40 years of Ypsomed
At the end of August, Ypsomed celebrated its 40th anniversary with a big employee party at the Attisholz site in Solothurn. All employees in Switzerland and their families were invited to a colourful party with various local artists and a wide range of entertainment for the whole family, with a total of around 3500 guests attending. The highlight of the day was the concert by Swiss musician DJ Bobo.
40 years of company history lie behind Ypsomed and the stage of the Kiesofenhalle in Attisholz was accordingly framed by the company's 40th anniversary logo.
There may have been frustration and despair from time to time, but there have also been many highlights over the past 40 years
said CEO Simon Michel in his welcome address. As a teenager, he used to screw pens together himself for 4.25 francs an hour and organise forklift races in the warehouse with his brother, recalled the 47-year-old, who took over the management of the company from his father Willy Michel in 2014.
Ypsomed's first employee
Ypsomed now employs around 2500 people worldwide. Simon Michel invited his father Willy Michel on stage as the company's first employee. Together they recalled some milestones in the company's history and Willy Michel emphasised that it was not a matter of course for a son to carry on his father's company.
Willy Michel founded the Disetronic company in Burgdorf in 1984 with the idea of using medical devices to better support people with diabetes in their treatment. In record time, he and his team developed a small, ultra-modern insulin pump, which quickly became commercially successful. In 2003, Disetronic and its diabetes business were sold to Roche, while Ypsomed continued the pen business as the successor company.
Prices for employee initiatives
Every year, Ypsomed presents awards as part of the employee celebration. The MedGyver Award, for example, goes to resourceful employees who optimise processes with their ideas. The innovation price was awarded to a team from the toolmaking department, which was able to significantly reduce the number of plastic part rejects with a new machine. The newly introduced Ypsomed Sustainability Award was presented for an eco-design concept for the YpsoMate autoinjector. This will make the autoinjector more recyclable in future.
The next generation of Ypsomed
Simon Michel also welcomed twelve new apprentices to the stage and emphasised once again how important it is for Ypsomed to have its own next generation of specialists. Ypsomed currently employs more than 60 apprentices, and ‘soon there will be 100’, as Simon Michel announced. Ypsomed is continuing to grow: new factories are being built in China, Germany and the USA and the toolmaking facility in Solothurn is being expanded. In total, around 500 new jobs will be created at Ypsomed this year, 300 of them in Switzerland.
