The elevator manufacturer Schindler, the company  Müller Martini producing machinery for the graphic industry, or the railway vehicle producer Stadler Rail all rely on a Lucerne SME for a central component of their products - Bächli AG. The company manufactures customised transformers for these firms.

In the past ten years, Herbert Bächli, the owner of this family enterprise, has primarily focused on quality and a smooth cooperation with his customers in order to prevail against competitors from low-cost countries.

Now, however, a turnaround is visible as buyers are increasingly willing to pay more for exceptionally energy-efficient transformers. Innovation  has consequently become a talking point in the branch and thereby also the theme of innovation management with suppliers.

Herbert Bächli intends to be at the forefront of this trend and makes a point of regularly reading market studies. However, these do not supply concrete information on the activities of individual companies, which is of particular interest to Herbert Bächli. His interest focuses not even on the plans of direct competitors but rather on innovations of potential suppliers.  “At present, we are first and foremost looking for business partners who are developing new materials for transformer construction,” he explains.