Diagram 182 en

#182 / August 2021 the Bühler magazine
connecting …
IT’S TIME TO SWITCH INNOVATION IS CAMERA ROLLING?

TO GROWTH MODE IGNITED IN CRISIS WE’RE LIVE!
BÜHLER’S BUSINESSES ARE WHY UNCERTAINTY AWAKENS HOW REMOTE TRIALS SPEED
READY TO ENERGIZE YOU CREATIVITY AND ENGAGEMENT UP PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
connected!
The pandemic turned our usual routines upside down, but
as lockdowns in many parts of the world ease, it’s becoming
possible to reconnect, rekindle friendships, see loved ones, and
learn to thrive in the next normal. As people go out and expand
their horizons, spending will rise, and economies will rebound.
We hope that around the world, situations will improve swiftly,
and everyone can experience the joys of life as it should be.
/ CONNECTED
July 2021: Rennweg is a popular promenade in the heart of Zurich’s old town.
Looking over Rennweg is St. Peter’s parish, with the largest church clock face in Europe.
_ener
4 diagram #182
gized
/ EDITORIAL
DEAR READERS, I feel energized and optimistic. I am During the last global financial crisis, the US-
motivated by the fact that many countries, including based entrepreneurial think tank, the Kauffman
my own, are reopening step by step, allowing people Foundation, published research revealing that 57
to connect again and experience the joy of what percent of the companies in the 2009 Fortune 500
we very likely took for granted before 2020. were launched during a recession. In this issue, we
Restaurants, gyms, shops, sporting events, and ask experts how innovation is ignited through crisis.
more are back in Switzerland – yes, things are differ- One of their findings is that the priority for busi-
ent from 2019, with the need to show proof of vacci- nesses now should be to ensure they have a clear
nation or a negative test result to take part in many corporate purpose, serving society, not exploiting it,
activities – but the energy of this reconnection, this and treating their employees and customers well. I
taste of pre-pandemic life, make it somehow so take great inspiration from the interview in this
much sweeter than in the past. issue with Peter Bakker, CEO and President of the
Walking through our factories and offices in World Business Council for Sustainable Develop-
Switzerland, I feel the energy of everyone at Bühler. ment. His exchange with our CTO Ian Roberts is a
We are holding events in our CUBIC innovation must-read on how, together, we can all contribute
campus again, and in June we even hosted a One to protect the environment and reduce social
Young World Switzerland Caucus with nearly 100 inequalities while increasing our competitiveness.
participants attending in person and 150 virtually. As he says, now is the time to transform, and a shift
These young people are ready to change the world, in mindset is needed to see this through.
and their energy motivates me to tackle the chal- At Bühler, we can already see this trend in action.
lenges ahead. Whether it is energy efficiency, CO2 reduction, waste
While I am optimistic, I am fully aware that some reduction or up-cycling, we see global players com-
countries are in very different positions due to the ing to us and asking for solutions, wanting to co-
Covid-19 crisis. It is my sincere wish and hope that develop applications, and change their operational
all those who are still facing more challenging system to a more sustainable one.
times will soon be able to experience the joys of As our CEO of Advanced Materials and Chief
safely reconnecting with people. One thing I am cer- Services & Sales Officer – Group Samuel Schär
tain of is that when this does happen, we will describes it in an interview in this issue: “We have
emerge stronger. The coronavirus may be with us had many exchanges with our customers during the
for years, but we are learning and growing, and will pandemic and have therefore reconfirmed that we
continue to gain the knowledge we need to get can learn so much from each other no matter what.
through this, and thrive again as individuals, societ- You pick up something from another company and
ies, economies, and businesses. you mix it with your own activities and then you
The pandemic has brought about many changes can give it to somebody else. It’s this network that
in the way we do business, and has accelerated ma- future-proofs us all.”
jor trends that were already underway. Some of the Let’s use this crisis to reframe our purpose with
fundamentals of business have changed extremely the focus on new, transformative solutions and mind-
fast. Coronavirus has shown us how agile we must sets. Though we continue to cope with this pan-
be and how fast opportunities come, but also how demic, and the potential is high that it won’t be
fast they are gone. As vaccination programs gather our last, it is optimism for a better future that will
pace around the world, businesses are turning their guide us to do our best for our businesses, society,
attention to planning for the post-pandemic econ- and the world – it’s time to get ready for growth.
omy, asking: What shape will the recovery take and
how will it emerge in different sectors? Only time Yours sincerely,
will tell. In this issue of Diagram, you will discover
the views of two renowned economic historians and
find out if taking a look at how past pandemics have
ended can give us some clue of what’s to come. Stefan Scheiber, CEO Bühler Group
buhlergroup.com 5
IN THIS
ISSUE diagram #182 | August 2021
FOCUS
08_ activate 26
A spirit of optimism after crisis:
Thanks to global vaccination campaigns to
curb the corona pandemic, the economy is
about to take off again.
16_ invigorate
Full steam ahead:
The pandemic has accelerated existing
trends and created new opportunities. Those
who invest now are ahead of the game.
26_ enkindle
Ready for the next normal:
The world will continue to change,
economists say. Those who enable creativity
and innovation will emerge stronger.
38_ alliance
32_ generate Bühler and PremierTech:
More power for car batteries: The joint venture launched the first ON THE COVER
Automobile manufacturers worldwide are fully-automated packaging solution for the
focusing on electro-mobility, and the demand feed industry. The post-corona pandemic
for batteries will skyrocket. relaxations in many parts of
42_ collaboration the world are bringing people
A playground for food trends: back together and creating
Bühler and Givaudan operate their joint new connections. Freedom is
48 Protein Innovation Centre in Singapore. a trigger for optimism, which
in turn fuels global economic
48_ accelerate recovery from the crisis.
Taking big steps, not small ones:
To save our planet, companies need to rethink
capitalism, says the CEO of the World Busi-
ness Council for Sustainble Development.
56_ quantification
You can only improve what you measure
Bühler’s CO2 e Quantification Program helps
customers to measure their emissions.
6 diagram #182
INNOVATIONS
82 78_ efficiency
More color, less energy:
MacroMedia and MicroMedia Invicta
are unbeatable when it comes to efficiency
and quality.
82_ imagine
Car bodies for the future:
The automotive industry is gearing up and
banking on die-casting solutions from Bühler.
STORIES
60_ savor
A transparent chocolate factory:
The Lindt Home of Chocolate is both a
museum for visitors and a testing facility.
68_ connect
As if by magic:
Bühler’s Nutrition Application Center
lets customers run their product trials
remotely. See it to believe it!
72_ versatile
Perfect peanuts:
Gerelli relies on the new Solano roaster for
great tasting peanuts. What’s next for
Switzerland’s biggest peanut processor?
60
68 86_ did you know?

Generation B and One Young World break
new ground and rethink the future.
87_ food for thought

Together, young and young at heart leaders
move mountains at the One Young World
Switzerland Caucus.
buhlergroup.com 7
_activate
GET READY
FOR ECONOMIC
ACCELERATION TEXT: JANET ANDERSON, PHOTOS: JUDITH AFFOLTER
As vaccination programs gather pace around the world, busi-

nesses are turning their attention to planning for the post-
pandemic economy. What shape will the recovery take and
how will it emerge in different sectors? We don’t have a crystal
ball, but a look at how past pandemics have ended can give us
some clues. One thing is for sure, energy and optimism are on
the rise – it’s time to get ready for growth.
8 diagram #182
Rebooting the economy / ACTIVATE
July 2021: The charming town of Wil has one of the best-preserved old towns in Eastern Switzerland.
The Obere Bahnhofstrasse pedestrian zone, with its many shops and restaurants, leads to the picturesque old town.
IF THE EXPERIENCE in the United Kingdom (UK) is highest level since May 2019, according to the Ifo
anything to go by, the pandemic will end in a shop- Institute in Munich. The Organisation for Economic
ping spree. In the days immediately after lockdown Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in
restrictions were relaxed in April 2021, queues May 2021 that it sees the economic outlook bright-
formed outside stores and retail sales surged. After ening and global growth continuing to recover,
months of online shopping, people were keen for bringing the world back to pre-pandemic levels by
real-life experiences. Demand for hotels, restaurants the end of 2022.
and other consumer-facing services all soared and Of course, caution is still called for. Any hint that
factory orders grew at record pace. Business confi- the pandemic might not be under control is likely to
dence hit a record high, according to figures released send those same shoppers straight back home again.
by the Confederation of British Industry, as the There are also fears of higher inflation with com-
rebound proved better than expected. Forecasters modity prices rising and supply chain bottlenecks
are predicting gross domestic product (GDP) growth in some sectors. Are we in for a roller coaster ride?
in the UK of 6 percent or over. A look at how past pandemics have ended and the
A feeling of optimism is emerging in many places effects they had on economies around the world can
around the world. In Germany, which is behind the give us some clues as to what to expect. From the
UK in terms of its vaccination program, business perspective of an economic historian, a great deal of
confidence is rising across all sectors, reaching its human history can be explained by the effects of
“PEOPLE WANT TO GO OUT AND

TOUCH STUFF AND RUB SHOULDERS
AND FIGHT FOR SPECIAL OFFERS AT
STORES. YOU CAN SEE EVERYONE
WANTS TO GO OUT AGAIN.”
ALBRECHT RITSCHL
Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics
ALBRECHT RITSCHL
pandemics on societies. The bubonic plague, com-
Albrecht Ritschl is Professor of Economic monly known as the Black Death, had a profound
History at the London School of Economics. He is impact on Renaissance Italy, while attempts to stem
an internationally renowned expert on debt crises, the spread of typhoid in the late 19th and 20th cen-
financial crises, historical business cycles, macro- turies led to significant improvements in water qual-
economic history, and monetary history. He was ity in many regions. The cholera pandemic in France
previously Professor of Economics at Humboldt in the 1830s was followed by a period of economic
University, Berlin, and at the University of Zurich, revival as well as huge structural change.
and was Associate Professor of Economics at
Pompeu Fabra University. He is a Fellow at the Rare events that create major change
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the Plagues have shaped the history of nations, some-
Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), and the times causing societal upheavals and sometimes
independent research network, CESifo. He is also leading to rapid growth and innovation. It is argued
a member of the Scientific Advisory Board to the that the plagues that Europe suffered over centuries
German Ministry of Economics and has published were paradoxically the cause of long-lasting im-
extensively on German economic history in the provements in living standards and real wages.
20th century, with a focus on the 1930s. When looking for clues as to how Covid-19 will
affect our societies and economies in the mid- to
long-term, it pays not to look too far back in history.
The 1918 flu pandemic – also known as the Spanish
10 diagram #182
July 2021: The Marktplatz in the city of St. Gallen is again bustling with activity.
flu, as the Spanish press was the first to report it – is epidemic is not so strong but precautionary mea-
the best analogy, says Albrecht Ritschl, Professor of sures are being taken and supply chains are dis-
Economic History at the London School of Econom- rupted,” says Ritschl. “The strength of the economic
ics. It was the most severe of the three influenza fallout is pretty much like we see it today – output
pandemics of the 20th century, estimated to have declines 5 or 10 percent on impact then grows back
caused 20–50 million deaths in 1918–1919. Although but falls again when the next wave strikes.”
the aftermath of the First World War hampered re-
covery, there are lessons to be learned from how the The same, but different
disease was tackled and its impact on economies. The Spanish flu affected a third of the world’s pop-
“The effects were big and differed by locality and ulation, making its way through Europe, the United
policy response. Governments and municipalities States and Africa, into Australia and South America.
tried to find a response. Likened to today, they var- When the fourth wave finally subsided, it was fol-
ied a lot, from complete lockdown to almost com- lowed by a period of astonishing economic growth.
plete denial,” says Ritschl. This means we can link Many historians have argued that the vigorous
economic responses to these policy responses. “In recovery in the United States in the 1920s – known
general, what we find is that the economic rebound as the Roaring Twenties – may have been a rebound
was stronger, more pronounced, and more sustained effect to the Spanish flu. It is hard to say for sure, as
in areas that had locked down early and hard,” other factors were at play. But some are arguing that
Ritschl explains. we might see a similar effect in the coming years as
The historical evidence shows that although our economies recover from Covid-19.
some places were revisited by the Spanish flu, good There is, however, a major difference between
habits had been trained early on, so when a second the Spanish flu and Covid-19 in that our response to
lockdown became necessary, everybody knew what the epidemic is more intense and systematic.
to do and the impact of repeat waves was not as “The difference between the historical evidence
strong. It’s not just the impact on the immediate and what we see now is that back then there was not
vicinity that is evident. the same level of income support by the state. We
In the case of the Spanish flu, we see how lock- have had this very strong public response in terms
downs and disruption have ripple effects across of income support, which means the macroeco-
space because supply chains are affected. “Madrid nomic response pattern to the crisis is different,”
goes into lockdown, economic activity is disrupted, Ritschl says. “Generous government programs in
this carries over into other provinces where the many countries today seem to have led to a pile-up
buhlergroup.com 11
of savings. We see lots of saving by those who in ous high. In terms of revenue growth prospects for
1918¬1919 would have been hardest hit by the crisis their own organizations, 36 percent said they were
with unemployment and shutdown of businesses. very confident for the next year, and 47 percent were
Public policy has been geared to income smooth- very confident looking three years ahead.
ing – to ride out shock – with quite some success.” Based on this, PwC estimates global growth could
The second major difference is the age profile. rise by 5 percent and return to its pre-pandemic size
The Spanish flu hit people of prime working age – by the fourth quarter of 2021 or early 2022. Many
young adults age 22 to 35 – whereas the global death experts agree, however, that the recovery will be
rate for Covid-19 is highest among the 60-plus age uneven across sectors and countries. It is not only
group. In that sense, the effect of the Spanish flu was the discrepancies in access to immunization that
worse for the economy, in particular the labor mar- make the difference. Different sectors face different
ket, than Covid-19. In some senses, the current pan- paths out of the pandemic.
demic has seen a return to a pattern that used to be “It will be a mixed picture, with some businesses
familiar throughout much of human history. “We benefiting from a significant bounce back and others
have seen the return of pandemic-driven business struggling with debt and continuing uncertainty.
cycles. This used to be normal economic life for tens The aggregate figures might well be very positive but
of thousands of years. Since agriculture was invented, there will be plenty of bad news too and it’s import-
we’ve seen waves of pandemics ripping through ant to recognize the difficulties of transitioning to a
human populations, dominating economic activity
because they dominated mortality,” says Ritschl.
On the other hand, what we are seeing now is
nothing more than a faint echo of previous crises.
Whereas the mortality rates for Covid-19 are cur-
rently on average just over 2 percent according to
Johns Hopkins University data, the bubonic plague
killed 30 to 40 percent of those infected. So too did
smallpox. The last pandemic of the plague was in the
early 20th century in Southeast and South Asia and
cost millions of lives. In terms of history, we are not
that far from it. But now we have antibiotics and can
stop these diseases in their tracks. The same is true
of cholera, where public hygiene improvements
mean we can stem the spread.
Nevertheless, what we have learned through
Covid-19 is how disruptive a pandemic is economi-
cally. But we have also seen that the onset of modern
economic growth probably had much more to do DIANE COYLE
with the disappearance of epidemics than we real-
ized, says Ritschl. Diane Coyle is Bennett Professor of Public
Policy at the University of Cambridge and
A roaring recovery? Co-Director of the Bennett Institute. She heads
With vaccination programs underway around the research under the themes of progress and
globe and governments providing trillions in finan- productivity. She was previously Professor
cial support, how will the recovery play out? A of Economics at the University of Manchester and
recent survey of CEOs worldwide carried out by in 2018 was awarded a CBE for her contribution
PwC suggests that most are bullish about the eco- to the public understanding of economics. She
nomic outlook. The pandemic has unleashed energy has been a government adviser on economic
and creativity, as leaders seek out enduring solutions policy, including throughout the Covid-19 pan-
to problems, argue the report’s authors. It will ac- demic, and is a Director of the Productivity Insti-
celerate digital transformation, amplify disruptive tute, a Fellow of the Office for National Statistics,
forces and bring improvements in productivity – and expert adviser to the National Infrastructure
adding as much as 3.9 percent to the baseline figure, Commission. Her book, “Markets, State and
according to recent analysis from Goldman Sachs. People – Economics for Public Policy”, looks at
Of the CEOs surveyed by PwC, 76 percent said how societies reach decisions on the use and
they believe the economy will improve during the allocation of economic resources.
next 12 months. In terms of optimism, this is a record
¬ nearly 20 percentage points above than the previ-
12 diagram #182
“AS SOON AS YOU RELEASE

BRAKES, THE WHOLE
ECONOMY ACCELERATES.”
ALBRECHT RITSCHL
Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics
July 2021: Zurich’s Paradeplatz is at the busy intersection

between the lake, the old town, and the famous Bahnhofstrasse
shopping district and financial center.
buhlergroup.com 13
July 2021: Zurich’s historic Sechseläutenplatz is one of the largest city squares in Switzerland.
This popular pedestrian zone is adjacent to the Lake of Zurich and near a popular shopping thoroughfare.
more normal state of economic activity,” says Diane getting out of it,” Ritschl explains. “The reason this
Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy at Cam- didn’t happen is the very strong public intervention.”
bridge University. Because of the flood of public money, some thought
For example, whereas technology companies are the recovery would be swoosh-shaped, but Ritschl
very optimistic, there is still a great deal of uncer- was skeptical. He predicted a W-shaped recovery,
tainty in tourism. “We aren’t in the clear in terms of which has broadly turned out right.
infection waves, nor will we be until every country “We’re coming out of the second trough now,” he
is largely vaccinated. There will be a question of says. “It seems the third wave has been broken by
debt resolution, and how to achieve it as fairly as the vaccination campaign, but we still need to see
possible, supporting people who have been ham- what happens. We can cautiously assume that in
mered by the pandemic while avoiding having the Europe and North America we will be able to put it
debt cloud loom for years,” Coyle explains. “This is behind us. But until 70 to 80 percent of the world’s
corporate debts to governments and banks, but also population have either had Covid-19 or been vacci-
personal debt. Consumers can’t spend if they have nated, there will still be a lot of uncertainty.”
rent or mortgage arrears.” So, we can expect some zigzagging for a while.
That is undoubtedly the case, but the signs are For example, airline bookings went through the roof
that the world is getting back on its feet. “Initially I when travel was allowed, then stagnated and there
thought the recovery would be L-shaped, that we were lots of cancellations when people realized it
would plunge into a recession and have a hard time wasn’t going to go so fast. But it won’t be like this
14 diagram #182
“GOVERNMENTS NEED TO TREAD CAREFULLY

AND NOT WITHDRAW FISCAL SUPPORT TOO
QUICKLY. THE BEST WAY THEY WILL REDUCE
THE PUBLIC DEBT BURDEN IS BY ENSURING
THEIR ECONOMIES ARE GROWING AGAIN.”
DIANE COYLE
Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge
All upheaval has its costs. While the IMF agrees that
the crisis has accelerated the transformative forces
of digitalization and automation, it warns of the
effects this could have on young and lower-skilled
workers. The IMF is also worried about divergent
recovery paths. Although swift policy action world-
wide meant that a financial crisis was averted, they
expect emerging markets and low-income countries
to suffer greater scarring.
Confidence counts
Against this backdrop, Coyle believes the priority for
businesses now should be to ensure they have a clear
corporate purpose, serving society not exploiting it,
and treating their employees and customers well.
“The appetite among the public not to return to ‘busi-
ness as usual’ is tangible. If business as a whole
doesn’t respond to the significant change in mood,
there will be more regulatory intervention. The era
of letting the ‘free market’ get on with things is draw-
ing to a close,” she believes.
But the recovery of confidence is of paramount
importance. “Confidence is everything after an ex-
perience like the one we’ve all had since early 2020,”
Coyle explains. “This is exactly why governments
forever. “I think it’s safe to say that as soon as travel need to tread carefully and not withdraw fiscal sup-
restrictions are lifted, travel will normalize. People port too quickly. The best way they will reduce the
want to go out and touch stuff and rub shoulders and public debt burden is by ensuring their economies
fight for special offers at stores. You can see every- are growing again.”
one wants to go out again,” says Ritschl. “We had our Ritschl agrees but acknowledges how tricky it is
first pint standing outside a pub – everyone had the to create confidence. “Confidence is as shy as a roe
greatest time.” deer – the slightest sound and it disappears,” he says.
Some things, however, are likely to remain, such “Yet as soon as there is quiet on the Covid-19 front, it
as using video conferencing much more than in comes out again. That’s what we are seeing in Britain
the past as this creates savings and efficiencies. right now. There is a strong rebound effect. People
Goldman Sachs believes that it’s not just video have the impression Covid-19 is over, they want to
conferencing that is here to stay. They also see go out and shop, party, and invest.”
gains in productivity being made through accelera- In the long term, Ritschl believes people are
tion of e-commerce and believe empty office space expecting a return to normal – they don’t expect a
could be repurposed in more profitable ways. The lasting dent, they expect a full recovery. “The last
International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in April time the sentiment indicators were this good was in
that it now expects the global economy to grow the 1960s. As soon as the news is positive, confidence
6 percent in 2021, as economies adapt to new ways goes through the roof. As soon as you release brakes,
of doing things. the whole economy accelerates.”
buhlergroup.com 15
_invigorate
NOW’S THE TIME

TO SWITCH TO
GROWTH
MODE
INTERVIEW: MICHÈLE BODMER
PHOTOS: JEKATERINA GLUZMAN
The pandemic has brought about many changes in the

way we do business and accelerated major trends that
were already underway. We spoke to the CEOs of each of
our businesses about what they have learned over this
period, where they see new opportunities, and what they
recommend to their customers to get ready for the future.
16 diagram #182
Switch to growth / INVIGORATE
JOHANNES
CEO GRAINS & FOOD WICK
What’s the most important lesson that you have Which trends have been accelerated in your business?
learned during the pandemic? The ones that everybody has seen are increasing:
Some of the fundamentals of the business changed automation, digitalization, and remote work. Prior
extremely fast. It showed us how agile we have to to the pandemic, we were still having discussions
be and how fast opportunities come, but also how with a few customers about whether connectivity is
fast they are gone. Before, the world developed in a really a good idea, whether it is more a security issue
linear way, but this pandemic has created some than a support. But during the pandemic, the more
fundamental changes in terms of where the markets you were connected, the more you could provide
are, how you have to address them, what solutions remote service, the better you could assist your cus-
you need to bring, and how you have to communi- tomers. Even in these industries that are, in some
cate with customers. ways, very traditional, it gave this discussion a boost.
buhlergroup.com 17
“IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, THE MAIN
OPPORTUNITIES ARE IN SERVING THE INSTALLED
BASE BETTER, DRIVING THE ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN
WAVE, AND DRIVING SOLUTIONS FOR A MORE
SUSTAINABLE FOOTPRINT. IN THE SOUTHERN HEMI-
SPHERE, IT’S ABOUT WHO CAN PROVIDE THE MOST
COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS THE FASTEST.”
JOHANNES WICK
CEO Grains & Food
On the animal protein side, the pandemic rein-

forced a message that had already been triggered
by the African Swine Fever in 2019, that food safety
and hygiene need to be at a totally different level. At
that time, 50 percent of the pigs in China had to be
killed. This triggered a wave of new investments in
different types of feed plants. We are the market
leader in this new type of feed mill. With the pan-
demic, this thinking has spread beyond China, and We have had to ramp up everything – production,
we are seeing these requirements coming every- supply chain, engineering capacity – throughout the
where, and I wonder whether this will become a year to get to this model. And we are still producing
requirement in food production more generally. at this level.
The pandemic has massively boosted the plant-
based protein business, especially in the western What about size – are people investing in solutions
world. The speed of investment going into this that are smaller?
sector is extraordinary. And I think it’s lasting – I The main driver for our business before the pan-
think the industry is undergoing a structural change. demic was big projects. Since the pandemic started,
At Bühler, we have been working on this for over a these have disappeared. For instance, we have not
decade. So, we were betting on this change. In that seen any big investment into storage facilities or
sense, the pandemic helped us to leverage our stra- logistic facilities because global trade shrank. As
tegic investments from the past. such, we have switched to doing business with
smaller projects, more machines, more retrofits, and
Has the pandemic changed the importance of more service. In some areas, the big projects will
different regions? come back. In others, bigger capacities will be built
The pandemic has shifted the weights of different but with less investment.
regions. China is the big winner. In terms of local
supply and export, it’s unbelievable what we are Which other changes will stay after the pandemic?
doing there. We are the market leader in this most I think we will see less access to imported raw mate-
competitive market. Look at the grinding machines rials like wheat. I believe there is a structural change
we are supplying for the milling industry. Bühler ongoing towards more local grain. The markets
has been the leader in this for over 100 years. where the change is most dramatic are countries
For many decades, the total number of grinding in the southern hemisphere, especially those that
machines/roller mills we delivered every year was depend on oil and gas exploration. Countries such as
600. Last year, we delivered more than 3,000. That Nigeria and Angola have less foreign currency to
meant that in the second half of the year, we were import wheat or rice. This means they have to shift
delivering 20 roller mills a day. That is a 500-ton gradually to more local grains, such as sorghum and
flour mill every 18 hours – more than one a day. millet, which is an interesting change for us.
18 diagram #182
JOHANNES WICK
In terms of digitalization, will these changes stay? How do you see customer interaction in the post-
Absolutely. There are two parts. I think we will do pandemic world?
more and more remote commissioning, and guide On one hand, we have realized how much you can
less experienced people on site remotely. And, of do without traveling. With big organizations, I think
course, when it comes to optimizing existing assets, this will stay, because digital tools allow you to
with connectivity, we will be able to assess and have meetings with much bigger audiences. On the
benchmark better plants and find out how the other hand, with small companies and family com-
downtime can be improved. panies, where you have the discussion with the
owner at the table, this has to come back and the
Where do you see those new opportunities? sooner the better, because you cannot build such
In the northern hemisphere, the main opportunities relations on the phone.
are in serving the installed base better, driving the
alternative protein wave, and driving solutions for What do you recommend that customers do to get
a more sustainable footprint with less CO2 produc- future-ready?
tion. In the southern hemisphere, it’s about who The first thing is to continue to invest. Many are
can provide the most cost-effective solutions the hesitating and waiting until things are better. In
fastest, because the windows where the customers most cases, I believe they will be late. Then the sec-
can invest have become much smaller. It’s challeng- ond is, of course, digitalization. Customers can still
ing for us, but we have everything to make it. jump on this train of connectivity. What we offer
tomorrow will be much better than what we offer
today. And if they don’t jump on the train now, they
will miss what is available tomorrow and they will
have a tremendous disadvantage. The third thing is
they need to assess who their best partner is locally.
The pandemic has shown that you cannot rely on
a supplier who has operations in only one location.
This can kill your business. Customers need to build
in some risk mitigation. Finally, I think awareness of
climate change and CO2 has changed dramatically.
The longer you ignore it, the more costly it will be
for you. I don’t think big investments are necessary,
but you need to understand your footprint now. And
you need to understand what you can influence and
where you can be better than your competition.
“I THINK AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

AND CO₂ HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY.
THE LONGER YOU IGNORE IT, THE MORE
COSTLY IT WILL BE FOR YOU. I DON’T
THINK BIG INVESTMENTS ARE NECESSARY,
BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR
FOOTPRINT NOW.”
JOHANNES WICK
CEO Grains & Food
buhlergroup.com 19
SAMUEL
SCHÄR OFFICER – GROUP,
CHIEF SERVICES & SALES
CEO ADVANCED MATERIALS

What is the most important lesson that you have
learned through this pandemic?
This has been the biggest crisis since World War II
for many of us. Sometimes we hear our grand-
parents, who lived through the war, tell us: “Never
give up, there is always a way.”
We have learned that in this pandemic, if you
work together as a team, you can make the impossi-
ble possible – like delivering die-casting machines
to produce parts for ventilators or equipment to
make the filters for the PCR tests for Covid-19.
For many of our people this was an opportunity to
shine – and shine they did.
What did you learn about leadership?

I learned that it is extremely important to maintain
communication, to stay close to your team and stay
close to your customers – even if there is nothing
particular to discuss, just to be in touch, to feel the
temperature and take it from there, day to day, and
opportunity to opportunity. The most important
thing as a leader is to be a source of positive energy.
Which trends has the pandemic accelerated in meetings, everyone needs a camera, and the camera
your business? needs optics, and optics need coatings. Applications
We saw an acceleration towards electro-mobility, for the sensors you have in your phones or wearables
but I don’t think this has any causal connection with were also on the rise. Our Leybold Optics business
the pandemic. All the big companies made announce- area has been remarkably busy and growing.
ments about building gigafactories for their own
battery capacity. Which changes caused by the pandemic are here
We have also seen an acceleration in the trend to stay?
towards exceptionally large die-casting machines. I think we have learned when it’s worth traveling
Before, we defined large die-casting machines as and when it’s not. I believe people will travel to meet
being somewhere in the 2,000-to-4,400-ton range. people, and to be with people, and to enjoy time
The large machines now are above 5,000 tons of together. I don’t think people will travel to do
locking force and we even go beyond 9,000 tons. PowerPoint presentations or discuss spreadsheets
These are used to build cars or to make antenna or for training, all of which you can do online.
cases for 5G. One acceleration that was truly driven We have learned how to work in the purely vir-
during the pandemic are all the trends in existing tual world. I believe people will travel in a more
and new photonics applications. With all the virtual considerate way and put the human element at the
20 diagram #182
“WE NEED TO STAY POSITIVE IN THE FACE

OF BIG CHALLENGES, BELIEVE IN OUR
ABILITIES AND TAKE THE ACTION
REQUIRED TO BE READY WHEN BUSINESS
COMES BACK – THAT IS EXACTLY
HOW YOU NEED TO ACT, RATHER
center when they do travel. It is a fantastic feeling
when you go and see customers. And we are doing THAN CLOSING EVERYTHING DOWN.”
that already and looking forward to doing even more.
What new opportunities are you seeing? SAMUEL SCHÄR

Chief Services & Sales Officer – Group,
All our Advanced Materials businesses are driven by CEO Advanced Materials
growth trends. In wet grinding and dispersing tech-
nologies, it’s driven by the demand for lithium-ion
batteries. In the first half of 2021, we saw record
orders. We also see new applications for grinding
raw materials that go into these batteries. In die
casting, the trend is towards very large parts and
e-mobility parts. In Leybold Optics – our thin-film
coating technologies – it’s photonics applications
such as the sensors that go into a phone. A typical
phone today has not one, but multiple cameras and
these are sold not in the millions, but in the billions.
buhlergroup.com 21
SAMUEL SCHÄR
“TO PROBE WHAT IS POSSIBLE, SEE

HOW FAR YOU CAN GO, SEE WHAT
MAKES SENSE, EXPERIMENT, AND THEN,
WITH ASSURANCE, TAKE THE NEXT
STEP – THAT IS WHAT MAKES A
SUCCESSFUL LEADER.”
SAMUEL SCHÄR
Chief Services & Sales Officer – Group, CEO Advanced Materials
One of the overarching trends in the global pandemic What do you recommend to your customers to remain
has been regionalization. How has Bühler prepared future-ready?
for this? For the die-casting customers it’s very clear: have
It has long been our strategy to be in the region for the winning applications. And there are winning
the region with our global services and sales organ- applications for various locking force sizes. In the
ization. The pandemic has driven that forward. case of our battery customers, it’s all about econo-
Having people present locally was a key success fac- mies of scale and continuous production. We have
tor in continuing to service our customers. Going the technologies to continuously produce battery
forward, I think we will foster that because it gives electrodes at a very high quality with significantly
us an advantage. lower energy consumption and superior process
But we have also learned, in terms of our manu- stability. Now is the time to invest in these new
facturing footprint, which products to put where, technologies. But over and above, I would consult
and that it may not be a good idea to have compo- widely. We have had many exchanges with our cus-
nents or products that can only be made in one tomers during the pandemic and have therefore
place. You may want to have at least two. Although reconfirmed that we can learn so much from each
this may not be the most efficient method in a other, no matter what. You pick up something from
non-crisis setting, in a setting where borders open another company and you mix it with your own
and close and there may be new tariffs, this is cer- activities and then you can give it to somebody else.
tainly a wise thing to do. It’s this network that future-proofs us all. No one
knows it all. We need to learn from each other.
How do you see customer interactions in the post-
pandemic world? Is now the time to invest in something new?
I think we will be able to serve our customers even There have been very difficult moments in the pan-
better than before because we will be more efficient. demic. We need to stay positive in the face of big
It will be clear who needs to be present at a meeting challenges, believe in our abilities, and take the
in person and who can be there virtually. If you’re action required to be ready when business comes
there, you are fully engaged in contributing. If you back – that is exactly how you need to act, rather
are a specialist that is only needed for an hour, then than closing everything down. It’s easy to call off
you can do that in a virtual meeting. every meeting. It’s easy to be only virtual. It’s easy
I think this is an opportunity for Bühler and for to be only in your office. But to probe what is possi-
our customers. It means they have access more ble, see how far you can go, see what makes sense,
often to our specialists. And this simplified access experiment, and then, with assurance, take the
is worth a lot, because we know specialists often next step – that is what makes a successful leader.
need to rethink after a meeting and come back Continuously innovate, not just through R&D but
with changes, so this frequency of contact with also in your own mindset. That’s what we did at
them is more important than the intensity of one Bühler. And that’s exactly what I also recommend
singular interaction. that our customers do.
22 diagram #182
GERMAR
WACKER What’s the most important lesson that you have
learned through this pandemic?
The pandemic has driven home how fragile the sys-
CEO CONSUMER FOODS

tem is in which we live. It has also highlighted how,
particularly in our generation and in the part of the
world we live, we take too many things for granted.
But we also learned that if we come together and
collaborate, we can do amazing things. Look at how
quickly we were able to develop vaccines. Whether
it is collaboration across regions, in innovation eco-
systems with academic partners, with suppliers,
partners, or customers, I am convinced we will find
strength in collaboration to be innovative and to find
solutions to global challenges.
buhlergroup.com 23
Which trends has the pandemic accelerated in your a while, companies started asking how they could
business area? make an opportunity out of this crisis, and once the
We had already observed rising health awareness in vaccinations were being delivered, that’s when prod-
food as well as demand for local ingredients and local uct development picked up again. They started to
recipes. In many parts of the world, this trend has ask: How can we enrich our portfolio, how can we
been strengthened because people have spent more progress on sustainability, how can we come up
time at home preparing food for themselves. with new recipes, or optimize our equipment? Our
Mobility was obviously heavily impacted and application centers are now fully booked. That’s
that leads to changes in food patterns – people didn’t why I’m confident that, as consumers return to pre-
grab something to eat on the way to work like a pandemic consumption patterns, our customers will
cereal bar, they worked at home and prepared a bowl have the confidence to invest.
of cereal for themselves. Airports were closed and
the gifting section experienced a collapse in demand. Where do you see the biggest new opportunities
But chocolate tablets saw a rise because that is some- for customers?
thing you eat at home. They lie in the whole question of health, alternative
With everybody a bit more cautious on spending, ingredients, alternative recipe formulations, and
I was worried people might save in the area of sus- new product ideas that can be generated out of that.
tainability efforts. But I’m delighted to see that the They could be very regional products. We’ve seen a
sustainability trend is unbroken and even strength- reawakening and an appreciation and maybe even a
ened through the crisis. Whether it is energy effi- bit of regional pride in particular regional flavors.
ciency, CO2 reduction, waste reduction or up- You also see it around alternative proteins and
cycling, we see global players coming to us and around sodium or fat – all these questions of health
asking for solutions, wanting to co-develop applica- where you find a lot of start-ups playing. The ques-
tions and change their operational system to a more tion of affordable, healthy food is a big pull, for
sustainable one. big players too. There’s also a large field of opportu-
nity in catering to the needs of markets with an
How important is it, especially in times of crisis, to increasing awareness of food quality and food safety,
continuously invest in innovation? but limited funds to invest. That is something that
A lot of our customers immediately stopped devel- will continue to gain importance.
opment activities to protect liquidity. Let’s not
forget some of them are small family businesses. For How is Bühler prepared for a more regional approach?
them to be out of revenue for a couple of months We are pretty much globally present, with good
can quickly become an existential threat. But after links to different regions, their cultures, customs,
and trends. This allows us to develop a thorough
understanding of the needs of consumers and our
customers in the industry. At the same time, we can
“WITH EVERYBODY A BIT MORE support them with global technology and process-
ing solutions know-how. Think global, act local.
CAUTIOUS ON SPENDING, I WAS That is, for me, still fundamentally true.
WORRIED PEOPLE MIGHT SAVE IN THE How do you see customer interaction in the post-
pandemic world?
AREA OF SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS. We should learn to appreciate both the potential

that digital communication allows us and the value
BUT I’M DELIGHTED TO SEE THAT

that personal interaction provides. The benefit of
virtual communication is you can interact with a
THE SUSTAINABILITY TREND IS

customer faster. Look at Bühler Virtual World – who
would have thought you can develop a platform
UNBROKEN AND EVEN STRENGTH-

where thousands of customers can engage with us
in webinars and one-on-one sessions. It has also
ENED THROUGH THE CRISIS.”

meant we could give remote support. We could
link the customer with the experts and talk them
through their problem and how to solve it. It’s a lot
faster and often more efficient than sending a tech-
GERMAR WACKER nician. At the same time, I think we all appreciate
CEO Consumer Foods the possibility of meeting personally. Over the last
two months, I’ve had more and more possibilities to
24 diagram #182
GERMAR WACKER
“WE HAVE SEEN HOW WE CANNOT

RELY ON THE STATUS QUO, HOW
ENVIRONMENTS CAN SUDDENLY
CHANGE, AND HOW IMPORTANT INNO-
VATION IS IN SUCH A SITUATION TO
OPEN UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES.”
GERMAR WACKER
CEO Consumer Foods
welcome customers onto our premises again or to

visit them. When you visit, you do it with more
awareness that this is the time to build a personal
relationship and the trust that is especially import-
ant in a B2B environment. So, hybrid interaction
will be the way forward.
Remaining future-ready in this climate is more

important than ever. What do you recommend to
your customers?
Be courageous to innovate because only if you inno-
vate can you discover new potential. We have seen
how we cannot rely on the status quo, how environ-
ments can suddenly change, and how important
innovation is in such a situation to open new oppor-
tunities. And we see that innovation cycles are a lot
faster and that consumer preferences are diverse,
which requires a higher degree of flexibility in the
solutions. At the same time, I think it’s also part of
our global responsibility to ensure that our sustain-
ability commitment is part of the ecosystems in
which we operate.
Have customers embraced digitalization?

Digitalization allows us insights that were not
possible before. This enables us to increase effi-
ciency and the uptime of our equipment. It enables
us to generate value by optimizing operations. A
lot of players around the world are strong in soft-
ware and electronics, but the combination of that
with process understanding and know-how – that is
where the true value lies. It’s not just about gather-
ing data. It’s about how we translate data analytics
into changes in process to create impact for our
customers. This is on our daily agenda for all our
customers, big and small.
buhlergroup.com 25
_enkindle
IGNITING
INNOVATION
TEXT: STUART SPEAR
The speed at which Covid-19 disrupted established business

certainties took many companies by surprise. So, what has
the last year taught us about the importance of innovation in
a time of crisis?
26 diagram #182
Rebooting the economy / ENKINDLE
THROUGH CRISIS
buhlergroup.com 27
DURING THE LAST global financial crisis, the US-based
entrepreneurial think tank the Kauffman Founda-
“CRISIS IS A MARVELOUS
tion published research revealing that 57 percent
of the companies in the 2009 Fortune 500 had
OPPORTUNITY FOR HYPOTHESIS
been launched during a recession. It surprised many
and raises a pertinent question for today’s Covid-
GENERATION, EXPERIMENTATION,
affected businesses: What is it about a crisis that can
prompt innovation?
AND TO ENGAGE WORKFORCES
A glance at the Harvard Business School web
pages reveals no shortage of theories. For a start, a
IN HAVING A VOICE IN ADVANCING
crisis generates a dramatic shift in employee engage-
ment and a depth of organizational thinking as
NEW IDEAS.”
people are compelled to come together and unite
around a single purpose. A crisis can also reveal pre- LEONARD A. SCHLESINGER
viously ignored organizational weaknesses, which Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School
require innovative thinking to shore up what in the
past were not considered to be serious problems.
A crisis will also challenge the old ways of doing
things. Traditional business structures have often café service, while Amazon is rolling out its Dash
been designed to achieve efficiency and consistency. Cart so you no longer have to queue at checkouts.
Something like the Covid-19 pandemic forces a However, not all companies have been able to
reframing of purpose with the focus on new solu- adapt. A study published last year by the manage-
tions rather than protecting the status quo. The ment consultancy McKinsey & Co of 200 companies
need for solutions also means looking for good ideas across different sectors revealed that while 90 per-
outside traditional management structures. cent of executives agreed Covid-19 would funda-
Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Pro- mentally change how they did business over the next
fessor at Harvard Business School and has been five years, fewer than 30 percent of those same exec-
researching crisis management and advising busi- utives felt equipped to address these changes. The
nesses through crises for over a generation. He sees survey revealed how many businesses hit by a crisis
Covid-19 as an important wakeup call for businesses turn to cutting costs, driving productivity and imple-
who are going to increasingly need to learn how to menting safety measures rather than looking for
quickly adapt to the unexpected. wider solutions.
“There is no question that the vast majority of
companies I interact with were unprepared for the Creating space to innovate
pandemic and, in my view, overreacted to the crisis, Schlesinger points out that the danger of going into
scaring the heck out of their employee base and cus- this sort of survival mode when hit by a crisis is
tomers,” Schlesinger explains. “Covid-19 has taught that it extends the pain as the horizon point where
us there is no new normal, just a next normal that business uncertainty is likely to lift just keeps get-
businesses will have to learn to adapt to, and the pro- ting more distant. “The interesting issue for busi-
found question is what processes and standards will nesses going into a crisis is that they are dealing
businesses now put in place to help them adapt to with a position of extreme uncertainty and there is
the next crisis.” nothing worse than treating uncertainty with cer-
tainty,” Schlesinger explains. “A crisis is a marvelous
How Covid-19 forced change opportunity for hypothesis generation, experimen-
Over the past year we have watched companies tation, and to engage workforces in having a voice in
adapt their business models as we were all forced to advancing new ideas through a rigorous program
make different consumer choices based on our focusing on what we are trying to learn, how we are
altered circumstances. Home deliveries, evolving doing it, and how quickly we can come up with sen-
social media, streamed entertainment, and home sible outcomes.”
exercise have all transformed different markets. In short, a crisis presents an opportunity for a
It is this level of market disruption that inspires business to rethink its way of working. So, what is
the sort of start-ups that will join tomorrow’s For- the difference in approach between businesses
tune 500 list. But innovation does not just come that innovate themselves out of a crisis and those
from the start-up companies. In August 2020 that flounder? Schlesinger points to the way deci-
Walmart announced it was setting up 160 drive-in sions are taken as key. While hierarchical decision-
cinemas in its American store car parks, Starbucks making may work for a company when things
has announced it is moving to pick up rather than a are predictable, uncertainty requires a different
28 diagram #182
PETER FISK
LEONARD A. SCHLESINGER Peter Fisk is a bestselling author and Professor

of Leadership, Strategy, and Innovation at IE
Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Business School in Madrid, where he leads their
Professor at Harvard Business School, where he flagship executive programs. His career was
serves as Chair of the School’s practice-based forged in a superconductivity lab, accelerated by
faculty and Coordinator of the Required Curricu- managing supersonic travel brands, shaped in
lum Section Chairs. He has served as a member corporate development, evolved in a digital start-
of the HBS faculty from 1978 to 1985, 1988 to up, and formalized as CEO of the world’s largest
1998, and 2013 to the present. During his career marketing network.
at the School, he has taught courses in Organi- He leads GeniusWorks, a London-based
zational Behavior, Organization Design, Human future business accelerator working with exec-
Resources Management, General Management, utive teams to explore their futures. He is also
Neighborhood Business, Entrepreneurial Manage- Thinkers50 Global Director and founder of the
ment, Global Intelligence, Leadership and Service European Business Forum.
Management in MBA and Executive Education He has 30 years of practical business experience,
programs. He has also served as Head of the working with business leaders in over 300 com-
HBS Service Management Interest Group, Senior panies and 55 countries, from Adidas to American
Associate Dean for External Relations, and Chair Express, Bosch and BNP Paribas, Cartier to
of the School’s (1993¬94) MBA program review Coca-Cola, McKinsey and Microsoft, P&G to
and redesign process. Pfizer, Virgin and Visa, and many more.
approach. In a crisis it’s the idea that is important, Professor Schlesinger. “The only way to deal with
not the person who has it. Employees need to be unknowns is to take a guess, take a step, see what
empowered to feel their ideas matter and to achieve happens, generate the data, and then figure out what
that, the business needs to make the sharing of you do next.”
ideas a safe and comfortable thing to do. Another key characteristic of a company able to
“Google identified the precondition of psycholog- innovate itself out of a crisis is effective communica-
ical safety as the most important foundation of effec- tion. Covid-19 has demonstrated how much misin-
tive group work,” Schlesinger explains. “More im- formation surrounds a crisis and a customer’s grip
portant than the IQ of your team is the ability to on reality will be as good as the last news story they
maximize the differences in your team through peo- have read. Schlesinger believes that in a crisis a com-
ple feeling comfortable to speak up and share their pany has to take control of their own messaging and
ideas.” But it is no good having a good idea unless it be communicating trusted information with a high
is properly implemented. Theories need to be tested, degree of frequency. “You need to be active, you
so businesses need to be able to undertake fast and need to be present, and you need to be perceived as
effective data collection and then test the idea before the source of honest broker information, as well as
it is acted on. “If you want innovation, this is the era demonstrating that you are listening to the people
of cheap and rapid experimentation,” points out who are asking questions,” says Schlesinger.
buhlergroup.com 29
When employees are given a
voice, they become true innova-
tion accelerators in crises.
In June 2021, Bühler hosted the

One Young World Switzerland Caucus
to address global issues.
30 diagram #182
“I REJECT THE IDEA OF A NEW

NORMAL BECAUSE IT IMPLIES
A STEADY STATE. IN REALITY, THE As computer processing power, data storage, and
FUTURE WILL BE A VERY DYNAMIC interconnectivity have grown, so too have busi-
nesses been forced to adapt to new technology-
AND PROBABLY QUITE TURBULENT driven markets. In many cases, Covid-19 has acted
as an accelerant. Retail businesses have been partic-
TIME WHERE WE WILL SEE RELENT- ularly affected in that they have had to change their
relationship with both their customers and their
LESS CHANGE WITH TECHNOLOGY staff simultaneously. Companies traditionally reliant
on retail properties have been forced to rethink their
BEING THE BIGGEST DRIVER.” business models in months rather than years. Other
fields of Covid-related innovation have been in edu-
PETER FISK
cation and healthcare delivery, both driven by the
need to keep face-to-face contact to a minimum.
Professor of Leadership, Strategy, and Innovation at IE Business School, Madrid
Technology as disruptor
Fisk points to a recent interview with the head of
one of the world’s largest refrigerator manufacturers
The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated how for his most recent book “Business Recoded” to
quickly a stable reality can be turned upside down. illustrate the potential of technology to disrupt. “He
The current challenge for businesses is the number told me that by 2025 fridges will be given away for
of potential unknowns that are in play when it comes free by refrigerator manufacturers because the prob-
to predicting the future economic landscape. lem with fridges is that they are just inert objects
Top of the present list is disruption from climate that sit in your kitchen,” explains Fisk. “But if your
change. Unpredictable climactic events are likely to fridge is linked to the Internet of Things then you
produce even greater uncertainties than the current can track what goes in and out of the fridge and sud-
crisis and so will require companies to apply even denly you can offer a retail service, then you deliver
greater resilience through the capacity to innovate. to people’s homes and start offering nutritional
The World Economic Forum Global Risks report for advice or help on how to entertain better.”
2020 surveyed 800 leaders from business, govern- While still in its early days, another example of
ment and non-profit communities, asking them to the power of technology to disrupt is the way some
list the top ten risks by likelihood and impact over food businesses are marrying a customer’s DNA pro-
the next 10 years. The top five listed are extreme file with the food they eat. The Japanese future food
weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, bio- start-up Open Meals has recently opened a Tokyo
diversity loss, and human-made natural disasters. restaurant called Sushi Singularity, where custom-
Other global trends with the potential to disrupt ers provide a health kit when they book a table from
markets are on the horizon. These include global which biometric and DNA data is gathered to pro-
population growth, higher life expectancy, the grow- duce a 3D-printed sushi to perfectly match a diner’s
ing middle classes, increased urbanization, geopolit- nutritional needs.
ical instability, the rise in cyberattacks, and the pos- The ability to innovate is no longer just a com-
sibility of another pandemic. mercial requirement to stay competitive but has
become an essential survival tool for businesses as
Disruption on the horizon times get increasingly changeable. This last year of
Peter Fisk is the author of numerous books on inno- disruption has demonstrated the advantages that
vation in business and is Professor of Leadership, can be gained by companies that are prepared to
Strategy, and Innovation at IE Business School in innovate through crisis.
Madrid. He agrees with Schlesinger that companies “We have seen companies in situations born out
need to learn how to prepare for uncertainties. “I of desperation make 10 years of advancement in
reject the idea of a new normal because it implies a e-commerce in the first three months of the pan-
steady state,” Fisk explains. “Whereas in reality the demic,” explains Professor Schlesinger. “I’ve got
future will be a very dynamic and probably quite tur- countless numbers of examples of businesses that
bulent time where we will see relentless change have been forced into experimentation over the
with technology being the biggest driver as AI and past year that are now coming out of this period of
data enable ever-more dramatic changes in the sup- forced experimentation with a portfolio of new
ply chain and the way organizations work together.” business models.”
buhlergroup.com 31
_generate
BATTERY
PRODUCTION
TEXT: LUKAS HOFSTETTER
Battery innovation / GENERATE
Life as we know it is inextricably linked with batteries.

From smartphones and electric cars to grid stabilization
for renewable energy power plants – batteries are at
the heart of how we communicate, entertain ourselves,
and drive a more sustainable future.
buhlergroup.com 33
WITH SO MANY STAKEHOLDERS looking for more efficient It’s this kind of demand anticipated by Bühler’s
batteries and the ability to produce on an industrial Grinding and Dispersing business area – one of
scale, the industry is experiencing change and inno- Bühler’s three business areas in the company’s
vation at an unprecedented rate. In 2020, 1.38 billion Advanced Materials business, with a turnover of
smartphones were sold worldwide. General Motors’ nearly CHF 100 million – when it set up its Battery
announcement in January 2021 that they would Solutions business around 10 years ago. Based on its
go “all-out electric” by 2035 is perfectly in line with proven twin-screw extruder technology for the food
the trend seen among car manufacturers world- and feed industry, Bühler invented a new continuous
wide as they accelerate their push for green mobil- mixing process for battery slurry. Instead of using
ity. To support grid stabilization, battery parks are cereals and pet food, the engineers started running
being built all over the world with capacities of up trials with electrode slurries. “We said to ourselves:
to 1 Gigawatt – that equals the power produced by ‘Let’s go for it.’ We have the technology, and we have
3.125 million solar panels. These are impressive fig- the process know-how to improve battery slurry
ures that have one thing in common: an insatiable production in terms of speed, flexibility, quality, and
appetite for batteries. Bühler’s continuous mixing quantity,” says Spillmann.
technology for battery slurry plays a key role.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the battery business. A quantum leap
The market is so dynamic, there are new players and The quality of the electrode slurry is essential for
innovations popping up everywhere, and it shows the performance and energy density of a lithium-
no signs of slowing down,” says Adrian Spillmann, ion battery. Traditionally, slurries are produced in
Director Market Segment Battery Solutions at large vessels which do not necessarily meet the
Bühler. “Electro-mobility is really picking up speed requirements for large-scale production in terms
– increased customer demand, tighter government of total cost of ownership. The process is also very
regulations to reduce the carbon footprint, techno- inflexible. If a batch does not meet the requirements,
logical improvements, and the rapidly growing infra- it is either disposed of, reworked, or used for infe-
structure are converging to form a perfect storm.” rior products. While the production of large batches
takes several hours, the continuous mixing pro-
cess requires only a few minutes. “We use a rotating
twin-shaft mixer to combine the necessary process
“THE CHALLENGES ARE HUGE,
BUT SO ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S ALL
ABOUT LIVING UP TO OUR
PROMISE OF ‘INNOVATIONS FOR
A BETTER WORLD’.”
ADRIAN SPILLMANN
Director Market Segment Battery Solutions at Bühler
34 diagram #182
Bühler’s continuous mixing process ensures an

optimally homogenized electrode slurry.
steps such as pre-mixing, homogenizing, dispersing, After successful trials in China and Switzerland,
and degassing into a single, continuously running Dolder and his team are now running tests with
unit,” says Spillmann. a major carmaker in Germany. For Dolder, every
Thanks to this continuous mixing process, the battery producer that uses Bühler’s continuous mix-
manufacturer can intervene at any given moment ing process should include QuaLiB in their pro-
should the results not meet the requirements. What cess. “The system is fully integrated in the process,
counts is that the improved mixing process signifi- and automatically identifies the product quality in
cantly increases battery performance. It also reduces real time.”
investment costs, and the energy costs are much Moreover, producers enjoy complete transpar-
lower, too. Lastly, the new process takes up much ency of their process and materials, which becomes
less space, and fewer rejects are produced. This more and more important as entire value chains are
process took years to develop. having to function like clockwork amid rapidly
In 2017, the opening of the first production plant increasing demand.
at Lishen in Suzhou/China marked a milestone in
the industrial-scale production of battery slurry. Insatiable global demand
Yi Liu works as an engineer for the Chinese battery Asia’s leading role in the industrial production of
manufacturer Lishen. He developed the technology batteries started in 1991 when Japanese Sony and
with the Bühler team and said during the inaug- Asahi Kasei released the first commercial lithium-
uration ceremony: “This solution will completely ion battery. With electric cars taking over the roads
change the battery industry. It is a historic moment, and the increasing demand for battery parks, Europe
a revolution.” is confronted with an infrastructure gap in relation
to Asia when it comes to large-scale battery produc-
Consistent quality is key tion. The European Battery Alliance (EBA) aims to
Four years later and 9,000 kilometers away, close this gap to reduce Europe’s dependency on
Valentin Dolder and Adrian Spillmann look at the batteries from Asia, and has the backing of the Euro-
latest data from Bühler’s Inline Quality Control pean Union’s members.
expert system, QuaLiB. It enables inline monitoring In January 2021, the European Commission
and controlling of process parameters. “Continuous approved a EUR 2.9 billion public support package
quality control is pivotal in the production of bat- from twelve Member States for a second Important
tery slurry. Before we introduced QuaLiB, manu- Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) to
facturers would lose time and money by physically support research and innovation along the entire
taking samples, running offline measurements in battery value chain. From raw and advanced materi-
a lab, and noticing quality issues too late. By using als to battery cells, battery systems, and recycling
the QuaLiB system, the production yield can be and sustainability, Europe aims to make up some of
increased,” says Dolder. the ground lost over the last decades.
buhlergroup.com 35
It is also proof of the strategic importance of car manufacturers. These projections underline the
batteries. A 2019 study by the World Economic global urgency of ramping up production capacities
Forum (WEF), the Global Battery Alliance (GBA), and avoiding dependencies on all sides.
and McKinsey analysis projects that global battery Spillmann experiences the gear shift in the car
demand will grow by a factor of 14 between 2018 and industry on a daily basis. “All major car producers
2030 – from 184 Gigawatt hours (GWh) to 2,623 are betting on electric vehicles. The internal com-
GWh. The bulk of global demand will come from bustion engine has been at the heart of their produc-
electric mobility at 2,333 GWh, while energy storage tion lines for decades, and now they’re all rushing to
and consumer electronics will require 221 GWh and build up capacities to make their own batteries.”
69 GWh respectively. The announcement by German car manufac-
turer Opel on July 8, 2021 underlines the speed
Strategic importance with which change is happening. The company said
A look at the supply and demand by region reveals it would stop producing cars with internal combus-
why the European Union is investing heavily in tion engines in Europe by 2028, setting one of the
building up its own production infrastructure. In most ambitious targets in the industry.
2030, almost 43 percent of demand will come from
China at 1,122 GWh, and Europe’s appetite for bat- Science at the heart of innovation
tery power will amount to roughly 17 percent at In his lab in Dübendorf in Switzerland, Corsin
443 GWh. Battaglia analyzes new battery materials with his
The study’s authors expect global cell produc- colleague. He is the Head of the Laboratory Materi-
tion capacity to reach 860 GWh by 2025, of which als for Energy Conversion at the Swiss Federal
60 percent will be from China. This leaves a gap of Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
1,700 GWh to meet the anticipated demand in 2030 (Empa), and in his role, he knows just how fast the
and could result in supply shortages for European heart of the battery industry is beating these days.
“It’s a very dynamic industry, and the speed with
which electric mobility is gaining momentum drives
innovation at an unprecedented level,” he says.
Battaglia and his team conduct research projects
and collaborate with industry. “We are developing
new materials and processes for next-generation
batteries by looking not only at fundamental materi-
als science issues, but also at how new materials and
processes can be transferred to industry.”
So, what exactly are Battaglia and his team focus-
ing their research on? “From a material perspective,
lithium metal is a very interesting anode material
for next-generation batteries. Compared to today’s
lithium-ion batteries with graphite anodes, batteries
“THE SYSTEM IS FULLY

INTEGRATED INTO THE PROCESS,
AND AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFIES
THE PRODUCT QUALITY
IN REAL TIME.”
VALENTIN DOLDER
Technologist Market Segment Battery Solutions at Bühler
36 diagram #182
Corsin Battaglia and postdoctoral researcher,

Marie-Claude Bay in the laboratory of the Swiss
Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing
and Research (Empa). “IT’S A VERY DYNAMIC INDUSTRY,
AND THE SPEED WITH WHICH
ELECTRIC-MOBILITY IS GAINING
TRACTION DRIVES INNOVATION AT
with lithium-metal anodes can store almost twice
the amount of energy per charge,” he says. This
AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL.”
would extend the reach of electric vehicles and
improve the storage capacity of battery parks. “One
major issue for lithium-metal anodes is the tendency
to form so-called lithium-metal dendrites, which
can provoke a short circuit in the battery. That is CORSIN BATTAGLIA
where material science comes into play. New solid Head of the Laboratory Materials for Energy Conversion at Empa
electrolyte materials are promising to prevent den-
drite formation and enable next-generation solid-
state batteries.”
Another element keeping researchers around the At the Battery Application Lab, Spillmann looks
world on their toes is cobalt. Sixty percent of cobalt to the future with optimism. “Batteries will be at
is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the heart of the green transformation in the mo-
and the extraction methods have a significant impact bility and energy industry. Thanks to increased
on society and the environment. There are alterna- investments and a real sense of urgency, innovation
tives, but their energy density remains a challenge. and collaboration is happening on a scale we’ve
“Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) for example is cobalt never experienced before. With our continuous
free, but its energy density is lower,” says Battaglia. mixing technology, we have a proven and sustain-
“We are developing cathode materials based on able solution for our customers that will allow
manganese and titanium, which result in high energy them to ramp up production capacities and ready
density, but still suffer from relatively low stability themselves for the increasing demand.”
when cycled in a battery.” Bühler is not resting on its laurels, but powering
Empa is also investigating higher-level topics entire industries is a task too big for anyone to
such as a circular economy for batteries. “While solve alone. With the help of its vast network of
manufacturers need to produce millions of bat- industrial partners, scientific institutions, and thanks
teries as soon as possible, we’re taking a more holis- to its drive for innovation, Bühler’s Grinding and
tic view and ask ourselves how we can expand the Dispersing team is taking up its responsibility in this
life cycle of batteries and contribute to sustain- quest. Spillmann concludes: “We will continue to
ability,” Battaglia explains. “For example, we are innovate together. The challenges are huge, but so
collaborating with the Swiss company Kyburz to are the opportunities – we’re proud to do our part.
develop a novel energy-efficient aqueous recycling At the end of the day, it’s all about living up to our
route for lithium-ion battery cell assembly.” promise of ‘innovations for a better world’.”
buhlergroup.com 37
HOW TWO
_alliance
PARTNERS
SET MILE
Premier Tech and Bühler are on the fast track. Since
announcing their strategic partnership in bulk packag-
ing in 2019, they followed up less than a year later with
the creation of their joint venture based in China. This
venture represents added value for customers who rely
on cost-effective automated packaging technologies.
Since March this year, many have benefited from the
first jointly marketed, fully-automated solution.
IN GRAIN PROCESSING, packaging is the last step before

transporting flour to bakeries and other food proces-
sors, rice to distributors or pellets to farms. In many
cases – especially in developing countries – the bag-
ging operation is still done manually. This is not
only inefficient, costly, and slow, but also implies a
certain variation of weight and therefore a higher
give away of the packaged goods. Premier Tech and
Bühler saw a gap in the market that they could fill
for their customers. “We see immense potential. The
portfolio and expertise of Premier Tech and Bühler
will enable future packaging solutions which are sig-
nificantly more efficient, accurate, and food safe by
using automation technologies,” explains Johannes
Wick, CEO Grains & Food at Bühler.
With Bühler’s strong footprint and market posi-
tion in China and Premier Tech’s highly-recognized
knowledge in the field of automated packaging tech-
nologies, customers can rely on solutions from a
38 diagram #182
Premier Tech and Bühler / ALLIANCE
STONE TEXT: JANET ANDERSON
AFTER
TEXT: MARKUS REBER
MILESTONE buhlergroup.com 39
Johannes Wick and André Noreau shake
hands on their partnership back in 2019.
VIDEO
Discover the partnership between

Premier Tech and Bühler.
“WE ARE COMMITTED TO

WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE
FOR THE BEST CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCES WHILE FULLY
ADDRESSING THEIR NEEDS.”
ANDRÉ NOREAU
CEO of Premier Tech’s Systems and Automation business
single source and from intake to palletizing, reaping when two industry leaders join forces. Only eight
all the advantages offered by the partners. “What months after officially starting our joint venture we
is magical about this partnership for our customers have introduced to our customers the most compet-
is to benefit from Premier Tech’s technological itive fully automated packaging solution for granular
knowledge, Bühler’s operational knowledge, and products,” says Johannes Wick.
unparalleled customer support from two organiza- Customers from their industries responded with
tions with a global footprint,” says André Noreau, great interest to the more cost-effective bagging
CEO of Premier Tech’s Systems and Automation technology, which is based on an existing Premier
business. The partners have proven to be quick in Tech solution. With design and technology already
their ability to implement their joint plans. At the used in their existing solutions produced in Europe,
end of August 2019, the two announced their strate- the new fully automatic packaging solution for the
gic cooperation, which resulted in the establishment grain, food, and feed industries is a more affordable
of the joint venture at Bühler’s production site in iteration of an existing high-end solution.
Wuxi, China in July 2020. The partners have incorporated features their
The next milestone quickly followed in March customers have most requested, therefore meeting
this year when Premier Tech and Bühler launched the requirements of emerging markets without mak-
the CHRONOS OML-1060 ¬ their first joint solution ing compromises on accuracy or reliability. As the
for these needs and the first of what is sure to be first open-mouth bagger from the Premier Tech-
many cost-effective industrial packaging solutions Bühler alliance, the OML-1060 can easily handle
to come. “It is amazing to see what we can achieve free-flowing granular material such as animal feed,
40 diagram #182
Premier Tech and Bühler / ALLIANCE
pet food, rice, seeds, and plastic pellets. It can handle Combining over 200 years of industry knowledge,
20 to 50 kg bags at a speed of up to 600 bags per Premier Tech and Bühler’s packaging solutions
hour. Designed to be highly efficient, it can run any bring new opportunities to the markets in China,
type of bag, including non-laminated polywoven Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America, ensuring
that can be problematic to fill due to their irregular exact, safer, and more reliable packaging equipment.
properties. It is also compatible with most common “Our customers will now have access to the best
bag closing systems. OML-1060 has a small and technologies from Premier Tech and Bühler at com-
compact footprint that optimizes floorspace and its petitive prices and a service network that can quickly
lean design eases operation and maintenance. Safety take care of their needs,” says Alexis Michaud, Tech-
being a priority for both Bühler and Premier Tech, it nical and Product Director, Premier Tech – Bühler.
requires very limited operator interaction, enabling Having attracted talents from both companies,
better working conditions. the joint venture benefits from Premier Tech’s
superior packaging expertise and technological
World-class partnership leadership in this field, while Bühler contributes its
A little more than a year ago, the Premier Tech- knowledge of high-quality manufacturing and sup-
Bühler alliance set up their 50/50 joint venture to ply chain management in China as well as its digital
cover the needs of food and feed customers both in solutions. In terms of digitalization, the teams are
China and other markets requesting cost-effective working on integrating packaging solutions into
automation. “Customers will benefit from signifi- Bühler plants as this is one of the final steps to be
cantly more efficient, and even more accurate and able to show customers transparency and traceabil-
food safe packaging solutions thanks to automa- ity of the products from the intake to the pallet. The
tion technologies developed by Premier Tech and partners agreed that BühlerInsights is a key enabler
Bühler,” says Johannes Wick. to drive connectivity. “We are committed to working
Manufactured in Premier Tech and Bühler’s joint together to make for the best customer experiences
technology and manufacturing center in Wuxi, while fully addressing their needs and complement-
China, the solutions are produced to the same stan- ing each other in all cases,” says André Noreau.
dards the partners have set for their solutions in The next milestone from the partnership is al-
North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Both Bühler ready in the making. Currently, the partners are
and Premier Tech will offer the joint venture’s solu- working on their first open-mouth bagger, which
tions in their markets, with Bühler focusing on turn- will pack powder as well as flour at high speed and
key plants, and Premier Tech on standalone solu- high accuracy. It is set to be completed this year,
tions. “The global partnership will serve customers with production starting in 2022.
worldwide by building on Premier Tech’s recog-
nized knowledge in the field of automated packaging
technologies while making full use of Bühler’s VIDEO
strong international services and sales network,”
says André Noreau.
CHRONOS OML-1060 – the fully automated
bagger for granular products.
“OUR CUSTOMERS WILL NOW HAVE

ACCESS TO THE BEST TECHNOLOGIES FROM
PREMIER TECH AND BÜHLER AT COMPETI-
TIVE PRICES AND A SERVICE NETWORK THAT
CAN QUICKLY TAKE CARE OF THEIR NEEDS.”
ALEXIS MICHAUD
Technical and Product Director, Premier Tech – Bühler
buhlergroup.com 41
AN EL _collaboration
DORADO FOR
FOOD TEXT: LUKAS HOFSTETTER
INNOVAT
Plant-based proteins show no sign of slowing down in their quest to
conquer food markets across the globe. Southeast Asia is no exception,
and Singapore is leading the way as a fast-paced, international hub for
innovation and collaboration in the food industry. With their recently
opened Protein Innovation Centre, Givaudan and Bühler are perfectly
suited and situated to test and scale plant-based food innovations in
close collaboration with start-ups, established food producers, and uni-
versity researchers.
42 diagram #182
Protein Innovation Centre / COLLABORATION
ORS
buhlergroup.com 43
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the PIC opening: Alex Ward, APAC Head of Regional Innovation, Givaudan; Monila Kothari, APAC (Asia Pacific) President, Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing;
Alvin Tan, Singapore Minister of State for Trade & Industry (MTI) and Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY); Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler, and Adrien Beauvisage, Head of Region
Southeast Asia & Oceania at Bühler.
THE GLOBAL MEAT market is experiencing fundamental the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything about
changes. While the growing middle class in emerg- global supply chains, it’s that they can be disrupted
ing markets will continue to drive demand for in a heartbeat. The Singaporean government has
conventional meat, its worldwide share will drop to long realized that and wants to protect its citizens
72 percent by 2030 amid rising demand for meat against shortages caused by declines in yield due to
alternatives, according to the management consult- climate change,” says Adrien Beauvisage, Head of
ing firm A.T. Kearney. Plant-based products are Region Southeast Asia & Oceania at Bühler. “This
expected to boost to a market share of around 18 initiative combined with Southeast Asia’s openness
percent in 2030. The main reasons for this substan- to new products is the perfect breeding ground for
tial change in consumer behavior are health and Singapore as the hotbed for food innovation.”
environmental concerns, and alternatives are
becoming tastier and more sustainable as more play- Serving a bigger purpose
ers enter the fast-growing market. While these But where does this openness come from? On one
developments are a prime example of how consumer hand, traditional Southeast Asian ingredients such
demand drives supply, a look at Singapore offers as tofu or tempeh are obviously not as exotic to local
insights into how governments can contribute to the consumers as they might be for European or North
acceleration of food trends. American consumers. On the other hand, Singapore
Singapore has set itself ambitious targets with its in particular has a rich history as a hub for interna-
30 by 30 initiative. The city-state aims to produce tional trade, including spices and other goods.
30 percent of its food in 2030 – from farm to fork. “Whenever new food trends would arise and
Currently, Singapore imports 90 percent of its food global trade would pick up, Singaporeans were sure
according to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), to get a taste of it,” Beauvisage explains. Today, Sin-
which is not surprising given its small area of only gapore is changing the game. With its 30 by 30 ini-
728 square kilometers and lack of arable land. “If tiative, the government not only aims to increase
44 diagram #182
“THE SINGAPOREAN GOVERNMENT HAS

LONG REALIZED THAT GLOBAL SUPPLY
CHAINS CAN BE INTERRUPTED IN A
HEARTBEAT AND WANTS TO PROTECT
ITS CITIZENS AGAINST SHORTAGES
CAUSED BY DECLINES IN YIELD DUE TO
CLIMATE CHANGE.”
ADRIEN BEAUVISAGE
Head of Region Southeast Asia & Oceania at Bühler
issues we’re facing. “Sustainably feeding a projected

population of 10 billion people by 2050 is a challenge
that cannot be solved alone. We are highly aware of
the need to collaborate if we are to limit climate
change to 1.5°C by 2030, while providing nutrition
to our growing population. In the Protein Innova-
tion Centre we combine with a like-minded partner
to develop regionally relevant, great-tasting prod-
ucts on scalable industrial technology, providing a
the city-state’s food security but also to establish boost to the sustainable protein industry in Asia,
Singapore as the center for global food innovation. home to half of the world’s population.”
That’s just one of many reasons Givaudan, the global
leader in taste and wellbeing, and Bühler opened Adding speed and agility to the mix
their Protein Innovation Centre (PIC) at Givaudan’s Satya Dwi Putra is an Extrusion Technologist at
Woodlands site in Singapore in April 2021. Bühler and has been at the PIC almost every day
The aim is clear and perfectly in tune with the since Bühler began setting up its processing technol-
SFA’s targets. “Through the Protein Innovation ogy at Givaudan’s Woodlands site. He is responsible
Centre, we aim to create an ecosystem that supports for customer trials at the PIC and experiences the
start-ups and food businesses in an environment of many benefits it offers on a daily basis. “Before we
co-creation. The Centre will provide them with had the PIC, Bühler would fly customers to our
access to the expertise, networks, and technology nutrition application lab in Uzwil, Switzerland,
needed to create authentic plant-based protein alter- where they could test recipes that they already had
natives that meet consumer needs and expectations,” in mind on a large scale of up to 500 kilograms per
said Monila Kothari, APAC (Asia Pacific) President, hour. Here at the PIC, we can try different raw
Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing, in the wake of the materials and flavors together with customers and
opening ceremony. Givaudan on a much smaller scale, like establishing
The fact that Alvin Tan, Singapore’s Minister of a proof of concept, and making sure the recipe is
State for Trade & Industry (MTI) and Culture, Com- scalable,” he explains.
munity and Youth (MCCY) attended the event This adds agility and flexibility to the creation of
highlights the importance of the PIC in Singapore. new varieties, something that whets the appetite of
To Ian Roberts, Chief Technology Officer at Bühler, both start-ups and big players in the food industry.
the PIC is a symbol of the importance of collabora- “We’re currently running trials with SG Proteins, a
tive innovation to tackle some of the most urgent Singapore-based contract manufacturing platform
buhlergroup.com 45
for meat analogs. The PIC is fully booked until the ket. To me, that’s the stark contrast to previous food
end of August for trials, which is perfect for us to trends such as fast food, which originated in the US
learn from each other and adjust our workflows. and swept across the globe with the exact same rec-
After that, we’re starting trials with a multinational ipes in every country as their secret for success,”
trading company of pulses, flour, and other grains explains Beauvisage.
whose goal it is to start creating their products using This localism is a key driver for innovation in the
our technology for wet extrusion,” says Dwi Putra. plant-based meat industry, and the trend has cer-
tainly accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Catering to local tastes “Here in Southeast Asia, we see new products on
The variety of plant-based meat alternatives in Asia the shelves every week. That’s the level and speed
is already astonishing – from prawns to chicken and of disruption happening right now that brings
beef to name but a few. “Demand for locally sourced both newcomers and established businesses to the
foods is increasing, and with that comes an appetite Protein Innovation Centre,” says Beauvisage.
for plant-based products that mimic traditional Just about any recipe can be tested at the PIC.
Asian meat recipes such as Thai Pad Krapow, Viet- “Together with Givaudan, we agreed that every
namese Banh Mi, or Hainanese ‘Chicken’ Rice. month, each of us will run the Centre for two weeks.
The only limiting factor is a lack of imagination But since we both contribute with our know-how
when it comes to bringing new products to the mar- in trials, usually everyone is involved,” explains
Dwi Putra. “The most challenging but exciting
part is when new flavors are added and the consis-
tency of the raw materials changes. That’s when
our processing expertise comes into play to find the
right mixture, temperature, and pressure to create
new products.”
All the right ingredients

Now that the Protein Innovation Centre is running
at full steam despite restrictions due to the corona-
virus pandemic, the question is what’s next for this
epicenter of food innovation. “The real beauty about
working in the food business is that change and
“EVERY DAY I LEARN SOMETHING NEW

FROM OUR COLLEAGUES AT GIVAUDAN,
AND I GET THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
TO SEE THE FOOD INDUSTRY THROUGH
THE LENS OF DRIVEN AND
INNOVATIVE PARTNERS.”
SATYA DWI PUTRA
Extrusion Technologist at Bühler
46 diagram #182
At the heart of the Protein Innovation

Centre is Bühler’s twin-screw extruder.
INFO
innovation are ever-present,” says Dwi Putra as he
prepares the extruder for an upcoming trial. “We’re The Protein Innovation Centre in Singapore
in talks with Singapore Polytechnic to create mod- is a state-of-the-art food application lab run by
ules on extrusion for their planned courses on plant- Givaudan and Bühler. The 400 square-meter
based proteins. The PIC will be the part of their production facility offers the latest technology
studies where researchers and students can apply for start-ups, universities, or established food
their knowledge and carry out scientific research.” producers to run complete trials. At the heart
Dwi Putra is excited about the future and looks of the PIC is Bühler’s twin-screw extruder with
forward to welcoming like-minded food enthusiasts a throughput of around 30 kilograms per hour,
to create healthy, tasty, and sustainable plant-based depending on raw materials. With this pilot-plant
foods. “Every day I learn something new from our capacity extruder and cooling-die, both wet
colleagues at Givaudan, and I get the unique oppor- and dry products can be tested and potentially
tunity to see the food industry through the lens of replicated on larger industrial lines. The facility is
driven and innovative partners. This not only helps supported by experts from both Givaudan and
me grow both personally and professionally, but I Bühler, who will provide support to accelerate
can also bring these insights into Bühler and help your product development.
develop our process solutions and service offerings
further. This open exchange to achieve a common
goal is the essence of the Protein Innovation Centre, Learn more about the PIC or
and I couldn’t be happier to be part of it,” he says, send an e-mail to pic.singapore@
smiling. With its people at the core, its network of buhlergroup.com to get in touch.
partners and its perfect location, the Protein Inno-
vation Centre has all the right ingredients to become
the hub for food innovation beyond Singapore and
Southeast Asia.
buhlergroup.com 47
48 diagram #182
Time to transform / ACCELERATE
_accelerate
INTERVIEW
WITH
INTERVIEW: IAN ROBERTS, BÜHLER CTO
PETER
BAKKER
Our planet is facing unprecedented challenges, but
it’s in our hands to support the change needed to
realize a world in which more than 9 billion people
can live well and within planetary boundaries by
2050. This is Bühler’s view and that of Peter Bakker,
President and CEO of the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development and a globally renowned
leader and influencer for sustainability. In this inter-
view, he explains why now is the time to transform.
buhlergroup.com 49
Peter, it’s great to have you with us in our studio in the ability is important. We need to now bring compa-
CUBIC. Before becoming President and CEO of World nies together to really work on collective action,
Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) collective value change solutions, and form a coll-
you had a highly distinguished career, first as CFO, and ective voice to policy-makers. It was a collective
then as CEO of TNT NV. Why did you switch from this push towards capital market players to make these
career in a major corporation to running WBCSD? changes happen.
In the latter years of my tenure as CEO, we built We are a group of more than 200 mostly multi-
up TNT as one of the leaders in sustainability, and national companies, including Bühler, from differ-
we got attacked by hedge funds from Wall Street on ent sectors and different regions that are driving the
purely speculative grounds to make some short- system transformation that is now needed. We work
term profits. There, I really learned that you could in the food system, the automotive system, and the
push a company as far as you like in sustainability, energy system and ask: What does the climate chal-
but if the capital markets don’t get it, then we are lenge mean? What does the nature challenge mean?
not going to go fast enough, or far enough. After What does the equity challenge mean? What are the
10 years as CEO, and having turned 50, I decided it solutions that businesses can innovate into in order
was time to get serious about changing the system. to then drive the world to a sustainable place?
The WBCSD opportunity lured me in.
So, this desire to drive impact came before

you made the change, and your experience “BRINGING MANY COMPANIES
TOGETHER, I HOPE WE CAN CREATE
as a CEO has helped you, I suspect, in dealing
with CEOs and multinational companies in a
A COLLECTIVE VOICE, A COLLECTIVE

credible way?
What I learned in my own term as CEO is
PUSH TO ACTUALLY CHANGE THE

that companies are probably the best,
most actionable platforms in terms of
SYSTEM AND TO CHANGE CAPITALISM,

institutions that the world has to bring
about change. We have the power to
TO REALLY INCENTIVIZE THE SPEED

innovate, as you at Bühler well know.
We have the financing capacity. We have
management talents to make change
stick in the world. What we are missing OF TRANSFORMATION.”
is that the world around us – the system
around us – is not always incentivizing
radical transformation. That’s what in- PETER BAKKER
trigued me about WBCSD. I have some President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
recognition of what the challenges of a
management team are, so I can relate to
the difficulties in making these transformations You’ve just built a roadmap of how we should do this –
stick. But at the same time, by bringing many com- your Vision 2050, and you’ve titled it “Time to Trans-
panies together, I hope we can create a collective form”. Can you give us some insights into that and the
voice, a collective push to actually change the system degree of urgency of taking action?
and to change capitalism, to really incentivize the Vision 2050 is perhaps a misleading name. Certainly,
speed of transformation. we needed to create the vision for 9-plus billion
people to live well and within planetary boundaries.
This alludes to the mission and the approach of WBCSD. But what we are trying to do is translate that long-
For our readers who are not aware of its core mission, term vision into what every business should con-
can you explain the background? sider doing in the period between now and 2030.
WBCSD was formed after the Rio de Janeiro Earth We believe that there are three global emergen-
Summit in 1992. At that time, the world thought cies: the climate emergency, the loss of biodiver-
that business was the cause of all bad things, which sity, and mounting inequality. If left unaddressed,
of course, is not true. For the first 15 or so years, business will either lose its license to operate, or the
there was a lot of work to create awareness of safe operating space for humanity is at risk. Moving
what sustainability is within businesses. How can from these emergencies to a vision of 9-plus billion
business contribute to more sustainable develop- people living well, we now need to radically trans-
ment? When I joined WBCSD about 10 years ago, I form the systems in which we operate. In Vision
said we don’t need to write anymore that sustain- 2050 we ask: What are the major product and ser-
50 diagram #182
Peter Bakker met with Bühler’s Board of Directors and Executive Board in June to discuss WBCSD’s Vision 2050.
vices categories that business provides to society?

We have identified nine, ranging from energy to mo-
bility, to food. For each of those categories or path-
INFO
ways, we asked: What are the key transitions that
the system needs to undergo and what are the 10 ac- PETER BAKKER
tion areas that each business in that category should
reflect on and integrate into their core strategy? Peter Bakker has led the World Business Council for Sustain-
The fact is, we are now at the point that sustainable Development (WBCSD) since 2012. WBCSD is a global,
ability is no longer about Corporate Social Respon- CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses working to-
sibility (CSR) or about philanthropy. I mean, if you gether to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. WBCSD
do CSR and philanthropy, by all means, continue. member companies come from all business sectors and all major
That’s not going to harm anyone. Hopefully, it does economies, representing a combined revenue of more than USD
some real good. But we’re now at the point where 8.5 trillion and with 19 million employees.
we need to integrate sustainability into core strate- He is a distinguished business leader who, until June 2011,
gies and in the way we present ourselves to share- served as CFO and then CEO of TNT NV, the global transport
holders and financiers, and in the way we argue for and logistics company. He has been a recipient of the Clinton
policy change. It’s become, in my mind, the main Global Citizen Award (2009) and the Sustainability Leadership
innovation opportunity for business. Award (2010). He serves as a member of several corporate
sustainability advisory boards.
Would you give us some examples of companies that are Peter Bakker received the royal order Officer of the Order of
doing something well in each of those spaces? Orange-Nassau in 2018, in recognition of his long-lasting commit-
If I think about climate action, there are lots of com- ment to engaging business in tackling global sustainability issues.
panies now setting bold ambitions to be net zero by
2050. And you see a race to the top. Companies are
moving to 2040, and even 2030. Too much of it is
buhlergroup.com 51
Peter Bakker and Ian Roberts on the sundeck of Bühler’s CUBIC innovation campus.
approached as incremental change. How do we do formation. We need to bring all actors, different
what we do today but then with each year, with a parts of the value chain, but also governments, and
little bit less CO2? What you see leaders doing now consumers into this space to make that change stick.
is really thinking through radical transformation.
Probably the automotive sector is among those What’s another area that has experienced a big push?
industries where the strengths are now accelerating Biodiversity loss. The biggest push that we’ve seen
the fastest. We all know that continuing to drive in emerge is in the area of regenerative agriculture.
individual cars with combustion engines is contrib- How can we move away from monocultures? How
uting to climate change. The solution will be to can we think differently about fertilizers and pesti-
achieve a fully decarbonized mobility system. Right cides? How can we, by using multi-crops in the sys-
or wrong, at the moment the world is betting on tem, sequester carbon, improve the quality of the
electric vehicles. So the electrification of the fleet is soil with diversity and actually increase the yield for
critical. While two or three years ago, they were still farmers as a result of it, by which in turn they get a
a bit cautious, companies are now committing. better life, better income streams, and eventually
link that to the other side of the value chain?
What sort of commitments are you seeing? The food we produce today is not necessarily
Audi recently said after 2025, no more combustion leading to healthy diets. How can we use that re-
engines. Other companies are setting targets for the generative agriculture to produce a healthier diet for
early 2030s to be completely decarbonized. That is consumers? Again, you can do things on the farm,
a radical transformation, because if you know the but if it’s not linked to the system and the health
automotive sector, it’s just one and a half cycles away aspects of the system, then it’s not going to be the
in their product innovation. The industry is really solution that we need.
changing now to be ready by 2030.
What you see there, however, is that the car com- In your report, you’ve stated that the Covid-19 pandemic
panies can decide to build only electric vehicles, but has further increased the inequalities between northern
if the electricity grid cannot provide enough re- and southern hemispheres and within developed nations.
newable energy or the charging infrastructure, and On inequality, I have to be honest, that’s where com-
other infrastructure is not available to charge all panies have the fewest answers. I praise Bühler for
these vehicles, it’s not going to work. And that’s why all your activities, and the things you are doing with
in this Vision 2050, we said we need system trans- your Generation B initiative are amazing, but the
52 diagram #182
core inequality questions are yet to be addressed, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclo-
and that is the case for most companies. I argue that sures (TCFD), we probably have a few more years,
inequalities are probably five years behind climate but I’m optimistic that three years from now, inves-
change. We still need to assess what inequality actu- tors and financiers will begin to differentiate the cost
ally is, what the role of business is in addressing that of capital for a business, depending on their ESG or
topic, and what the solutions that we need to collec- sustainability performance.
tively build are. Do you know what you pay today in If a company is better able to manage its sustain-
your supply chain? Most do not, and are not in a posi- ability, to integrate sustainability into its innovation,
tion to make that promise because they don’t know into its product portfolio thinking, then it should
their baseline. That’s where the S in ESG (Environ- attract the lower cost of capital because the risks the
mental, Social, and Governance) reporting comes company is exposed to are much lower. That’s why
in ¬ the social component and impact of your busi- I think it’s so interesting to be involved in WBCSD
ness. We need to do more work to measure what we and I thank Bühler for being part of it. It’s no longer
do today to be able to improve and manage forward a tree-hugging exercise, it’s about integrating these
a world that is good for all. ideas into the core economic thinking, because that’s
where the accelerator lies to make the world change.
All of these things, if we bring them together,
are going to also force a change in the way
that we look at the economics and how we
value business. This was one of your ambi-
“SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT SOMETHING
tions – to fundamentally change our capital-
istic model or to move completely to a new
THAT YOU WATCH ON TV OR SOCIAL
one. But how are you going to manage that
and what role can WBCSD play in that?
MEDIA, OR YOU READ IN A STRATEGIC
I think the challenge at hand is not to
dream up a new system that is better than
DOCUMENT, IT BEGINS WITH THE
capitalism. I’m sure bright minds are
working on it, but that’s not what WBCSD
CHOICES THAT ANY ONE OF US
is about. As part of Vision 2050, we ask;
how do we reinvent capitalism? It’s a
MAKES EVERYDAY.”
good economic system, but it’s too limited
in its focus. We measure the success of a PETER BAKKER
country in GDP, and of a company in cash- President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
flow or profit. But that only looks at the
financial performance of a business. We
know that business uses natural capital, the im- I think this complete rebranding of businesses is im-
pact on the environment. It uses social and human portant because we’ve always been seen on the wrong
capital, the impact on people and communities. end – and rightfully so in many cases, but we also have
But we do not value that in the same way as the the power to drive tremendous good across borders
financial performance. and outside of election cycles. Now, just to change
So, what we argue at WBCSD – and this Vision tack, as a member company of WBCSD, how do you see
2050 was written with 40 global companies – is that Bühler’s contributions to the overall mission and where
we need to move to true value capitalism. Capitalism do you think we are on that journey?
that is for the longer term and looks at internalizing I’m really impressed by what Bühler is doing, and
the impacts of a business into the definition of its not just at the way you, your CEO, and the directors
performance, that will hold boards accountable in of the various business areas are able to talk about
their governance for not just the financial aspects of and think about sustainability as part of their busi-
their business, but also their environmental and ness positioning. That in itself is impressive, but
social aspects. The time for change in capitalism is it’s amazing to see your Generation B, and how
happening in the next five years. young voices are being mobilized and actively
changing the culture of the company.
So the next five years, that’s the timeline as well for Young people think very differently about these
companies to get ready for this? topics than probably you or I do, because they will
I would argue certainly on climate change, you need have to live with the consequences if we get this
to get prepared in the next 12 months. Otherwise, wrong. That’s a very powerful driver to get involved.
you’re not going to be ready for the things that are I think what you’re trying to do with your Network-
being announced later this year. For nature and the ing Days, where you bring customers and suppliers
buhlergroup.com 53
Your feedback is extremely motivating and reassur-
NINE TRANSFORMATION PATHWAYS ing because of course, when we look at what we have
ahead of us, we’re making baby steps and pulling our
++ Energy // We can power a net-zero world partners and the industry together to drive impact, but
there is so much more that we could do. Now, what is
++ Transportation & mobility // We can keep on moving, smarter the role of individuals? How do they contribute?
It’s very easy for any organization to think: What can
++ Living spaces // We can make the world feel at home we do to shape a better world? But the reality – the
hierarchy of things – is you first must change your-
++ Products & materials // We can make things, better self, and then you may be able to change your com-
pany. Once you do that, you may be able to change
++ Financial products & services // We can all invest in our future your sector or your value chain, in which you oper-
ate. And once you’ve done that, maybe you should
++ Connectivity // We can connect people talk about changing the world. And so sustainability
is not something that you watch on television or
++ Health & wellbeing // We can help people feel better social media, or you read in a strategic document, it
begins with the choices that everyone of us makes
++ Water & sanitation // We can keep water flowing for all every day. What is the transport solution you
choose? What is the car you have? Do you use your
++ Food // We can provide healthy diets for all legs or your bicycle enough? Simple stuff. What is
the diet you eat? And do you understand the envi-
ronmental and the social aspects of the diet, as well
as the health aspects?
And I’m not claiming nobody can eat meat or
drink alcohol anymore, but understand what you’re
together to ask: what are the big challenges and how doing and the impact it has. And then make little
can innovation help? I think that’s powerful. I think changes there if you think you can. That gives you
the targets – and not just the targets, because targets an understanding of a company that wants to
on margin are irrelevant – but the operating plans to make change. You think: ‘I’ve made changes, and I
reach the targets around climate change are among know some of them are pretty hard to make, so it
the most detailed I’ve seen. can’t be easy for the company or its customers either.’
Where I think you can do more is to really take a Then you get an understanding, a collective under-
long horizon. And that won’t change what you do standing and then you begin to get ideas. ‘I made this
today, but really say: Well, if all this stuff that is now
change, this works for me, maybe I can introduce it
happening in the Food Systems Summit, if that were in the company.’ I’m Dutch, and in the eighties, there
to become reality, how would the food system trans- was a Dutch public advertising campaign: Change
form? Probably it means we’re going to eat a whole the climate by changing yourself. I think whoever
lot less meat, and we’re going to change the agricul- made up that line was very right. It begins with you
tural processes. Whatever the consequences may be, and yourself.
make scenarios of what the system would be in 2030
or 2035. What is that going to do to the business I couldn’t agree more. Now, you mentioned you’re Dutch.
models of the leading players today, and start-ups? You come across as very straight talking, very fact-
And how can you then position Bühler with all the based, but as I know you better, there’s a huge burning
solutions, all the innovations that you have, to be passion for this topic inside you. What are the three
part of that, maybe even a leading co-design partner things that give you the most hope?
of that future? And I think if you do that, you’ll get The way we’re changing how we look at the world
to even more ideas that go beyond how we make the as a result of the pandemic gives me hope. The speed
machinery more efficient, which is important. But as at which the vaccines have been developed is un-
I said, the conversation has shifted to system trans- precedented. And in June, the G7 heads of state met
formation, and therefore you need to also look for and declared their determination to beat Covid-19,
transformational change. “build back together”, aim for a net-zero world, and
What I can sense, and I hope people recognize a nature-positive world. That’s a sudden change of
that, is that there is a pride in this company. Hav- conversation that I think would not have happened
ing pride in the company and passion for the com- were it not for the Covid-19 crisis.
pany in the culture and the DNA of everyone who The second big area of hope is probably the sec-
works here, that’s the best guarantee that you’re ond and the third and the fourth and the fifth; it’s
going to find these solutions. I’m very impressed. coming back to my passion, it’s the fact that the way
54 diagram #182
“SUSTAINABILITY IS NO LONGER A
TREE-HUGGING EXERCISE, IT’S ABOUT
INTEGRATING IT IN THE CORE ECO-
NOMIC THINKING, BECAUSE THAT’S
WHERE THE ACCELERATOR LIES TO
MAKE THE WORLD CHANGE.”
PETER BAKKER
President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
we talk and think about the capitalist system is mov- be able to invest more, and as such, will accelerate
ing faster than I ever thought possible. The fact that the transition. The move to a capitalism of true value
we will be launching an accounting standards for all will accelerate the transformation toward
board for non-financials, the fact that the TCFD ¬ 9-plus billion people all living well, within planetary
the governance model of the future ¬ will be made boundaries, faster than anything else.
mandatory later this year ¬ gives me enormous hope.
Bühler is one of the exceptions, but today, sustain-
ability is too dependent on whether the CEO or the
executive team get it and have the ability to then
change the strategy and the direction of their com- VISION 2050: TIME TO TRANSFORM
panies. If you’re working in a company like Bühler,
who gets it, it’s fabulous. If not, you’re not going to Read the bold and urgent transformation agenda
be able to achieve much change. developed by the World Business Council for
The minute the accounting rules become stan- Sustainable Development in 2021.
dardized, materiality-based, and mandatory for dis-
closure, then we will know the next day which com-
pany is serious about this, making progress – maybe
struggling, but making progress – and which com- VIDEO
pany doesn’t have it on the agenda at all. The lead-
ership is then no longer selling stories to show that
they are doing something, but we’re going to see Scan the QR code to watch the full interview
performance being measured and hopefully improve. between Ian Roberts and Peter Bakker.
And the ones who are best positioned, they will be
visibly the best. They will attract more capital, will
buhlergroup.com 55
When Bühler announced the ambitious targets of reducing waste, water,
and energy consumption by 50 percent in its customers’ value chains by
2030 two years ago, one of the first orders of business was to establish a
system to measure how much CO₂ is emitted relative to any specific man-
ufacturing activity. This is known as the emission factor, or CO₂e. Today,
Bühler’s CO₂e Quantification Program is rapidly gaining traction.
56 diagram #182
CO₂e reduction / QUANTIFICATION
_quantification
THE FOUNDATION
A BETTER
FOR
FUTURE TEXT: LUKAS HOFSTETTER
PHOTOS: JUDITH AFFOLTER
buhlergroup.com 57
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER
THAT CO₂ IS JUST ONE ASPECT
OF SUSTAINABILITY AND THAT
OTHER CRITERIA SUCH AS LAND
USE OR SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
ARE ALSO PART OF THE STORY.”
JAY O’NIEN
Head of the CO₂e Quantification Program at Bühler
“INDUSTRY MUST BECOME part of the solution,” said good product to start, because there were many
Bühler’s CEO Stefan Scheiber at the Networking CO2 hotspots at different parts of the value chain, for
Days 2019 in front of over 800 decision makers and example aggregated emissions in the raw materials,
partners of the global food and mobility industries. the CO2 added in the raw material transformation
Everyone in the room agreed that urgent changes are from wheat to flour, the CO2 added in the baking
needed to mitigate the effects of climate change – step, and even including the disposal of the plastic
from farm to fork, and from raw material to final packaging,” he says.
product. Following the fundamental business doc- While Roberts did indeed enjoy the croissant,
trine, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” he continued to test the methodology by tasking
a dedicated team got to work to quantify the CO2e in O’Nien and his team to compare the emissions of
the value chains of Bühler’s customers, and the com- electric cars and petrol cars. Soon after, the team
pany’s own CO2e footprint. set the goal of being able to map out and measure
Now that the framework has been tested and CO2e across Bühler’s key value chains, which cover
applied in specific businesses, and with Bühler’s cus- around 90 percent of the products processed on
tomers feeding 2 billion people and moving 1 billion Bühler technology.
people every day, the potential for profound action
to significantly reduce CO2 emissions across entire Impact on the entire value chain
industries is seemingly endless. To ensure a systematic approach across Bühler’s
diverse businesses, the team set up three different
From croissants to electric cars scopes in its analysis. “In the technology scope, we
In his first meeting with Bühler’s CTO Ian Roberts study how new Bühler technologies and services
after being tasked with creating a system that contribute to our company goals to reduce ener-
measures the CO2e of all emissions combined, Jay gy, waste, and water by 50 percent, compared to
O’Nien, Head of the CO2e Quantification Program at technology before 2017. For example, when the
Bühler, opted for emotionalizing the team’s find- SWAKT-Eco oven was introduced, it cut gas con-
ings by using the example of a croissant. “It was a sumption by 20 percent relative to its predecessor,”
58 diagram #182
CO₂e reduction / QUANTIFICATION
says O’Nien. “This really is a step-change in the with international standards and can focus on serv-
wafer business and has a significant impact, but to ing their own customers. While measuring its
measure consistently against other CO2 reduction CO2e provides customers with the foundation to
measures, we use CO2e and measure in the plant and take action, Bühler started to quantify the avoided
in the entire value chain.” CO2 emissions in January 2021.
One of Bühler’s latest innovations provided the “This is the amount of CO2 emissions that is not
team with detailed insights on the plant level. “Mill being pumped into the atmosphere because of new
E3, for example, reduces CO2e produced within the Bühler technologies and services that efficiently
mill by 9 percent. This is an important calculation process our customers’ products. This metric high-
for our customers, who are themselves under pres- lights the importance of retrofit technologies on
sure to demonstrate to the market that they are tak- existing processes and shows that retrofits are
ing steps to reduce their own carbon footprint,” he one of the fastest ways to cut emissions,” Roberts
explains. The third scope takes into consideration explains. “Avoiding emissions is the first priority in
the entire value chain. O’Nien and his team look at the emission’s hierarchy. The next is the need to
one of the major staple foods to highlight the reduce CO2 through efficient processing. Lastly,
importance of this scope: wheat. “The global aver- there is the need to draw down existing emissions
age emission factor for wheat production is from the atmosphere, together with companies such
700 kilograms of CO2e for every metric ton. Find- as Climeworks or Ecosystem Regeneration Projects
ings like these enable us to break these emissions from the Crowther Lab.”
down into geographical regions and determine With a proven and certified service in place,
where we can have the biggest impact together huge demand from customers and ever-increasing
with our customers.” political and societal pressure, Bühler’s CO2e Quan-
O’Nien highlights that a holistic view is crucial tification Program is set for continued growth across
in creating meaningful impact. “It’s important to industries. “Our main goal now is to connect our
consider that CO2 is just one aspect of sustainability service to our digital platform Bühler Insights, and
and that other criteria such as land use or social sus- provide our customers with real-time analysis of
tainability are also part of the story. We developed their data,” says O’Nien.
the CO2e quantification method with an external Bühler’s Networking Days 2022 in June will pro-
partner, the sustainability consultancy Quantis.” vide his team with the unique opportunity to get
Bühler will also continue to work with external more customers on board and continue walking the
partners to ensure that all aspects of sustainability talk that CEO Stefan Scheiber meant with his call-
are considered. to-action on that summer day in 2019: “Industry
must become part of the solution.”
Making customers’ lives easier
As with every new solution or service that Bühler
introduces, the deciding factor is how customers
react to it. “Our customers and partners have long
INFO
realized that we need to significantly increase the
level of collaboration and innovation across indus-
tries to reduce our carbon footprint. When we Bühler wants to ensure that its own activities are
introduce our CO2e Quantification Program to in accordance with best practice in quantifying and
them, their eyes light up because they’re all burn- reducing CO₂e emissions. A dedicated team in Manu-
ing to take action but sometimes lack a system or facturing, Logistics, and Supply Chain (MLS) is working
the expertise to provide them with an analysis of on sustainability with the target of achieving net-zero
their emissions,” says Roberts. emissions by 2030 – which means Bühler needs to re-
A look at the die-casting industry shows the duce its emissions related to MLS processes by at least
importance of cutting CO2e. “When the German car 50 percent and neutralize the remaining emissions with
manufacturer Daimler announced their plans technologies that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.
to become carbon neutral by 2039, it immediately The team has built a methodology that enables them
translated down the many supply chains in the to quantify emissions and shows that Bühler’s jump-off
car industry, including our die-casting customers. point in 2019 is 810,000 tons of CO₂e.
They didn’t have a systematic measuring system
in place to quantify emissions, and welcomed our
input,” says O’Nien. With three CO2e quantifications
being certified according to ISO standard 14067,
Bühler can talk to customers with confidence, and
customers can be assured that they are compliant
buhlergroup.com 59
A GLASS
CHOCOLATE
FACTORY TEXT: CARMEN PÜNTENER
PHOTOS: THOMAS EUGSTER
There is a new monument to chocolate production in

Kilchberg, Zurich – the Lindt Home of Chocolate. The
Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation has created a
competence center for Swiss chocolate manufacturers
that is rich in tradition. It features an interactive exhibi-
tion, a research facility, and a highly flexible chocolate
production plant fully equipped by Bühler.
60 diagram #182
Lindt & Sprüngli / SAVOR
Their companies have a lot in common. Lindt & Sprüngli Group CEO Dieter Weisskopf
and Bühler CEO Stefan Scheiber regularly exchange ideas. buhlergroup.com 61
IF THERE IS A CHOCOLATE HEAVEN, it’s very likely in
Kilchberg. Over several years, a highly sophistica-
ted building was developed at the historic location
of Lindt & Sprüngli in Switzerland. It is dedicated
to the history and production of chocolate. Realiz-
ed and financed by the charitable Lindt Chocolate
Competence Foundation, the Lindt Home of Choc-
olate is both a museum and a research center.
“We want to show the world that Swiss chocolate
is one of a kind,” says Ernst Tanner, President of
the Board of the Lindt Chocolate Competence
Foundation and Executive Chairman of the Board
of Directors of Lindt & Sprüngli. “Another aim that
we as Swiss chocolate manufacturers have, is to
remain innovative and assert ourselves as world
leaders in terms of processes, technology, and
recipes. That’s why we have worked with Bühler
to realize the pilot plant for testing new products
in the facility.”
Dive into the world of chocolate

On entering the building, visitors are immediately
immersed in the golden magical world of chocolate.
A 9-meter-tall chocolate fountain with a whisk that
appears to be suspended in air is the focal point of
the entry hall. One of the famous Maîtres Chocolat-
iers greets visitors in the gallery.
Nestled in the light-flooded building designed
by renowned Basel architects Christ & Gantenbein,
the Lindt Home of Chocolate offers everything a
chocolate-lover’s heart desires. It houses a museum,
a free-standing chocolate fountain, the largest
chocolate shop in the world, and a café. And the
focal point, created with Bühler, is a 15-meter-
long moulding plant visible to the public through
glass walls. Visitors can watch as chocolate is pro-
duced with Bühler technology.
Even chocolate experts rave about it at their
visit to the Lindt Home of Chocolate. “The building
is very symbolic and stands for over a century of
pioneering work and innovation in chocolate pro-
duction. It is a homage to Switzerland as a bastion
for industrial chocolate production. We are very
proud to be so well represented here in the pilot
plant with our technology,” says Germar Wacker,
CEO of Consumer Foods at Bühler.
The exhibition and show plant cover an area
of around 1,500 square meters. The museum pro-
vides information on cocoa cultivation, the history
of chocolate and Switzerland’s chocolate pioneers,
and chocolate production. The new construction
is a popular destination for tourists, families, and
schools, and is also a facility for specialists and sci-
The chocolate fountain in the main hall is 9-meters-high entists who visit the research premises to test their
and a real crowd magnet. latest chocolate recipes.
62 diagram #182
“WE WANT TO SHOW THE

WORLD THAT SWISS CHOCO-
LATE IS ONE OF A KIND.”
ERNST TANNER
President of the Board of the Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation
and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lindt & Sprüngli
LINDT & SPRÜNGLI GROUP
Lindt & Sprüngli is established in more than

120 countries with 11 production sites in
Switzerland, Europe, and the US with 14,600
employees globally. The company has been
listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange since
1989 and has grown enormously since then.
Among other investments, Lindt & Sprüngli
has acquired the Viennese Hofbauer Con-
fiserie, Italian chocolate manufacturer
Caffarel and in 1998, it took over the Ghirar-
delli Chocolate Company in San Francisco,
the second-oldest chocolate factory in the
US, followed by Russell Stover in 2014. The
group turnover was CHF 4 billion in 2020.
The group has enjoyed global growth,
traditional Lindt brand chocolate products
are still some of the most popular sweets in
the domestic market. In fact, the Swiss,
closely followed by the Germans, remain
the greatest champions when it comes to
eating chocolates. They consume an average
of 9.9 kilograms of chocolate per person
per year.
The new facility in Kilchberg, Zurich, was

inaugurated in September 2020.
buhlergroup.com 63
“ULTIMATELY, IT’S THE
TECHNOLOGY THAT CREATES
SUCCESS, WHICH IS WHY WE
WOULDN’T BE WHERE WE ARE
TODAY WITHOUT BÜHLER.”
DIETER WEISSKOPF
Group CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli
Chocolate was also a bestseller in other parts of

Switzerland. In Bern, Rodolphe Lindt, the son of
a pharmacist, meticulously worked on methods to
make the beloved treat even tastier. In 1879, Lindt
left his factory on a Friday evening without switch-
ing off the machine he had invented for mixing
chocolate mass. The machine mixed over the entire
weekend and the chocolate that Lindt found on
Monday was finer and and more exquisite than
ever before. This is how Rodolphe Lindt discov-
The Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation ered conching, and heralded the beginning of a
invested more than CHF 100 million in the presti- new era with incomparably delicate, melting prod-
gious building project. Its focus is not just on Lindt ucts. In 1899, Johann Rudolf Sprüngli, David’s
– respect is also paid to the well-known founders of son, bought the Lindt factory and secret recipe for
industrial Swiss chocolate production. 1.5 million gold francs, thus laying the cornerstone
First and foremost, François-Louis Cailler (1796- for Lindt & Sprüngli.
1852), the founder of the oldest existing Swiss choc- In the decades that followed, Lindt & Sprüngli
olate brand. Other pioneers are also presented in continued to lead the market with their innova-
the exhibition: Charles-Amédée Kohler (1790-1874, tions. A new secret recipe was developed in 1949:
inventor of hazelnut chocolate), Henri Nestlé (1814- the Maître Chocolatiers wanted to create something
1890, patron of innovations in chocolate production), heavenly. They conducted experiments until they
Daniel Peter (1836-1919, inventor of milk chocolate), perfected a chocolate bar more luxuriously smooth
Philippe Suchard (1797-1884, inventor of the mélan- than ever before. It was called LINDOR. 20 years
geur mixing machine), as well as Jean and Theodor later, this recipe was used for the world-famous
Tobler (1830-1905 and 1876-1941, inventors of Tob- LINDOR truffle.
lerone). “All of our chocolate pioneers focused on
quality,” says Ernst Tanner. “This is the reason we The gold bunny sees the light of the day
have established ourselves globally with Swiss The gold bunny followed in 1952, and is currently
chocolate production. It is therefore important to one of the best-selling Easter specialties. Around
pay tribute to all these pioneers.” 160 million Lindt gold bunnies are produced every
The opening of the Lindt Home of Chocolate falls year and sold in over 60 countries worldwide. But
right on Lindt & Sprüngli’s 175-year anniversary. that still wasn’t enough. Another successful classic
David Sprüngli opened his first sweet shop in 1845 is the Lindt Excellence dark chocolate bars with a
in Zurich where he sold solid bars of chocolate, a high cocoa content of 70 to 90 percent, first intro-
first in German-speaking Switzerland. The business duced to the market in 1989. Today, they come with
grew so fast that Sprüngli could inaugurate his first every possible ingredient, ranging from Fleur de Sel,
chocolate factory just two years later. chili or caramel to lemon, grapefruit, fig, and pear.
64 diagram #182
The pilot plant is also a research center. Lindt

Caramel Squares are currently produced here.
The collaboration between Lindt & Sprüngli and

Bühler began over half a century ago. At the time,
the Eastern Switzerland-based technology manu-
facturer was already well established as a special-
ist for chocolate processing plants, and had proven
that there was no better provider in the world when
it came to efficiency and accuracy. According to
Ernst Tanner, the collaboration goes beyond a sim-
ple supplier/customer relationship. “We have regu-
lar meetings where we discuss what can be improved,
because Bühler also needs feedback from manufac-
turers. If we have an idea for something new, for
technology we wish to implement in three to five
years, we go to Bühler and sit with the experts to
develop something new together.”
It is also important for Ernst Tanner that the com-
panies have the same values. “Bühler has a very sim-
ilar philosophy to ours. It’s about people, teamwork,
continuity based on know-how and team-play.”
The personal relationship in this partnership is
important, agrees Dieter Weisskopf, Group CEO of
Lindt & Sprüngli. “Chocolate production technology
is basically the same process as it was 150 years ago.
Of course, there is a difference between production
then and now: volumes are higher and the machines
are more efficient. Ultimately, it’s the technology
that creates success, which is why we wouldn’t be
where we are today without Bühler.”
A plant for the people

It has been full speed ahead at the new pilot plant in
the Lindt Home of Chocolate since January 2020.
The plant is a huge step forward for research and
development: “Previously, producers had to manu-
facture small batches on their large chocolate lines
if they wanted to try something new,” says Ernst
Tanner. “That is very costly, time-consuming and
not as flexible as it needs to be. Now, they can do all
of this here. So far, we have already conducted
more than 100 test days.”
Innovation is essential in the cur-
rent market. Consumers want a
large variety of flavors, but also
special products such as vegan or
reduced-sugar chocolates. Sustain-
able and traceable supply chains
must also be taken into account. All this leads to a sities, we have excellent talents on board who
larger variety of products that the manufacturer address current consumer trends as well as sustain-
needs to bring to market. This in turn means that able value chains. These trends offer tremendous
chocolate manufacturers must produce smaller opportunities and we are well prepared to develop
batches. “For us, this means that we have to build these growth markets with our customers.”
even more flexible plants,” says Bühler CEO Stefan With all this knowledge-sharing going on, you
Scheiber. “We have to design the production lines might be thinking that there is something missing
to be more modular than before so that our custom- in the Lindt Home of Chocolate – the actual delight
ers can reduce the costs for cleaning processes and of eating chocolate. You could not be more wrong.
product changes.” Everyone gets their money’s worth here. After visit-
ing the museum, there is a sample station where
Learn from the masters visitors can taste some of the latest creations of the
It is these requirements that have been implemented Maîtres Chocolatiers. And, if you want another
in the pilot plant in the Lindt Home of Chocolate. memorable experience, you can attend the truffle-
Anita Cavegn, Manager Corporate Technology at making course in the Lindt CHOCOLATERIA and
Lindt & Sprüngli, is very excited about it. make your own chocolates there. As English poet
“The pilot plant is extremely flexible and equipped John Milton so perfectly put it, “Biochemically, love
with different technologies. For example, we can is just like eating large amounts of chocolate.”
exchange individual modules in the moulding line
and put them together as required. It’s unparalleled.”
When realizing the project, Bühler had to take sev-
eral aspects into account, says Germar Wacker. “The
requirements of the plant were clear: maximum
flexibility, highest functionality, and suitable design
quality for the Lindt Home of Chocolate. This means
the best possible presentation was required as the
production takes place in a glass factory where visi-
tors can watch every step.”
The pilot plant boasts another big advantage. It
can provide training. “I’m glad that our partner-
ship in research, training, and development can
grow thanks to the pilot plant,” Wacker explains.
“Through the collaboration with leading univer-
“IT IS A HOMAGE TO SWITZERLAND

AS A BASTION FOR INDUSTRIAL
CHOCOLATE PRODUCTION. WE ARE
VERY PROUD TO BE SO WELL
REPRESENTED HERE IN THE PILOT
PLANT WITH OUR TECHNOLOGY.”
GERMAR WACKER
CEO Consumer Foods at Bühler
66 diagram #182
Visitors can watch chocolate

delights being produced in the
pilot plant.
“THE PILOT PLANT IS EXTREMELY

FLEXIBLE AND EQUIPPED
WITH DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES.
IT’S UNPARALLELED.”
ANITA CAVEGN
Manager Corporate Technology at Lindt & Sprüngli
VIDEO
A PEEK INSIDE THE

LINDT HOME OF CHOCOLATE
A tour of the Lindt Home of Chocolate with

the Lindt & Sprüngli and Bühler experts.
Interview with Ernst Tanner, President of the

Board of the Lindt Chocolate Competence
Foundation and Executive Chairman of the
Board of Directors of Lindt & Sprüngli.
Interview with Dieter Weisskopf, Group CEO

of Lindt & Sprüngli and Stefan Scheiber,
CEO of Bühler.
buhlergroup.com 67
_connect
3, 2, 1, AND
ACTION! TEXT: CARMEN PÜNTENER
The coronavirus pandemic has forced many coun-

tries to impose strict travel restrictions. This put
Bühler experts from the Nutrition Application
Center in Switzerland in a challenging position,
since customer requests for product trials contin-
ued to soar. Plant-based meat alternatives are
booming, and extrusion technology is in great
demand. What could be done? Those responsible
decided without further ado to offer virtual trials.
SINCE APRIL 2021, the Nutrition Application Center at

Bühler in Uzwil, Switzerland, looks like a TV studio.
Several cameras are set up around the extruders
and driers. Cables connect them to a vision mixing
switch board, and professional microphones with
noise reduction are standing ready. A laptop is
installed to send images via Microsoft Teams to all
corners of the world where customers connect to
watch their trials virtually.
“An increasing number of customers were already
cutting down on the amount of travel, for cost or
environmental reasons, but it was really the pan-
demic that caused us to set up our virtual trial
solution,” explains Robert Mitchell, Extrusion Tech-
nologist at Bühler. “We had several cases where a
customer would have had to cancel trials, and we
68 diagram #182
Virtual trials / CONNECT
“IT’S JUST SO COOL THAT A

CUSTOMER IS ON THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE WORLD AND WE ARE
STILL ABLE TO SHOW THEM LIVE
WHAT’S HAPPENING.”
ROBERT MITCHELL
Food Technologist at Bühler
had to find a solution to make sure that they wouldn’t used later as an ingredient for their finished prod-
have to wait six more months to find a new slot.” ucts, which are enriched with various macro- and
Robert Mitchell and his colleagues are now almost micronutrients. The company has its own pilot
permanently in action. Raw materials are sent to extrusion line from Bühler in the French region of
Uzwil by customers, and the extruders are custom- Normandy. For a new, still confidential project, they
ized for each individual session. This was also done did the first tests in their own facilities. “But we
previously. But now, the food technologists also wanted to validate the feasibility of this project, and
learned how to operate the cameras and micro- therefore had planned trials in Switzerland to see if
phones. “At first it was of course quite new, and we that specific local raw material would also work in a
didn’t know how to connect all the cables, but we scaled-up environment,” says Frixon.
had great support from our audiovisual experts,” Due to the French travel restrictions, she and her
Mitchell recalls. team decided to conduct the trials virtually. “We
know that Bühler always sets the bar very high, but
Customers decide what’s on their screen wow, we were really impressed with all the technol-
Today, Mitchell uses the cameras and the switch- ogy Bühler installed to make us feel like we were
board like a pro. “It is a very handy set up. We have there.” According to Frixon, next to seeing different
a switchboard where we can click on a button for angles and parts of the production process, it was
each camera, so we can always show the view the also essential to not just rely on web cams. “If you
customer wants.” In the virtual meetings, the team look at extruded products it is very important to see
usually shows a view of the extruder panel, for all the details. So, we really appreciated the usage of
technical specifications and trending graphs, and high-resolution cameras and the additional pictures
one of the cameras according to the customer’s the Bühler team sent us.”
wishes. “I am a tech geek at heart. I love everything
digital,” Mitchell explains, who is enthusiastic about
“WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED

the new set up. “It’s just so cool that a customer is on
the other side of the world during the trial, and we
WITH ALL THE TECHNOLOGY

are still able to show them live what’s happening.”
The virtual trials offer three different main
BÜHLER INSTALLED TO MAKE US

camera views: close-ups to see the product when it
leaves the machine, a separate view of the drier
when relevant, and a top-view camera to focus on
product samples placed on the table. In addition FEEL LIKE WE WERE THERE.”
to the installed cameras, Mitchell even sometimes
uses the Microsoft Teams mobile app on his phone
to show customers the specifics that were not set up AURORE FRIXON
for view beforehand. Food Technologist at Nutriset
It is no coincidence that the team around the
Nutrition Application Center initiated these trials.
Extrusion technology is booming, particularly as
more companies are racing to get into the lucrative Frixon emphasizes the efficiency of this set up,
plant-based meat alternative market. Time slots for since it saves travel time and costs, and it makes it
product trials are rare, and the Application Center is possible to start writing a rough draft for the report
booked months in advance. during the online session. Still, she missed one thing
a lot. “The taste of the product, of course. It is so
More information in less time important for us, since our consumers are small chil-
One customer who has already conducted virtual dren in the first place, and to be sure that kids will
trials is France-based Nutriset. The company pro- eat our products, they have to be tasty,” she says.
duces fortified products made with grains, pulses Of course, the Bühler technologists tasted the
and vegetables to fight malnutrition in Sub-Saharan product instead and described all of its organoleptic
Africa. With 18 partners in 11 countries, Nutriset qualities, and after the virtual trial, the product was
aims to build a sustainable agriculture industry in vacuumed and sent to France. “This all really worked
emerging countries that supplies high-quality food perfectly.” Still, Frixon enjoys the personal interac-
made with local raw materials, produced in local tions: “We are all passionate extrusion experts, so I
plants. “We cook these raw materials through extru- really appreciate being with the Bühler team, to have
sion technology to improve digestibility, and to elim- this exchange and discuss details,” she says. For the
inate harmful bacteria,” says Aurore Frixon, Food next project, Frixon and her team would like to
Technologist at Nutriset. The extruded flours are travel to Switzerland again.
70 diagram #182
Virtual trials / CONNECT
Since the start of the virtual trials, 25 percent of

the customers who booked trials have opted for the
online version, and well over 200 products have
been tested. According to Mitchell, the reactions
were positive throughout: “Another benefit they
indicated to us was those members of the customer’s
team, or from top management, who would not nec-
essarily have to be part of the trial session, could join INFO
for specific parts, or for a summary, without spend-
ing too much time on it,” he says. RemoteCare
After four months, the virtual trials have become
part of the Bühler Food Technologist’s daily routine: When it comes to remote services, not only
“It’s no longer new and scary. And we have many new are product trials high in demand, but the
ideas such as using smart glasses. These would also need for remote support has also increased.
help to improve the customer experience,” Mitchell Bühler has therefore set up RemoteCare, a
says. And, he knows that there are plans for more service package fully aimed at supporting its
digital connectivity. “We had some customers who customers anytime, anywhere. RemoteCare
were so impressed that they actually want a similar is a service solution that provides customers
setup in their plants in order that we can give them with remote troubleshooting services for
better remote support. We’re also working closely technical, automation, and digital incidents. It
with other Bühler Application Centers to offer the adds the possibility to support customers in
same installation for further business branches in times of unplanned breakdowns, increases
the future.” uptime, and secures operation 24/7.
RemoteCare is a flat-fee based service
contract and is available in three different
packages, starting with business hours
Customers can decide for themselves what they want to see on the screen. support (Light), 24/7 support (Anytime), and
finally, dedicated expert support (Pro).
All packages guarantee a fast response.
Bühler’s regional specialists support custom-
ers on the first level within a maximum of
2 hours’ response time. In case escalation is
needed, business headquarter specialists will
be involved quickly and provide specialized
support on the second level. Bühler has
500 remote support engineers worldwide,
all highly trained, each of them attending
15 days of training every year.
For more information,

please visit our
RemoteCare site.
buhlergroup.com 71
The Sortex at Gerelli guarantees maximum quality
and food safety in its nut-processing facility.
_versatile
NUTRITIOUS
& DELICIOUS
PERFECTLY ROASTED
TEXT: BIANCA RICHLE
PHOTOS: THOMAS EUGSTER
72 diagram #182
Gerelli / VERSATILE
Gerelli is one of the most up-to-date roasters of

peanuts in Europe. Using Bühler’s new Solano
roaster – Gerelli not only increased the productivity
of its pea-nut processing, it scored points with its
PEANUTS
customers by offering individual roasting profiles.
And thanks to Solano, the company now has the op-
tion of processing other nut types as well as oilseed
in the off-season.
buhlergroup.com 73
NUTS ARE REAL POWERHOUSES. Chock-full of vitamins, tion or dryness, which means it is no longer fresh.
proteins, minerals, and healthy fats, they are an ideal It also eliminates foreign bodies such as plastic
snack for sports and also mental gymnastics. Vegan, parts or stones. Its integrated PROfile technology
gluten-free, and low-carb, nuts can be integrated detects defects that cannot be identified by color
into almost any diet. No wonder they are becoming alone, such as peanut stalks and nuts that have
increasingly popular. According to Statista, the grown too small or too large. The sorting process
portal for market data, a per-capita consumption of guarantees maximum quality and food safety in
1.1 kilograms worldwide is expected in 2021. And every nut-processing facility.
the trend is continuing to grow with sales forecasted The heart of nut processing is the roaster. It
to grow by over 3 percent per year by 2025. refines the product and creates the typical nutty
To make this snack safe and tasty, Bühler devel- taste. “We put a lot of focus on gentle heating to
oped the Solano roaster and pasteurizer. In doing so, ensure that the nuts are not stressed and that the
the Bühler team was able to draw on its many years nutritional value, product quality, and aroma are
of experience in roasting nuts and on its expertise in preserved,” says Weiss.
roasting cocoa beans and coffee. Solano also has
some features that are new for this type of nut pro-
cessing. For example, the ability to create individual
roasting profiles. This has long been an established
practice in coffee roasting and is an indispensable
process. In the nut market, consumers are only now Raphael Weiss, CEO of Gerelli AG Die
benefiting from this thanks to the Solano roaster. Rösterei, plans to process other types
“It was clear to us from the start that we would of nuts in the future.
only consider Bühler solutions for our needs,” says
Raphael Weiss, the CEO of Gerelli AG Die Rösterei.
“We are from Eastern Switzerland and Bühler is well
known here and has an excellent reputation.”
The leading Swiss peanut roaster believes that
standing still is like taking a step backwards and is
therefore constantly investing in new technologies.
And Weiss has clear ideas about what the overall
solution should offer ¬ maximum food safety, best
roasting quality, and a high degree of flexibility were
non-negotiable requirements.
“We have very high standards in terms of quality.
Quality begins in the field, followed by how the nuts
are processed and cleaned. We have clear guidelines
for each individual step,” says Weiss. Gerelli employ-
ees visit the country of origin of the nuts they pro-
cess, Egypt, once or twice a year, where they train
their producers on food safety and quality require-
ments. “We have been able to steadily raise quality
over the years and have also succeeded in introduc-
ing organic nuts, which is an achievement.”
The company also wanted their overall solution
to stem from a single source. “We are very happy
to have found in Bühler a company that provides
a comprehensive solution that meets our require-
ments,” the CEO says.
Gentle processing
“Since we offer peanuts in shells, it is particularly
important to us that the shells remain intact,” says
Weiss. The integrity of the shells has a direct effect
on the company’s margins. Bühler’s Sortex E1C plays
an important role in this. With the help of its highly
advanced 4-in-1 technology package, it sorts out nuts
that have a different color due to bacterial infesta-
74 diagram #182
Gerelli / VERSATILE
“SINCE WE OFFER
PEANUTS IN SHELLS, IT IS
PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT
TO US THAT THE SHELLS
REMAIN INTACT.”
RAPHAEL WEISS
CEO of Gerelli AG Die Rösterei
Highest food safety,

top roasting quality, and
maximum flexibility – these
are Gerelli’s requirements.
Gerelli and Bühler worked meticulously, testing

and retesting until they had developed a solution
that would not negatively affect the product during INFO
the mechanical action of the roasting process. “We
have been successful in giving the nuts an excellent
flavor and a nice appearance,” says Weiss, visibly Gerelli AG Die Rösterei is the largest
proud. An additional benefit: Thanks to the gentle peanut roaster in Switzerland. It roasts over
processing with the patented roasting process, the 1,500 tons of peanuts in their shells and sup-
microstructure of the nuts and seeds is largely plies them to over 100 wholesalers and bulk
preserved, thus ensuring an unsurpassed shelf purchasers at home and abroad. Founded in
life. The oxidation rate of the nuts decreases by a 2003, the company has been owned by the
factor of 2.5 in comparison to conventional roast- Weiss family since 2016. Gerelli constantly
ing processes. invests in its infrastructure to ensure the
Weiss greatly appreciates the fact that his com- freshness and quality of its product. In 2020
pany can now create individual roasting profiles. it commissioned its new, fully automated nut
This gives Gerelli’s customers the opportunity to processing facility.
offer their end consumers a product that is perfectly
tailored to their wishes in terms of aroma. “This rep-
resents a major added value for our customers and
therefore also for us,” says Weiss. “Our initial expe-
rience has been very positive. Now it’s up to us to
become better acquainted with the technology and
what it offers so that we get the most out of it.”
buhlergroup.com 75
“WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO HAVE
FOUND IN BÜHLER A COMPANY
THAT PROVIDES A COMPREHEN-
SIVE SOLUTION THAT MEETS
OUR REQUIREMENTS.”
RAPHAEL WEISS
CEO of Gerelli AG Die Rösterei
The Solano offers flexibility when it comes to

roasting and pasteurizing. “In addition to roasting,
we can also use the Solano for pasteurizing de-
pending on the customer’s requirements,” Weiss
explains. “Among other things, we will be able to
eliminate Salmonella infections by pasteurizing.”
If a company wants to offer nuts in raw food qual-
ity, this is also possible with the Solano. In this case,
it is only pasteurized. The patented pasteurization
technology achieves an over 5-log inactivation of
pathogenic microorganisms such as Salmonella.
This is the gold standard in the food industry, which
guarantees the highest possible level of food safety.
In specific terms, this means that up to 99.999 per-
cent of bacteria and germs are killed. This is made
possible by the introduction of steam in several
places in the processing chamber at the same time,
which achieves uniform and gentle pasteurization.
“Recirculation of the process air makes the pas-
teurization and roasting process energy efficient and
sustainable,” says Patrick Strähl, Senior Process
Engineer at Bühler, who co-developed Solano. The
batch system with lot sizes of 300 to 600 kilograms
and the intelligent automation with recipe manage-
ment allows a rapid product changeover. The Solano
roaster meets the criteria of hygienic design and is
easily accessible for cleaning.
Other types of nuts and oilseed

The demand for peanuts in shells varies greatly
by season. In Switzerland, they are sold in large
quantities from October to January as they are typi-
cal gifts from “Samichlaus” – the Swiss version of
Saint Nicholas. The Samichlaus visits all the children
Solano is a multitasking solution. on December 6th and brings them peanuts in shells,
It can roast, pasteurize, and mandarins, and chocolate. Sales are rather low out-
process various types of nuts side this peak season in Switzerland, so Gerelli’s pri-
and oilseeds. mary production is focused on September to January
to ensure that only fresh nuts are delivered to shops.
76 diagram #182
Gerelli / VERSATILE
This means that for for a large part of the year,

the production plant is on a low flame. “Thanks
to the Solano roaster we can now process other
types of nuts and even oilseed in the off-season,”
says Weiss. “This is, of course, a huge added value
for us. We plan to include oilseed and other nuts in
our product portfolio.”
High-end and fully automatic

When you enter the state-of-the-art Gerelli plant,
you will notice that there are almost no employees
to be seen. “Our plant is fully automated. We operate
the plant only with one person,” says Weiss. “The
high degree of automation allows a high through-
put of the best quality. We save costs since only a
few manual interventions are required.”
The only place where we find some employees is
in the quality control department. Gerelli has two
employees for quality control. “We check the quality
of the product constantly by hand to ensure that it
is consistently flawless and safe,” says Weiss.
“RECIRCULATION OF THE
PROCESS AIR MAKES THE
PASTEURIZATION AND ROASTING
PROCESS ENERGY EFFICIENT
AND SUSTAINABLE.”
PATRICK STRÄHL
Senior Process Engineer at Bühler
Crunchy and fresh

Gerelli is committed to supplying the freshest and
crunchiest nuts in Switzerland to its customers. It is
important that the raw unroasted peanuts do not
rattle in the shell. If this is the case, it is an indica-
tion that the nut is dried out. Light-colored flesh
is also an important feature of its freshness. The yel-
lower the inside of the nut, the older it is.
Gerelli is particularly proud of the light color of VIDEO
its peanut shells. The secret lies in the peanut plant.
It adapts the color of its fruits to the environment.
The Gerelli nuts are cultivated in the Sahara Desert See Gerelli’s state-of-the-art, fully-automated
where the sand is very light in color. These interest- facility firsthand in the video.
ing details make you wonder where the nuts and
seeds that Gerelli will offer in the future might come
from and what special properties they will have.
Whatever they may be, Bühler will be there to sup-
port Gerelli along its journey.
buhlergroup.com 77
_efficiency
SAVING THE
PLANET TEXT: STUART SPEAR
THROUGH DEGREES
OF CHANGE
The unbeatable duo cuts emissions by driving down the energy costs of produc-
ing printing ink, a product used in nearly every aspect of our lives. Together, the
MacroMedia and the MicroMedia Invicta boost productivity by 175 percent per
line and slash energy costs by 50 percent for every ton of ink produced.
78 diagram #182
The unbeatable duo / EFFICIENCY
“WE LIKE TO FEEL THAT THE WET GRINDING

PROCESS TECHNOLOGY IS DOING ITS
BIT AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE OVERALL
SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS THAT WE ARE
AIMING TO REACH BY 2025.”
ANGELA ZÜRRER
Product and Strategic Marketing Manager
for Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler
duced, which is translated into savings of 200 kg

CO2e being pumped into the atmosphere. The cli-
mate change benefit is that a company producing
5,000 tons of ink, dyes, or chemical coatings each
year will save the equivalent of the CO2 capture of
40,000 trees. “We like to feel that the wet grinding
process technology, as a business area in Bühler, is
doing its bit and contributing to the overall sustain-
ability targets that we are aiming to reach by 2025,”
says Angela Zürrer, Product and Strategic Market-
ing Manager for Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler.
Rich history
Ink is a liquid paste containing pigments. Cyan, ma-
genta, yellow, and black are the workhorse colors in
the printing world. More sophisticated printers can
have up to eight colors, including light cyan, orange,
FOR BÜHLER to successfully cut energy wastage by half and grey. Each pigment has a rich history behind it.
by 2025, radical reductions in energy consumption The earliest inks came from materials found in
will need to be achieved in every part of the value nature, including secretions of octopi, cuttlefish,
chain. For most, the production of printing ink has squid, or tannin from tree bark and nuts. The most
gone unnoticed when it comes to debates about sus- famous is purple, or in the printer’s contemporary
tainability. And yet, we are surrounded by it every lexicon magenta. In antiquity it was made from
day. It’s on the food packaging that advertises con- marine snails and boiled for days. It was the color
tent in bright graphics, the publications that tumble worn by Roman emperors due to its high production
off the printing presses, printing ink and dyes are costs. Today the origins of pigments are more pro-
used in our homes, our offices and on the textiles we saic, based on chemistry and often closely guarded
wear. It is ubiquitous and Bühler has been looking at industrial secrets between commercial rivals. Pig-
how to halve production energy costs with the intro- ments arrive at the ink manufacturer in powder
duction of what is described as its “unbeatable duo”, form, to be added to liquid mediums comprised of
the MacroMedia pre-dispersing unit and the Micro- water or solvents, binders, and other additives. It
Media Invicta high-performance bead mill. This wet is during this wet grinding process that Bühler’s
grinding process is also used for coatings and chem- unbeatable duo solutions take center stage.
ical applications, but the most common usage is in According to Zürrer, the aim of the ink manufac-
the manufacture of printing ink. turer is to make as fine and consistent an ink as pos-
The environmental and cost-saving credentials of sible from the powdered pigment. “The aim of the
the unbeatable duo are impressive. Compared to a whole process is to make the pigments smaller in
standard production process the combination of the size and to nicely disperse them in the liquid to
MacroMedia and the MicroMedia Invicta result in ensure high color strength and high gloss so that the
a 175 percent increase in productivity per line. food packaging looks nice and you feel a smooth sur-
Energy costs are cut by half for every ton of ink pro- face when you touch it,” explains Zürrer.
buhlergroup.com 79
Before Bühler introduced the unbeatable duo,
the grinding of pigments was the job of the bead
mill only. A bead mill is designed to grind particles
down to a micro and nano scale by passing the mate-
rial several times through a grinding chamber con-
taining beads that are being agitated. The applied
forces and size of the beads dictate the fineness of
the final product as well as the energy required and
the processing time. In the past this was a time-
consuming and energy-intensive process as produc-
ers were limited in the bead sizes they could use
because of varied pre-mix qualities.
The ability of the unbeatable duo to cut energy
usage by half comes down to a simple law of physics.
The smaller the bead you use in the final milling pro-
cess, the less mass-specific energy is required to cre-
ate a quality color dispersion and so the more sus-
tainable the product.
A holistic approach
According to Zürrer, the secret of the new Bühler
solution is to focus on improving the fine grinding
process, and to adopt a more holistic view by taking
the premixing step into consideration.
“This is why we call the combination of the two With the MicroMedia Invicta, Bühler made another major step
process units working together the unbeatable duo,” towards more efficiency, productivity, and higher flow rates.
explains Zürrer. “The MicroMedia Invicta is at its
most efficient when all particles in the pre-mix are

approximately the same size. But because you often
get bigger agglomerates this is not always possible,
so using the MacroMedia for preliminary grinding
solves the problem, allowing the Invicta to operate
at its full potential.” By having a higher quality pre-
mix, it is possible to use smaller beads in the subse-
quent fine grinding step. The result is better bead
activation, distribution and a higher flow that trans-
lates into more efficiency and productivity.
Shift in practices
Dr Frank Tabellion, Director Process Technology
Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler, describes the
fine grinding done by the MicroMedia Invicta as
the heart of the production process. It is here,
Tabellion points out, where most of the benefits
arise, namely valuable increases in productivity,
reductions in energy consumption, and conse-
quently cuts in CO2 emissions.
“This part of the process requires 80 percent
of the energy demand and is also the most time-
consuming step in the whole process and it has the
largest impact on overall productivity and energy
consumption,” explains Tabellion. “By reducing the
Small, but with a big impact, the MacroMedia ensures bead size we can increase the number of beads in
greater efficiency throughout the grinding process. the grinding chamber, which increases the number
of milling events and so it becomes a more efficient
grinding process.”
80 diagram #182
The unbeatable duo / EFFICIENCY
Angela Zürrer, Product and Strategic Dr Frank Tabellion, Director Product
Marketing Manager Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler Management Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler
Energy savings leading to carbon emission reduc-

tions and cost savings are some of the major benefits “WITH THE UNBEATABLE DUO,
of this approach. It also addresses another pressing
issue impacting ink producers. In recent years print- THE FINE GRINDING PROCESS
ing ink manufacturers have been finding increas-
ingly varied particle sizes in their pigments. IS NOT REALLY AFFECTED BY
The change has happened over the past 20 years
as production costs have been forced down through THESE FLUCTUATIONS IN PAR-
competition. A key part of pigment production is
the drying step. By increasing the temperature and TICLE SIZE BECAUSE WE ARE
so speeding up the drying process, producers are
able to reduce costs. “At higher temperatures, parti- USING THE PREMIX PROCESS.”
cles that have been generated in the chemical pro-
cess start to form lumps and sometimes they even
come together to create a larger crystal,” he says. FRANK TABELLION
Director Product Management
This is a constant challenge in the market. It is Grinding and Dispersing at Bühler
a challenge the Bühler pre-dispersing process is
helping to resolve by ensuring all the material that
goes into the fine grinding process is reduced to a
constant and manageable size. “With the unbeat- Insights, machines are being connected to the Cloud
able duo, the fine grinding process is not really facilitating the collection and analysis of data on pro-
affected by these fluctuations in particle size because duction parameters to ultimately further increase
we are using an advanced pre-dispersing process. efficiency and productivity. We can then benefit, for
This is not really the case with other technologies,” example, from data analytics and have access to pre-
Tabellion explains. dictive maintenance data for the machines.”
As with other Bühler solutions, digitalization is The direction of travel is clear. However, for the
set to become part of the wet grinding story. The moment the industry is coming to terms with being
Grinding and Dispersing team is currently working able to prepare a consistent pre-mix quality for
with colleagues from the Bühler food divisions to the fine grinding process: an idea that is benefiting
jointly develop new digital services. “What we do manufacturers in terms of productivity, efficiency,
have at the moment in this unbeatable duo is the and sustainability. “We believe this technology will
ability to control the whole process and set parame- shape the landscape for how modern inks and coat-
ters from one screen,” says Zürrer. “Through Bühler ing are manufactured in the future,” says Tabellion.
buhlergroup.com 81
_imagine
GEAR
SHIFT FOR THE
CAR INDUSTRY
TEXT: STUART SPEAR
82 diagram #182
Carat solutions / IMAGINE
Car manufacturers are at a watershed as they move

further into the age of electric vehicles. With this change
comes a shift in production methods, and Bühler is fully
prepared for the new challenges.
CHANGE DRIVES INNOVATION. The electro-mobility rev-
olution has brought with it a radical rethink around
car production methods. Both established and new
car producers are looking to simplify their produc-
tion methods and save costs by reducing the size
of their factories by producing ever-larger compo-
nents that require fewer robots to assemble them.
The industry is even changing the materials they
use to manufacture cars.
Car manufacturing traditionally involved stamp-
ing sheets of steel into the shapes needed. A typical
car would be made up of hundreds of different steel
“WE SEE ENORMOUS
parts that needed to be welded and fitted. In 1993,
the car manufacturer Audi took a radical step when
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIE CASTING,
it introduced the Audi Space Frame concept for one
of its luxury sedans. It was the starting point for a
AS NEWCOMERS ARE CHANGING
new manufacturing process. Instead of steel, Audi
used aluminum and integrated casted structural
THE MARKET BY OPTING FOR THE
parts created by using a process called high-pressure
die casting. It involves molten aluminum being shot
ADVANTAGES OF THE ALUMINUM
into a die or mold in milliseconds and then being
solidified under high-pressure compression.
DIE-CAST METHOD.”
Between 2000 and 2010, a handful of luxury car
manufacturers started to follow Audi’s example and MICHAEL CINELLI
began using structural castings in their designs. Product Manager for Die Casting at Bühler
While the parts were varied the volumes were low
as early adopters still restricted their usage to luxury
ranges. Over the following years, more manufactur-
ers switched to die casting. One example is the pro-
duction of the shock tower, an integral part of a
car’s body in white, the stage where the car frame
has been joined together and is yet to be painted.
Rapidly changing market demands This market development led Bühler to expand
But it was increasing environmental standards re- its portfolio last year with the inclusion of the
quiring greater weight reduction in vehicles along Carat 560, the Carat 610 and the yet-to-be-launched
with the desire to cut production costs that started Carat 840, capable of a locking force of 84,000 kN
to drive a more radical change in the market. A pro- (just over 8,500 tons). The locking force is the force
cess once limited to a few luxury car lines was now used to keep the two halves of the die together. The
catching the attention of car producers across all greater the force, the larger the component that can
price ranges. Out of the 78 million light vehicles probe produced in one shot of aluminum under a cer-
duced globally in 2020, 6 million involved structural tain pressure. These machines are big; the smallest
castings in their manufacture. of the three, the Carat 560, weighs about 400 tons,
It is still a small proportion of the market that or the same as a Boeing 747-400.
includes aluminum die-cast parts in car bodies, but Cinelli believes the move to larger machines has
that figure is expected to grow to around 25 million in the past been inhibited by what he describes as
by 2030. Michael Cinelli, Bühler’s Product Manager a “chicken and egg” situation. “Car designers did not
for Die Casting, believes the auto industry is at a think about large component sizes because the
watershed. “We see enormous opportunities for die machines to make them were not available and we
casting as newcomers are changing the market by had no reason to build bigger machines because
opting for the advantages of the aluminum die-cast there were no components requiring such large
method. On one hand, there’s the trend toward fur- machines,” he explains.
ther implementation of structural components in Now that the market has changed, car manufac-
many different car segments,” he explains. “On the turers realize that to remain competitive they need
other hand, the new body-in-white-concept is a to fundamentally rethink their production setup –
highly interesting development, resulting in grow- with the die-casting process at the heart to increase
ing demand for bigger die-casting solutions.” flexibility and efficiency.
84 diagram #182
Carat solutions / IMAGINE
INFO
ABOUT THE CARAT SERIES
The Carat two-platen solution with minimum

deflection and a high degree of dimen-
sional accuracy has long proven its value
to produce large and complex structural
components. The unique Bühler shot control
system, for real-time closed-loop control, en-
ables consistent high-quality part production.
All the machines in the expanded Carat
portfolio are delivered with the DataView
control unit – which makes the control of the
die-casting machine easier and more intuitive
via its multi-touch screen. Additionally, every
machine is equipped with our new energy
frame concept with a clear and distinctive
arrangement of energy couplings. The Carat
series, which includes machine sizes from
10,500 to 84,000 kN (kilonewtons) also offers
the option of servo drive technology.
It is the rise of electro-mobility that has proven are typically cast one or two at a time, taking around
to be the greatest market disruptor. New car manu- 70 seconds each. A die-casting machine large enough
facturers realized that going straight to die-cast pro- to produce four shock towers in one shot can signifi-
duction was more cost-effective when it comes to cantly increase productivity and cut costs.
start-up costs. This is particularly true for newcom-
ers that don’t already have the stamping and assem- A key component for a greener future
bly lines in place necessary for traditional sheet Carbon emission reduction is central to the ethos of
metal production. electric vehicles, which is why manufacturers are
Companies such as Tesla are also finding that also looking to lower their production emissions.
larger machines, when producing a single large com- Primary aluminum production is very energy inten-
ponent, can result in doing away with costly welding sive, so companies are looking for ways to produce
and assembly processes. Fewer processes require a it using renewable energy sources. Manufacturers
smaller factory footprint and overall lower invest- are turning to countries such as Dubai, where solar
ment to produce greater volumes. Tesla is currently power is used, and Norway with its abundant
using 6,000-ton die-casting machines to produce hydro-electric resources, to produce aluminum.
the rear underbody for its Model Y car in the US and All these fundamental changes offer unique
in China, according to statements made by Tesla opportunities. “The die-casting industry is at a
CEO Elon Musk in the 14th episode of the podcast cross-roads as more manufacturers adopt a new
“Third Row Tesla” released in April 2020. philosophy towards their production methods,”
This single piece casting combines 70 different Cinelli explains. “We believe current market forces
stamping parts and reduces the number of robots are pushing the car industry towards die casting as
required by 300 and the factory footprint by 30 per- an alternative to sheet metal design, and Bühler is
cent. Larger machines are also capable of produc- absolutely ready to meet this new demand with our
ing more components in one shot. Shock towers expanded Carat range.”
buhlergroup.com 85
/ DID YOU KNOW?
DID YOU
KNOW ...?
… that Bühler has been sending a
delegation of its young leaders to
… that One Young … that Bühler has sent 40 dele- this summit since 2016?
World (OYW) is a gates from 2016 to 2019 to the
global forum for OYW summit? Bühler’s Generation B (GenB) initiative
young leaders? was brought into being by the first dele-
The 2020 flagship summit was cancelled gates shortly after their return
Its mission is to create a better world with as an essential response to curb the from the annual summit. GenB
more responsible and effective leadership spread of Covid-19, but the 2021 B now has 800 members and 75
by connecting the world’s most impactful summit took place in July in Munich and ambassadors in 25 countries.
young leaders. 10 Bühler delegates joined.
… that Bühler CEO Stefan Scheiber

announced that GenB will again
… that OYW holds an annual … that in 2019, Bühler’s delegates host a OYW Caucus in Switzerland
flagship summit, bringing joined the summit not just as parti- in June 2022?
together the world’s future cipants, but also as speakers?
leaders to discuss and exchange The participants will share what
ideas on today’s most pressing They actively promoted Bühler’s Generation they have achieved since the June
topics, and work to accelerate B movement. And Ian Roberts, CTO of 2021 caucus to expand the GenB network
social impact? Bühler, announced a partnership and its impact with the help
with OYW and Mass Challenge that of Bühler customers and
same year. its partners.
… that Peter Bakker, Presi-

dent and CEO of the World … that Bühler’s GenB has … that GenB has held
Business Council for organized and hosted two OYW experience-sharing sessions with
Sustainable Develop- Switzerland caucuses? over 10 global companies that want
ment said GenB is to learn what GenB does and how
one of the most inno- The first was held in 2019 and the second in they do it?
vative culture change June 2021. This year’s event was hybrid with
programs he has delegates joining virtually and in person at the This includes Barilla, Nestlé, Barry Callebaut,
ever seen? CUBIC in Uzwil and in Arosa, Grisons. Ardent Mills, and more.
Sources: One Young World, Bühler Group.
IMPRINT: DIAGRAM 182 / AUGUST 2021
Published by Bühler AG, Corporate Communications, 9240 Uzwil, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]. Editor-in-Chief: Michèle Bodmer, Head
of Publications and Multimedia. Associate Editors: Carmen Püntener and Lukas Hofstetter, Publications and Multimedia. Project Coordinators:
Jekaterina Gluzman, Project Coordinator Publications; Bianca Richle, Communications Manager. Contributors: Janet Anderson; Stuart Spear; Markus
Reber, Ian Roberts, CTO. Layout: Artismedia GmbH, Stuttgart; Jekaterina Gluzman. English translations: Bühler Language Services. Copy editing:
Text Control AG, Zürich. Printing: Galledia Print AG, Flawil, Switzerland. Photos: AdobeStock (p. 26–27); Judith Affolter (p. 2–9, 11, 13–15, 56–58, 77);
Thomas Eugster (p. 60–67, 72–76); Jekaterina Gluzman (p. 17–25, 34, 36, 40, 48–55, 68–71, 84–85); Givaudan (p. 43–47); Ophelia Kaufmann (p. 30); Lindt
& Sprüngli (p. 65, 67); Jonas Manser (p. 87); LM Media GmbH (p. 82–83); Shutterstock (p. 32–33); Luca Claudio Vaccani (p. 63).
86 diagram #182
/ FOOD FOR THOUGHT
TOGETHER, GENERATIONS
MOVE MOUNTAINS
VIDEO
Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler Group at the OYW Switzerland Caucus 2021 in Arosa.
OYW21 CAUCUS
“WE ARE THE MOST PRIVILEGED GENERATION EVER. We have Although we expected the energy and passion shown
the unique opportunity to tackle climate change, re- by the participants, this was accompanied by a reso-
store nature and biodiversity, and improve living lute determination to use business to drive good,
quality. We will not stop climate change, but we can address global issues, and the requisite appetite for
limit it, and with our actions support the planet to action and hard work. This has so impressed us at
reach a new sustainable equilibrium.” Bühler, that next year OYW Switzerland will take
These words of Professor Tom Crowther, deliver- place in combination with the Bühler Networking
ed on a mountaintop in Arosa to 50 young leaders, Days at Uzwil in June.
were inspiring, optimistic, and most importantly, Now this does not mean that we will not show
empowering. They epitomized the spirit of the One great innovations, services and technologies, have
Young World Switzerland Caucus that took place at industry-relevant content and speakers, networking
Bühler and in Arosa in June. Organized by Genera- opportunities with your peers, and deep dives into
tion B, in partnership with One Young World (OYW) critical topics, such as digital connectivity, circular
and Arosa Tourism, the Caucus brought together economy, and sustainable land use to name a few. In
250 young leaders from 150 companies, academia, fact, we believe that it will be the most impactful
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

and NGOs in a hybrid session at the CUBIC in Uzwil event we have convened. But, in addition to these
and then took 50 selected leaders to build action industry critical topics, we will add a day to partner
plans in the beautiful mountain resort of Arosa. with OYW Switzerland and engage on talent devel-
Outstanding contributions from partners such opment, entrepreneurship, leadership, education,
as Be That Girl, Restor, MassChallenge Switzer- and sustainability.
land, and OYW covered topics such as empowering We can all learn so much from this generation
young women, reforestation and biodiversity, sus- of current and future young leaders, and equally,
tainable tourism, creating grassroots movements they can learn from our experience and skills. This
across companies that drive sustainability agendas, combination of generations can unlock extraordi-
and the need to do this in partnership. nary potential. One aspect that most impressed me
In Arosa, three work groups ensconced them- about the event was how natural it was for Genera-
selves in different mountain huts, received inputs tion B to partner across ecosystems, to engage with
from experts and practitioners, and tackled three influential NGOs, academics, to find like-minded
topics: driving change with grassroots movements individuals to come together and collaborate. A
across companies, creating the most sustainable tour- little note to those who question the work ethic of
ism destination, and developing sustainable start- our young generation: This was all in their own
ups. Each team reported their findings and actions time and voluntary. We are excited about the Bühler
and these will be tracked through to the next OYW Networking Days in 2022 and are delighted to part-
Switzerland Caucus in 2022. ner with OYW Switzerland during the event.
buhlergroup.com 87

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#182 / August 2021 the Bühler magazine

IT’S TIME TO SWITCH INNOVATION IS CAMERA ROLLING?

68 86_ did you know?

87_ food for thought

As vaccination programs gather pace around the world, busi-

“PEOPLE WANT TO GO OUT AND

“AS SOON AS YOU RELEASE

July 2021: Zurich’s Paradeplatz is at the busy intersection

“GOVERNMENTS NEED TO TREAD CAREFULLY

NOW’S THE TIME

The pandemic has brought about many changes in the

On the animal protein side, the pandemic rein-

“I THINK AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

CEO ADVANCED MATERIALS

What did you learn about leadership?

“WE NEED TO STAY POSITIVE IN THE FACE

What new opportunities are you seeing? SAMUEL SCHÄR

“TO PROBE WHAT IS POSSIBLE, SEE

CEO CONSUMER FOODS

AREA OF SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS. We should learn to appreciate both the potential

BUT I’M DELIGHTED TO SEE THAT

THE SUSTAINABILITY TREND IS

UNBROKEN AND EVEN STRENGTH-

ENED THROUGH THE CRISIS.”

“WE HAVE SEEN HOW WE CANNOT

welcome customers onto our premises again or to

Remaining future-ready in this climate is more

Have customers embraced digitalization?

The speed at which Covid-19 disrupted established business

LEONARD A. SCHLESINGER Peter Fisk is a bestselling author and Professor

In June 2021, Bühler hosted the

“I REJECT THE IDEA OF A NEW

Life as we know it is inextricably linked with batteries.

Bühler’s continuous mixing process ensures an

“THE SYSTEM IS FULLY

Corsin Battaglia and postdoctoral researcher,

IN GRAIN PROCESSING, packaging is the last step before

STONE TEXT: JANET ANDERSON

Discover the partnership between

“WE ARE COMMITTED TO

“OUR CUSTOMERS WILL NOW HAVE

“THE SINGAPOREAN GOVERNMENT HAS

issues we’re facing. “Sustainably feeding a projected

All the right ingredients

“EVERY DAY I LEARN SOMETHING NEW

At the heart of the Protein Innovation

So, this desire to drive impact came before

A COLLECTIVE VOICE, A COLLECTIVE

PUSH TO ACTUALLY CHANGE THE

SYSTEM AND TO CHANGE CAPITALISM,

TO REALLY INCENTIVIZE THE SPEED

vices categories that business provides to society?

There is a new monument to chocolate production in

Dive into the world of chocolate

“WE WANT TO SHOW THE

LINDT & SPRÜNGLI GROUP

Lindt & Sprüngli is established in more than

The new facility in Kilchberg, Zurich, was