Yannick Gächter, Director Food Application Center, US

Collaborate to innovate

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Yannick Gächter, Director Food Application Center, US

Collaborate to innovate

“My passion is to motivate organizations, teams, and people to work together to achieve an innovative and sustainable impact. I’m convinced that we can only create a better world when we all work together.”

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“Creating a better world takes collaboration across the borders, between cultures, private business, society, and government. It takes all of us, which is why I also try to pursue this passion in my work at Bühler. Before I started at Bühler as an International Management Trainee in the CEO Office in August 2017, I had studied business administration and information technology and already gathered work experience in a variety of areas such as IT, construction, oil and gas industries, the food sector, and even event management.

During my first year as a trainee at Bühler, I had the opportunity to closely follow projects from strategy to implementation, both internally and externally, and to learn directly from our CEO, Stefan Scheiber, and his team.

In my second year at Bühler, I faced the biggest challenge of my career up to that point: The organization of Bühler Networking Days 2019. Over a period two weeks, we ran a series of events. We started with several employee events, and culminated with a three-day customer event attended by 800 guests. The project was both the most challenging I had managed as well as the best up until then. From my point of view, the event was a complete success. 

The project required a lot of collaboration among all departments, various regional sites, and corporate functions. During the Networking Days 2019, we also launched our heightened sustainability goals: “50% less energy, waste, and water in our customers’ value chains by 2025”. These are goals I can identify with that inspire and motivate me professionally.”

Building a strong network

“My two years as a management trainee in the CEO’s office have given me many impressions and important insights. Working at this level of an organization puts an important focus on quality, decision making, consistency and respect. That is why my credo is: “Easy does it”.

In a dynamic environment with a lot of pressure and a variety of exciting tasks, it is important for me to understand where I should invest my energy. There isn't a day when I go home and have completed everything, but approaching my tasks with calm allows me to reflect, work consistently, and make important decisions on a daily basis.

It is important to be proactive and approach other people. I have been able build up a large network within the company, which helps me to move projects forward, and also to understand complex interrelationships. It’s a network that supports me, challenges me, made the Networking Days 2019 possible, and has opened the doors to my current position.”

Sustainability in focus

“In January 2020, I took up my new position as Director of the Food Application Center in Minneapolis, US. In this role, I will work with my team and other teams from Bühler North America to find out how we can deal with new trends and bring new business models, strategies, innovations, products, and applications to market.

Our sustainability goals are also a focus of this project because it gives us the opportunity to directly influence our customers’ value chains as well as the future. Here, too, collaboration both internally and externally is central. 

Another goal is to create a place where we maintain a North American network for innovation, seek active exchange between employees, customers, start-ups and partners, and promote cooperation. It’s a kind of extension to our CUBIC innovation campus in Uzwil, Switzerland. I would like to build a team that conducts sustainable business, creates future opportunities and takes advantage of them.”

Moving things together

“It is important for me to see a sense of purpose in my daily work and to recognize a corporate purpose that I can fully stand behind. Here at Bühler, we work in an environment where we can make a difference and do something good for society through both sustainable and profitable business. In my job, I am always looking for tasks in which I can learn something, come into contact with people, and which challenge me to leave my comfort zone. I also try to motivate the people in my professional environment. Because it’s only when we work together that we have the chance to achieve positive things and contribute to a better world.”

Here at Bühler, we work in an environment where we can make a difference and do something good for society through both sustainable and profitable business. In my job, I am always looking for tasks in which I can learn something, come into contact with people, and which challenge me to leave my comfort zone

Yannick Gächter, Director Food Application Center, Minneapolis, US