From the idea to the finished product: Ulrich Lampen is the new Manager of Product Management at SMC

Ulrich Lampen has been the new Manager of Product Management at SMC Germany since September 1, 2019. Together with his team, the 55-year-old graduate engineer aims to leverage the opportunities of digitalization in automation and provide customers with an optimal product portfolio. (Photo: SMC Deutschland GmbH)

Ulrich Lampen will oversee the entire SMC product portfolio in the future

Since September 1st, Ulrich Lampen has been leading the Product Management team at SMC Germany as Manager of Product Management. The team manages the entire product portfolio and accompanies new solutions from conception to discontinuation. "The task of product management is to keep the big picture in mind. The market, market participants, trends, and developments. We are responsible for providing sales with an optimal product portfolio for our customers," explains Ulrich Lampen. "This is how we build long-term and successful customer relationships."

"Product life cycles are getting shorter, more flexibility is required"

Ulrich Lampen has already gained extensive experience in various industries, from mechanical engineering to the automotive industry to distribution, when it comes to product management. "Automation is a future market with a lot of potential, in which Germany, thanks to SMC, plays a leading role," says Ulrich Lampen. "Product life cycles are becoming shorter today, and market demands are changing, also due to Industry 4.0. Starting from the software industry, the tasks of product management are also changing." Flexibility plays the main role here. Ulrich Lampen: "This development will sooner or later also reach automation. SMC already offers a wide range of solutions for digitized applications with 12,000 basic models and more than 700,000 variants. These include different technologies from IO-Link-enabled products to valve islands for wireless Industrial Ethernet."

The 55-year-old graduate engineer in Physical Technology aims to address the opportunities and challenges of digitalization with his team. "SMC is one of the global market leaders. I look forward to shaping the further development of product management here together with my new colleagues and establishing product management as a permanent function in SMC's processes. And this across the entire company," emphasizes Ulrich Lampen.

Long-standing expertise in product management

Before joining SMC, Ulrich Lampen gained over 24 years of product management experience in distribution and at a leading automotive supplier, including 12 years in a managerial role. "I look forward to working with my new colleagues, my team, and SMC's extensive product portfolio. And especially to learning a lot about the different applications, solutions, and markets for automation," says Ulrich Lampen.