Christian Wehrle
CEO / BITZER
Christian Wehrle, CEO of BITZER, speaks to CEO North America Magazine about the company’s long history and how BITZER’s “customer orientation” is the key to retaining strong, long-lasting relationships in the ever-changing cooling and heating technologies market.
Founded in a small workshop in Sindelfingen, Germany, BITZER is celebrating 90 successful years of innovation. The company started when inventor Martin Bitzer began tinkering with steel thermostatic expansion valves in 1934. From there, the company merged into manufacturing compressors, which became BITZER’s core business.
Although the company began in Germany and is headquartered there, BITZER’s vast network spans the globe. The company is directly represented in more than 50 countries, and with 75 locations, including 19 production facilities, BITZER truly is a global giant in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump technology sector.
A Historic Legacy
During its 90 years of operation, BITZER has remained a private company. Despite having 4,300 employees worldwide across more than 90 countries, it operates almost like a family business—a legacy carried on by its longtime CEO, Senator h. c. Peter Schaufler, who passed away in 2015.
“Customer focus, values such as long-term thinking, partnership-based cooperation and loyalty to stakeholders as well as sustainability have shaped BITZER in the past and are firmly anchored in its corporate culture.”
The company’s current CEO, Christian Wehrle, runs the business with one united front—team BITZER. Wehrle tells us that the company’s core value, its people, is connected to Schaufler’s legacy and continues to exist within the organization. “When I joined BITZER in 2001, I could feel it, and when I became CEO much later, it was clear that the spirit of the company revolved around the people, and it traced back to the entrepreneur who built the company and cared for it for many years.”
Wehrle joined the company in 2001 as a Plant Manager and in 2007, he was promoted to Chief Production Officer. In 2015, Wehrle took on the role of Chief Operations Officer before becoming CEO in 2021. He is the fourth CEO the company has had in its 90-year history.
Wehrle leads his company with a continuous improvement mindset. “As a company, we must develop ourselves in relation to our values and our history. It’s important to grow by looking forward,” he tells CEO NA Magazine. BITZER’s approach under Wehrle’s leadership is simply: if it makes sense.
“All the efficiencies come from a continuous improvement process where I consider our processes daily. It’s not effective to maximize just one process if the flow doesn’t support it. This way, we can optimize the flow, which is important, and all of this derives from our own production system.”
Old Company, New Ideas
Today, BITZER is the largest independent manufacturer of refrigeration compressors in the world. The company’s main offerings include refrigeration and air conditioning technologies as well as heat pump applications. Their products, designed by top engineers, range from maintaining optimal temperatures in transportation and buildings to preserving the freshness of food and medicine. It is the only company that produces all three primary types of compressors: reciprocating, screw, and scroll.
When he became CEO in 2021, Wehrle says, “The opportunities arose from an excellent market position in refrigeration… at that time, I also recognized our significant potential in the direction of air conditioning, as well as the emerging market of heating. That was the direction we pursued,” he adds, “I also noticed that we had exceptional teams and great people.”
“Our strategy has always been, and still is, to be in the market close to the customer. We have a strong position in refrigeration, and we are very close to the customer. I think that’s somewhat unique because very large companies can’t be that close.”
Perfection and precision shape BITZER’s operations today: “We offer all types of technologies to ensure the best fit.”
“We are looking forward with the ambition to grow, but we also need to be feasible. In fact, this applies to all our business areas: refrigeration, air conditioning, as well as commercial and industrial heat pumps. Those are our markets, but it has to be feasible.”
Keeping Customers Close
As a market leader in compressor technology, BITZER continuously encourages its global team to operate efficiently, which, for BITZER, means staying close to the customer. The company motto, ‘SHAPING THE FUTURE WITH YOU,’ embodies this commitment.
“We are a medium-sized company. We are not one of the very big players,” Wehrle says. “We just achieved about 1.1 billion euros in turnover last year, and it’s a really good result because we’re growing.”
Wehrle emphasizes that the way BITZER conducts business is not the norm: “What is interesting is that now it’s mandatory to be in the market for the market; therefore, we don’t export.”
“Many other companies export from China to Europe or to the Americas; for us, that’s not the case,” he explains. “It’s best from both the safety and production perspectives.” For BITZER, importing isn’t viable due to high investment costs. “So, as long as it makes sense, we want to stay close to the customer, including our production.”
This unique business practice plays a crucial role in BITZER’s success. “It drives us to be very fast. The need for speed is one of the opportunities I recognized when I became CEO, and I continue to support our efforts to move in this direction.”
Leading With a Toyota Mindset
BITZER’s short-term plans are influenced by another business giant: Toyota. Wehrle acknowledges that he has been “Toyota minded” for many years, drawing inspiration from the company’s emphasis on ‘customer orientation’ and its ‘day by day’ philosophy. For twenty years, the CEO has visited Toyota, learning from their ‘continuous improvement process’.
“We implemented our own continuous improvement process, inspired by Toyota’s production system,” Wehrle says. BITZER’s system can recognize waste and aims at eliminating or reducing it. “That’s the Toyota mindset.”
Moving Forward, Organically
In the long term, Wehrle tells CEO NA Magazine, BITZER aims to thoughtfully expand. “We are definitely looking to grow, but that’s tied to a kind of organic growth.” The CEO understands that growing larger doesn’t always equate to improvement, stating, “it comes with the challenge that the organization must also adapt and develop.”
The company’s portfolio of energy-efficient and smart electronic components is rapidly expanding in response to recent growth in its digital offerings. With its digital products and services, BITZER is advancing into the future by streamlining operations for its customers and partners. For instance, the free SPOT app is used by BITZER’s customers to verify the authenticity of BITZER products.
BITZER is committed to expanding these technologies, along with its unique service and maintenance network, Green Point, which addresses services and repair related to refrigeration and air-conditioning compressors in over 50 locations worldwide. “We have Green Point, we have webshop, and with our sales approach, we want to connect our customers to a digital network.”
“We want to strengthen our organization to be more regional and to have a faster response time to our customers,” Wehrle explains. “Additionally, if it makes sense, we might consider making some smaller acquisitions.” although Wehrle notes that the organization may need to wait a while for this.
“We are considering an annual growth rate of nearly 10%. That’s what we believe we can manage on the organizational side as well. So, that’s the plan, and we will achieve it with new products.”
Long Term Success and Long-Term Relationships
Today, Wehrle’s team is committed to “finding the best fit” for the customer by collaborating with its suppliers to provide customized compressors, heat exchangers, pressure vessels and electronics technologies. “Many years ago, we decided to focus solely on the key components. That means we don’t produce everything ourselves.”
“We have a built-in culture and a long-term relationship with our suppliers, which means that our longtime suppliers are not just suppliers, but also partners,” Wehrle says. BITZER, together with its suppliers, “balances the burden.”
Regarding successful partnerships, Wehrle emphasizes that it’s all about strategy. “Let me not only find the cheapest one, but let me also look for the most strategic option. That’s a long-term perspective.”
“That’s part of our DNA. Overall, we’re working together toward a common goal with our partners and, in this case, with our suppliers as well.”
Global Operations, Local Roots
BITZER’s overall success has been built on decades of global team building and continuous improvement through incremental steps. “Looking back twenty years, there was a meeting with only the leaders where we discussed our figures. Today, we hold a meeting every shift in our production, focusing on what we can improve, step by step.”
The company’s global mindset focuses on logical collaboration, according to Wehrle. “So it’s not about making a giant leap; we constantly seek to improve step by step… and I don’t want just one person thinking about this; I would like everyone to improve together.”
“With gradual improvement, those involved might not notice the changes right away. However, if we take a photo today and compare it to one taken a year from now, we’ll see a difference,” Wehrle explains.
