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 specialist 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 17 June. 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 National Bank lifted the minimum Swiss franc exchange rate against the euro at the beginning of 2015, explained SMU Central President Hans Kunz and the President of the Metal Construction Association, Artho Marquart, on Thursday, 16 June, at an assessment of the situation before the media in Zurich. The competitiveness of Swiss metal construction companies has subsequently declined in general and the pressure from foreign companies on the market has grown enormously. According to Kunz, a total of 1216 foreign companies carried out 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 optimisation 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, explained Andematten. In future, training in metal construction and agricultural engineering will take place at the new joint training centre in Aarberg.
The new AM Suisse umbrella brand
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 common association tasks with motivated employees. Since 17 June, the Swiss Metal Union has therefore been called AM Suisse and, as an umbrella and employers' association, unites the new trade associations "Agrotec Suisse" for agricultural technology and "Metaltec Suisse" for metal construction.
