Swisslog Global CEO visits Australia

Swisslog talks to MHD about Global CEO Jens Schmale’s tour of Australia and why automation will increase efficiencies across the supply chain.

Swisslog Global CEO, Jens Schmale, sees great potential for the Australian market after a local tour allowed him to strengthen ties with customers using the company’s warehouse automation technologies.

Schmale, who commenced his role as CEO at the start of 2024, has been actively looking at ways to enhance customer relationships throughout their automation journey.

“I believe stronger collaboration with customers will lead to us delivering the best possible warehouse automation solutions and fostering greater long-term relationships that are truly based on teamwork and common goals,” he says

He believes the Australian industry continues to innovate and is using automation to drive even greater efficiencies. He sees a huge potential in Australia to continue this upward trend of increased competitiveness and productivity.

(left to right) Swisslog Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Dan Ulmamei; Talea Bader, Managing Director and Co-Founder of SKUTOPIA; and Swisslog Global CEO, Jens Schmale | Image: Swisslog

As part of his Australian tour, Schmale, and members of the Swisslog Global Leadership Team, visited several customer sites across Melbourne and Sydney, including SKUTOPIA in Alexandria, Sydney.

SKUTOPIA’s new Micro-Fulfilment Centre (MFC) – which utilises a customised Swisslog AutoStore solution – provides software-led e-commerce fulfilment automation that enables e-commerce businesses to scale their business from 200 to 20,000 orders seamlessly.

“It was a great opportunity to see solutions like this in person,” says Jens.

“SKUTOPIA has expanded its AutoStore in recent years to match its growth plans, and Swisslog is delighted to work so closely with SKUTOPIA to help them achieve their efficiency goals.”

Other customer sites Jens visited in Australia, included DHL, Jaycar Electronics Group, Mondelez, and Linfox.

Local experience, global support

Swisslog Australian and New Zealand Managing Director, Dan Ulmamei, says that it was beneficial to work so closely with the global team.

“We truly feel that the Swisslog global team fully supports us,” he says. “We can leverage global expertise from thousands of warehouse automation projects, to deliver optimum results for customers here, and they are always willing to go the extra mile.

“This places our local teams in an ideal position where they have local knowledge, backed by decades of global experience in similar warehouse automation applications.

“Jens has really embraced Swisslog’s core value of ‘make team spirit come alive’ since his appointment, and we value this strong collaboration.”