A spectacular anniversary year has come to a close for Friedrich PICARD GmbH & Co. KG. Over the past 100 years, the Bochum- based company has developed from a small family business into one of Europe’s largest wholesale companies for roller bearings and linear motion technology. Boasting a product range of over 50,000 items from all the premium brands, reliable and flexible logistics solutions, personalized customer advice and customs clearance services, PICARD has become a true champion of the roller bearing industry.
Celebrating its 100th year has been a real milestone – but Team PICARD is hardly resting on its laurels. On the contrary, the company is fully energised, motivated and brimming with new ideas as it looks toward the future. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Managing Director Hans-Martin Reinhardt about the challenges faced by the industry, the opportunities offered by digitalisation, and the factors behind the company’s success.
Mr. Reinhardt joined PICARD in 1984. During his training, he learned, above all, the importance of efficient collaboration and goal-oriented company management. “PICARD employees always pull together. Teamwork is paramount here. In fact, our people and their team spirit are our central priorities. Every person in the company is given the opportunity to express their talents and strengthen themselves as individuals. We work together as a team to understand the needs of customers – and employees – and to develop solutions.” So, it stands to reason that PICARD also attaches great importance to its trainees. After all, they are the future of the company. Every year, dynamic, ambitious trainees begin their professional careers at PICARD.
According to Mr. Reinhardt, this dynamism and ambition are particularly needed now because the roller bearing industry is on the threshold of change. The specialist trade has to consider that today’s end customers often have great know-how and tend to expect speed, simplicity and flexibility in their purchasing processes – for example, when it comes to delivery times. This is a development that has been evident in B2C business for some time now, and is becoming increasingly important in B2B business as well. In order to manage this change, not only the specialised trade must adapt to these challenging requirements, but also the bearing wholesalers. PICARD has recognised the importance of these measures and is actively supporting their customers in the process. “We’re in an era of drastic change – of digital transformation and unprecedented market transparency. Those who fail to move with the times now will be left behind by the market, sooner or later,” predicts Mr. Reinhardt.
As a pioneer in the industry, PICARD recognised early on that, despite 100 years of experience and expertise, it is only in the early stages of its corporate development. Hence, the wholesale company’s vision of its future is already clearly defined: Over the long term, PICARD aims to become an indispensable link between the manufacturers and the specialised technical trade. Two further essential goals of the company are to secure the supply of goods to its customers and to sustainably meet their roller bearing requirements.
In this respect, digitalisation is playing a central role in the industry: “Especially in remote-transaction businesses like ours, digitalisation has been a real asset. Digital distribution channels are now very important and improve business processes enormously. Our goal is to digitally map even more of our business processes,” explains Mr. Reinhardt.
PICARD has also strongly developed its home office and remote work capabilities in recent years. In this area, cross-industry standards are serving as a guideline for the company. “Nevertheless, the significant thing above all at PICARD is the day-to-day contact and social bonds that exist amongst our staff,” Mr. Reinhardt acknowledges. “A goal for the future is to maintain that team culture, even without direct daily contact and to create a common space of action.”
A further success factor going forward for PICARD is its international team concept. The company today is made up of nearly 300 employees from 36 nations who speak 25 different languages. Mr. Reinhardt is certain that this is a key to success for a trading company like PICARD: “A central element of direct customer contact is the willingness to be open to all cultures and languages and to create a common denominator. It’s precisely this cultural diversity that generates a lot of potential for the future, and that can help us to become an indispensable logistics provider of roller bearings across Europe and perhaps even around the world.”
Here’s to the next hundred years of PICARD!
