Jacek Pigorsch interviewed by HK magazine

How did the Biesse in Germany react to Covid-19? What are the advantages of the new campus in Ulm, which has been open for a year now? Jacek Pigorsch, CEO of Biesse Deutschland answered these and other questions to the editor of the German magazine HK.

At the end of 2019, the new South German subsidiary of Biesse Deutschland, the "Campus Ulm", opened in Nersingen. This also includes a showroom, one of the largest and most modern in the industry. What is your thinking?
We are very satisfied. I have been with Biesse for 13 years, during this period the company has grown continuously, sometimes in double digits. When I started, Biesse Deutschland GmbH employed 50 people, today we are 110. The old Biesse Deutschland site in Elchingen was no longer suitable for the new dimensions. In the new "Ulm Campus", we can now show our customers from different sectors the strength of Biesse in the market, including a much wider range of machines that can be shown live.

Germany is one of Biesse's most important export markets. How was business until the Coronavirus pandemic started?
2019 was a good year for us. We were able to achieve a turnover of around 40 million euros in Germany. The positive trend continued in January and February 2020 before we, like many other companies, were slowed down by the Coronavirus in March. We therefore started working in short term in sales, organizing the work in a very flexible way, adapting to the needs of our customers, who have reacted differently to the pandemic. For example, while site visits were still possible for many carpenters, they often weren't for large companies.
 
What figures do you expect for 2020?
The situation significantly eased in summer. In some cases, in terms of demand there were no major differences compared to the pre-Coronavirus period. The last quarter of 2020 isn't over yet, but our forecasts look pretty good. Some segments, such as the window segment, are developing very well. We are therefore very confident that we will be able to compensate for some of the drops in spring. Whether we can offset the entire decline remains to be seen.