:01: They were dominating our company twenty years back, but now they are retired of course.

00:03:09: It's an interesting thing between people coming together, products going to be development.

00:03:15: In the past it was more elevators or lifts, as we say in Europe, are more mechanical.

00:03:22: now in between more electromechanical and now it's becoming with all the IoT.

00:03:27: You must hear that from other people are saying this one.

00:03:31: Yeah, it's step by step.

00:03:33: It's becoming more part of the total building, right?

00:03:36: With all the things, your sustainability, energy consumption and usage of the lift.

00:03:43: You know, we do the panels where you press and we always say that's the business card of the lift, because This is the only thing people interfere with the elevator.

00:03:53: I want to go from this to this to this.

00:03:55: And I, you know, with all the vandalism, protection disabled.

00:03:59: So this is all our stuff.

00:04:00: Yeah,

00:04:01: I love you.

00:04:03: Yeah.

00:04:04: And before we again dive deeper into the DNA of Schaefer and Schaefer Group, so we still stay at your personal career.

00:04:11: And so what really is also interesting to us is what experience has shaped you most as a leader when you lead the company.

00:04:23: I'm always coming from an international background.

00:04:25: I was working for bigger companies.

00:04:29: My first company was an English one, my second was an American, and then I came to a smaller Swabian company, so maybe I brought the internationality with me somehow.

00:04:41: I remember when I started in Schäfer, there was only one person really speaking.

00:04:46: a proper English.

00:04:47: And now we have twenty-three nations inside Schaefer.

00:04:50: Twenty-three nationalities.

00:04:52: And it's great.

00:04:55: I love it.

00:04:55: It's great.

00:04:56: There is one exception when it comes down to football.

00:05:01: You have to be careful what you are saying, you know, when the Spanish against the Germans, so you rather not raise the topic of football at all.

00:05:08: But the rest is perfect, that's perfect.

00:05:10: So I came with the international background and also I was responsible for the growth international.

00:05:16: You have offices in all production, China, Canada.

00:05:21: In Germany, of course, several sites, then Italy, Spain.

00:05:26: Yeah, that's it, that's us.

00:05:27: Wow.

00:05:29: So you are known for your, you just described the innovative and controlled display systems, which everybody has contact when he is in the elevator.

00:05:40: So what's the guiding philosophy behind your company's work?

00:05:44: Yeah, of course, when it comes down to regulation, right?

00:05:48: And you know, We deliver a lot quite outside of Europe, right?

00:05:52: And of course, we know all the regulations, which is, you know... Some of them are based on European regulation, but for example, North America is totally different.

00:06:03: And we know them all, only regarding our products.

00:06:07: And then sometimes, because I'm also part of the VFA, I'm also part of the board, maybe we can also help the industry to move in the right direction to also take care for this regulation.

00:06:20: always in the usage of the final passenger at the end, especially in terms of disabled people.

00:06:27: This is what we are doing.

00:06:30: Thank you.

00:06:31: So one thing that is also interesting is when you look at the history of Schaefer Group, it started as a traditional small German family owned business company.

00:06:42: And right now... As you already mentioned, it's truly a global brand.

00:06:47: So how did you turn this strong German SME into a global brand?

00:06:53: Yeah, so okay, this was not only my work.

00:06:57: This is the result of the team always.

00:06:59: There's always a team behind, right?

00:07:03: And the spirit also becomes on a very solid product, right?

00:07:07: Very solid product, listen to the customer needs, following the regulations.

00:07:11: And then we go with, actually we go with some of our customers to these individual places abroad, right?

00:07:19: And yeah, the rest is just, we never thought about the second step.

00:07:23: It's always step by step.

00:07:26: You follow the business actually, which is maybe the official term for that.

00:07:30: Is it in the core, in the heart, still a family business, even if it has grown so much?

00:07:37: Part of, part of, part of.

00:07:38: And, you know, being a component manufacturer, of course you have to look to other markets.

00:07:43: If you sit down and wait until the world is changing around you, maybe it's too late.

00:07:48: So the best idea is always you pack your bag and you go wherever is needed.

00:07:55: We go into the technology shaping tomorrow, so Schaefer isn't just about the buttons you see.

00:08:01: No,

00:08:02: not

00:08:02: buttons anymore.

00:08:04: It's smart technology.

00:08:07: Connected

00:08:08: smart systems and solutions.

00:08:10: So what's behind these?

00:08:12: terms or buzzwords.

00:08:13: Yeah, of course, these are buzzwords, of course, and behind that is a lot of technology, right?

00:08:18: That's a lot of... I remember when I joined the company, I would say we were eighty percent mechanical orientated, right?

00:08:25: Yeah, it

00:08:25: was a button, you press it, then it went from zero from ground to five.

00:08:29: But right now it's...

00:08:30: Yeah, it's pre-wired, it's smart, the bus system, right with all the regulations and so on, lots of technology, IOT.

00:08:37: Yeah, don't ask me if I would know ten years back that we are where we are right now.

00:08:43: It's for sure not.

00:08:44: But again, step by step and we follow the request.

00:08:48: And how important is the user experience within that system?

00:08:52: Again, being involved in that.

00:08:55: For us, the user, of course, we sell to the Lyft companies, but at the end, our products are going to be used by the people which are riding the Lyfts, the passengers.

00:09:05: So we have a lot of connections to the disabled people and then, of course, to find out the situations in stations, in football stadiums.

00:09:15: Sometimes quite critical.

00:09:16: and yeah, and we have we have to admit lots of areas around the world is not just Germany where It's a. it's a big difference between a nice mention of rich people and the poor situation on a metro station, right?

00:09:31: It's and We have elevators there.

00:09:35: We have our lifts as we say we have lifts there and they have to say

00:09:39: So from your perspective, is there anything that other industries could learn from the lift industry from yours?

00:09:45: Wow, I wouldn't... No, no, no, no.

00:09:48: I just would be maybe too much.

00:09:51: Because I thought that's so much precision and accuracy and...

00:09:58: I think, as we always call it, the lift industry is a niche market, right?

00:10:02: The niche market always, it contains, okay, it's not easy for others to join the market.

00:10:08: And it's in the same way, especially smaller companies like us, or medium-sized companies, to go to other markets.

00:10:14: We tried it on a very strategic way to fight other market sectors.

00:10:19: But actually, the result of this process, we invented a new product for us for the lift industry.

00:10:28: And we have a lot of things to do, I think, is for all the suppliers and lift manufacturers.

00:10:33: We have a lot of things to do to follow all the things what's going to happen over the next couple of years.

00:10:38: You know, with all the standards, ISO standards now, it's ahead of us.

00:10:42: It keeps us busy.

00:10:44: But you know, on the strategic, of course, we should also watch what's going to happen in ten years' time.

00:10:52: But if you would ask me ten years time, I don't

00:10:55: know, for two years,

00:10:57: maybe I have a clear picture.

00:10:58: Ten years, nobody knows.

00:11:00: So what project or topic currently excites you the most?

00:11:05: The most?

00:11:06: I personally like it a lot and sometimes I'm getting involved in very famous and very special projects where lifts are involved in... We talked about a project the other day where, for example, in a very expensive situation in Dubai, for example, the people are coming in with their cars, and in Dubai you have fancy cars, very loud, and then they bring the car, the motor is still on, the engine is still on, to the top floor.

00:11:43: Which is a lot of, let's say, you have to think about many, many things.

00:11:47: About the exhaust, about the loudness.

00:11:50: The shaft is like, you know, like...

00:11:52: like a guitar.

00:11:54: So this excites me quite a lot.

00:11:56: But also, as we said, and many other things, you know, for example, in Germany.

00:12:00: now, in Germany, all the stations are convert for disabled people, right?

00:12:05: We have done a lot of things so far, but there are many, many projects ahead of us.

00:12:11: So sometimes I like the excitement of the special projects, but also I like it also to talk to disabled people or because of the usage of the elevator.

00:12:20: So it's a huge range.

00:12:21: Well, we're very interested from luxury cars to disabled persons.

00:12:27: That's quite

00:12:28: a big trend.

00:12:31: So if you... had young talents listening to you because there's always a lack of talents and you need young talents.

00:12:41: What advice would you give to those entering to the Lyft industry today?

00:12:45: It's interesting because I have also a twenty year old daughter and of course with the young people they like of course the brands like Apple and the jewelry like you guys, you know, the Prada and whatever.

00:12:58: And the Lyft industry is more robust.

00:13:01: It's more the They

00:13:03: need the lift only for their selfies.

00:13:05: Sometimes

00:13:05: it's a long bridge.

00:13:07: But again, when you're in, you're in.

00:13:10: I mean, each industry has its own spirit.

00:13:16: What we like, especially in a company of our size, when you're good and the company is a solid company, you can... get in a position of really taking care of projects, or you can also travel with us.

00:13:30: For example, when you open up the company in Canada, we said, OK, who wants to go to Canada?

00:13:39: It's not easy to find someone to go for a couple of months to Canada, right?

00:13:43: You have to have the right age and the right situation within your family.

00:13:47: I told

00:13:47: them you're definitely coming back as a different person.

00:13:54: Going abroad, going on travel, it opens your mind.

00:13:56: It could be

00:13:56: a big chance for somebody.

00:13:59: We do it quite a lot, because of all the subsidiaries we have.

00:14:04: So what describes the elevator industry to you in three words, for example?

00:14:10: Ah, cool, three words.

00:14:12: I'm the person of many worlds, but the only thrill is exciting.

00:14:16: It's exciting.

00:14:17: Of course, we have a lot of things to work on, because technology moves on, same as regulations.

00:14:24: But again, what motivates me every day is, let's keep the ball rolling, or I always look for the next gelge.

00:14:33: So this wakes me up every morning.

00:14:35: That's great.

00:14:35: Cool.

00:14:37: So what can we expect from Schiffer the next years?

00:14:41: As I said earlier, with this IoT thing, everything becomes now transparent and the status of our components can be consent information, especially push button.

00:14:54: I'm good because of vandalism.

00:14:57: Maybe I should be changed.

00:14:59: I should be switched into new components, whatever.

00:15:03: Now it becomes the IoT level, so all the components talk to each other.

00:15:10: Any other innovation we should keep an eye on?

00:15:13: Come to our stand and find out.

00:15:14: We have lots of innovation, lots of things.

00:15:16: And of course, with all the people just watching us, come and see us, double check the website.

00:15:21: We have lots of, lots of, we have not just, you know, we have a bright spectrum of the things we are providing and a lot of things to come.

00:15:30: Thank you very much, Michael, for joining us and for your insightful and inspiring conversation.

00:15:35: Thank you for being part of Lifts and Leaders by InterLift.

00:15:37: Thank you.

00:15:38: Thank you very much for being here.

00:15:39: And to Denise, wish you all the luck.

00:15:41: Thank you, Michael.

00:15:41: Take care of yourself.

00:15:42: Bye bye.

00:15:43: Ciao.