inVISION: Will hyperspectral imaging also be a topic for Stemmer Imaging in the future?

It’s one of the topics we have been processing since years and is also part of our future success.

inVISION: Stemmer Imaging has significantly expanded its international activities in recent years, including to the US through numerous acquisitions. What are your future plans for international activities?

When you acquire companies, you need to examine processes and systems. When we look at this, we can see that the integration of the acquisitions has not been fully optimised. That’s unfortunate, and it’s something we are addressing now.

If you look at the US, we acquired Phase 1 17 months ago. One of the things we did several weeks ago was to rename the company Stemmer Imaging US. The reason is that we will transfer the knowhow and expertise – which nobody else in the industry possesses – and use it as a bridge into the US market.

The US comprises fifty states, and we have analysed this and determined that there are essentially six states where we need to establish a presence. To achieve this, we are deploying local personnel in the field. Customers are not simply buying a single product from a supplier; in most cases they are purchasing a solution, and this is something Stemmer Imaging excels at.

Furthermore, we have created a technical call centre in Europe where all our various experts are based. Everyone contributes their skills and expertise, and when anyone in the US or Europe needs specific expertise, knowhow or support, we can provide this through this centre. Additionally, we are deploying these experts to the US for specific periods to visit customers directly and support the local sales organisation with their expertise.

Our plan for the US over the next three to four years is for it to become larger than our entire European operation. We have had follow-up discussions with all our suppliers at CEO and senior level, and they are very positive about Stemmer Imaging. They are pleased that we are becoming more active externally. We are now far more visible to customers and suppliers.

inVISION: You also have activities in Mexico, mainly organised from Spain. Will this remain based in Spain, or will it be organised from the US in the future?

Local activities need to be managed locally in terms of order intake, accounting, bookkeeping, warehousing, etc. That doesn’t mean – especially given the language synergies – that we will discontinue all activities from Spain. This is one of the many benefits of being part of a private equity portfolio, because Middleground Capital has acquired many different companies in the US. The advantage is that these companies have warehouses in various locations, whether in Mexico, Brazil, or indeed in the US. This makes it easier for us to collaborate with these companies and utilise some of their facilities.

inVISION: What other trends do you currently see that Stemmer Imaging can already address or will address in the future?

We have not yet fully explored all the possibilities with our existing product range in cameras, lenses and lighting. These three categories together already represent more than eighty percent of our turnover. We need to dive deeper and look further. We need to have discussions with suppliers about additional products or potential new partnerships. Can we be part of these developments and can we secure those franchises? This is one aspect; the other is that there are market trends we have been somewhat hesitant to enter.

We are very well positioned for the mid-market segment, leveraging our expertise, and also for the high-end segment as well as complex, sophisticated applications where customers really need substantial support.

At the moment, Stemmer Imaging is not yet present in Asia, and we are having discussions with our customers where we say: if you want to expand to China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, India… we will follow you. This would enable us to be present not only in Europe and in the US and Latin American markets- we are already established in Mexico and Brazil – but we would also be present in Asia, becoming a truly worldwide company.

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