Dear Tom, Dear Hu Bo, Dear Board colleagues, dear colleagues from SMC,
It is the day to say goodbye to all of you. Thank you for this impressing farewell party. It's great honor for me and I am not sure if I deserve that. Believe me that's an emotional moment and there is a lot of melancholy in me.
But I think it is the right moment now.
The company is now an "adult" company and don't need further babysitting and parents to guide and look after them.
If I remember correctly the first board meeting I attended as a guest was in 1998 and since 2000 I am a member of the board. In this 18 years I made more than 50 trips to Chengdu.
I still remember my first visit when there was only a domestic airport, minutes after landing I head tears in the eyes and a rough throat because of the air pollution and it took me years to see the first time the sun in Chengdu. There were only few company cars, no private cars but thousands of bicycles in the streets. There were no traffic queues and not many trees.
What a change we can see to nowadays. No throat and eye problems, every visit a couple of sunny days, a green city with millions of trees and flowers and traffic jams every morning and evening. Biggest change was that we can now see SMC in pretty new facility, which give us all the options for a bright future.
There are also things, which did not change. The first years I came also in December to Chengdu. It was really cold in the offices because there was no heating, I had a small electric heated carpet to put my feet on and I had to take a hot bath every evening in the hotel. I was told that this is old Chinese tradition for thousands of years that there is no heating south of the yellow river. I was really had hard to fight when we decided our new facility that we will have a state of the art heating system. We have the system and thought I had convinced Hu Bo and his Team that this is really necessary. Latest since Monday I know I was wrong. We had 14°C in the office, no heating switched on and I had to take a hot bath when I came to the hotel the evening. That's also China.
I am glad that I was part of the team to develop SMC. At the beginning we had no cash but a lot of debt, no experienced staff but a lot of problems and not many products. Good thing was that we had a growing market, which allows us to develop the company step by step to where we are now.
The actual economic situation in China will face us with a couple of difficult years but I am convinced SMC will handle the challenge, will come stronger out of the crisis and will look into a good future.
As an old man with more than 45 years of experience in our industry I take myself the right to give you some advice for the future:
The success of SMC is the success of the SMC team guided by Mr. Hu Bo. You can be proud an self-confident but stay cooperative competent and don't get arrogant.
Listen carefully to your customers, they are the one who pay your salary.
Take a broad view and watch how markets and competitors develop.
Stay open for new developments and new solutions. There are ongoing changes in techniques and markets and we have to adapt. Remember: The fast ones eat up the slow ones.
If you do new things do them only if you are convinced. But then with full engagement and quickly.
If you do new things you will make mistakes. That's allowed but don't continue to make the same mistakes a second time.
Create and keep a spirit in the company, which gives us a motivated team. Our employees are the most important assets.
I wish you and your families all the best for the future and my wishes are also with the company. If I will get good news from Chengdu this will make me always happy.
Please pass my regards and wishes to all who were not present this evening.
Hu Bo I want to thank you for nearly 15 years of trustful cooperation. It was not always easy and we had some fights a few of them really hard ones but we always respected us. Thank you that you gave me the chance and the feeling to be part of the team.
I am sure I will miss you all and I will miss my visits at SMC.