New umbrella brand in the metal construction industry
The Swiss Metal Union (SMU) focuses on knowledge leadership, reliability, occupation of niches, internal process optimization and in particular training and promotion of young talent. Last but not least, the employer and professional association of the metalworking, agricultural engineering and farrier sectors is condensing its multi-layered messages into a communicative core with the new umbrella brand "AM Suisse" and modern names of the trade associations Agrotec Suisse and Metaltec Suisse.
The new brand is a reality: The transition to AM Suisse was celebrated by around 270 members, guests and employees at the Hallenstadion in Zurich on June 17. The transition was artistically accompanied by a light show by Oleg Basanov and the new brand was ceremoniously welcomed with a countdown.
Under the sign of the franc shock
The shock was deep-seated when the Swiss National Bank lifted the minimum exchange rate for the Swiss franc against the euro at the beginning of 2015, explained SMU Central President Hans Kunz and the President of the Metal Construction Association, Artho Marquart, at an assessment of the situation before the media in Zurich on Thursday, June 16. The competitiveness of Swiss metal construction companies has subsequently generally declined and the pressure from foreign companies on the market has grown tremendously. According to Kunz, a total of 1216 foreign companies already executed orders in the metal construction industry in 2015.
Education, process optimization and social partnership
For the SMU Central President, it was clear that companies that regularly invest in innovations and further training and have their costs under control are able to meet the dynamic challenges of competition. In order to remain successful, both in metal construction and in lnadtechnik, entrepreneurial creativity, differentiation through a competitive edge, occupation of niches, reliability and permanent internal process optimization are required. The 1860 active member companies are very fit today, well advised by the association and they consider very well where they invest money successfully, added SMU director Christoph Andenmatten. For him, however, one of the greatest challenges at present is the availability of suitable young talent in both sectors. The association is making various efforts to ensure that suitable young people are found for the professions, Andematten explained. In the future, training in metal construction and agricultural engineering will take place at the new joint training center in Aarberg.
The new umbrella brand AM Suisse
As an innovative and modern association, it is important for Central President Hans Kunz to be clearly perceived through a memorable brand. With this in mind, the SMU is now intensively committed to its members as "AM Suisse" and provides professional networking for all joint association tasks with motivated employees. Since June 17, the Swiss Metal Union is now called AM Suisse and unites the new professional associations "Agrotec Suisse" for agricultural technology and "Metaltec Suisse" for metal construction as an umbrella and employer association.
