"Arrived at the Right Place"

Patrick Pertsch Looks Back on One Year as Managing Director of PI Ceramic – and He Has Big Plans for the Future

"I would like to continue the success story of PI Ceramic with my entire team even after the generation of company founders," is how Dr. Patrick Pertsch sums up his motivation for taking up the position as managing director of PI Ceramic. In 2018, he took over from founding managing director Albrecht Otto. After one year, he now takes stock of the challenges, milestones and successes he has mastered since taking office.

Part of the Success Story for Two Decades

Pertsch knows his company inside and out: over 20 years ago, he started his career at PI in Karlsruhe as a piezo system developer. Originally from Thuringia, he moved back home in 2000, supporting PI Ceramic in Lederhose as development engineer. He was promoted within the internal product division structure, switched to operations in 2014, later became operations manager and finally took over general management of the company in October 2018. In cooperation with the managing director of the parent company, Dr. Peter Schittenhelm, he has been leading PI Ceramic through the day-to-day business for one year.

Challenges, Successes and Great Plans

The responsibility Pertsch resumed with his new position brought with it a number of challenges: in 2018, the company was in the midst of a generational change and important management positions had to be filled. This process has largely been completed; the team is now set up for the future. In the first 365 days, the new managing director also experienced many a beautiful moment: in January a record turnover was celebrated, in May the Tech Center was officially announced, enabling PI Ceramic to produce customer-specific prototypes and small series faster. And with the groundbreaking ceremony for the fourth section of the building in July, the course was set for further growth.

Even in an increasingly large company, I want us to maintain the open and respectful communication culture the founding fathers instilled in us. In addition to competence, team spirit and a strong focus on service, these are essential values that our customers notice when dealing with PI Ceramic.

Pertsch has a clear vision for the future – to further strengthen PI Ceramic's innovative strength and expand its competencies in order to be able to serve the customer’s needs even more precisely. He sees customer orientation as the key to success: "I will continue to align the company in such a way that our customers have a reliable, stable supplier and partner for sophisticated piezoceramic products. With the creativeness of our employees, our broad technology portfolio and high quality standards, a selectable vertical range of manufacture, professional manufacturing organization and, last but not least, our position as part of the strong PI Group, we can optimally respond to the needs of our customers."

Being the managing director of a medium-sized company with 330 employees means full concentration every day, hardly any routine, always being out of the comfort zone. From meetings with important customers and potential partners to interviews with job applicants and employees to construction meetings and canteen commissions, Pertsch is always sought-after. For his 50th birthday, the employees gave him a card with the inscription 'Every day an adventure' – in his new position, this wish is definitely fulfilled. His recap after one year? "I feel like I've arrived at the right place in the right company."