In April, Jürg Nufer will leave up his position as Ciposa's CEO, to enjoy what is often described as a "well-deserved" retirement.
 

I suggest an interview with the man who has managed Ciposa during 16 years.

Ciposa NEWS: Hello Jürg, for a few more days you are the CEO of Ciposa. How do you feel in this closing stretch?
 

Jürg: Fine, ready for a new life.

CN: I would like to talk about the transition, before looking back at your career and finally ending with your future. Is that ok for you?

Jürg: That's fine.

CN: You certainly set up the handover. How is that going to happen?

Jürg: The handover is indeed an important step for a company. It can be the cause of a lot of turbulence if it is not or poorly prepared.

For Ciposa, it has been several years since we organized it. I have total trust in Florian Stauffer and the management team to pursue the road to success.

Florian and I have been working closely together for almost 10 years. We are in the same office and exchange viewpoints on a daily basis. It' s naturally that he will take over my duties as CEO.

CN: I have also heard that you are remaining on the board of Ciposa. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Jürg: This is an honor that the board made me this proposition. It will allow me to follow the evolution of Ciposa. This is something that is very important to me. Above all, I hope that my experience in the field of assembly machines will continue to be useful to Ciposa.

CN: Will you keep a role in the operations?

Jürg: No... open if I am asked for advice, but no more than that.

CN: Let's go back to your professional journey. You have spent your entire career in the automation field, is that correct?

Jürg: Yes, I spent 17 years working at Ismeca, and I've been working at Ciposa for 16 years now. Automation and machine assembly are exciting fields, with lots of satisfactions, creativity and... troubles (smile).

CN: How did you hear about Ciposa, and what was your job in the company?

Jürg: I already knew Ciposa when I was at Ismeca. Ciposa supplied the SMD component placement machines, the "mini-placer".

 

I joined Ciposa thanks to Raymond Stauffer. He was already on Ciposa board. During these 16 years, I was mainly involved in sales and products development.

CN: You are modest about your work. I've been told that you have increased Ciposa's turnover from CHF 2 million in 2006 to a bit more than CHF 10 million today.

In addition, Ciposa will be delivering the sixtieth CIMOD AS.4 (editor's note: reference machine for T0 and T1 assembly in the watchmaking industry) in the coming days. I understand that you are the instigator of this project. Could you tell us a bit more about it?

Jürg: Indeed, I always considered product orientation as an essential part of the strategy. In my opinion, it's a must-have condition to ensure healthy and controlled growth.

CN: We understand that you will still have an important role at Ciposa. But besides that, how do you see your retirement?

Jürg: I imagine it well! I have a few projects I'd like to start. Projects that have nothing to do with automation. And as the old people would say (I'm one of them now) ...STAY HEALTHY.

CN: How do you feel about this step?

Jürg: I have no fears. I am looking forward to spending my time as I see fit and to dedicating more time to hobbies, travel and my family!

CN: Thank you very much Jürg for your answers. Before wishing you a pleasant retirement, I would like to ask you my usual question: "When you were 10 years old, you were sure that?

Jürg: I had no certitude when I was 10! And now I only have one certitude, which is doubt. Doubt leaves room for listening, open-mindedness and curiosity. And closes the door to all obscure dogmatism.