Meet the Team: Dr. Simon Rankel, Our Business Development Manager, Shares How He Keeps Up With the Latest Developments in Business (Development)

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

There are a lot of things to talk about (smiling) as I like moving, exploring and socializing. If I had to choose my nr. 1 sport, that would definitely be capoeira, which I totally fall for.
I love music. Playing drums is also one of my passions. Basketball and volleyball have always been part of my activities, not to forget hiking and running.
On the social side, I very much enjoy being surrounded by my family and friends. I do love travelling and meeting new people. I like languages, history and different views and aspects of life. The magic of the forest inspires me and the beauty of nature´s fauna and flora remind me every day on the importance of connectedness and coexistence.
And I do need to mention my affection for cars as well.

What’s the best aspect of the work you do?

Working in sensitive and high-value business development combines different key aspects: I love to engage with passion and creativity, and I strongly believe in cross functional and interdisciplinary team collaboration. It’s so great to cooperate with many people from different departments and divisions, combine ideas and fuse various aspects of business into something new that might not exist yet.
I value a lot the combined effort to work on ideas and believe empathy and good relationships between people are the clue for sustainable and long-term business. If we work like that, I believe everything is possible.

How do you keep up on the latest developments in business (development)?

In our industry it´s important to constantly adapt to trends and new technology while keeping up with changing rules and demands. As I am a very communicative person, I enjoy participating in exhibitions, conferences, events – either live or on-line. Not to forget the most important feedback that usually comes from close and trustful cooperation with customers. Additionally, I study specialist journals or watch professional webinars.

On the other hand, business development itself is a process prone to constant advancements. Creating long-term value for business requires also intent & conversation intelligence and reimagined visual presentations. Furthermore, I am convinced that in future the success in business development will depend more and more on embedded business intelligence.

As new applications emerge, how is Ophir advancing its product portfolio to keep pace?

It´s very important to be involved – both with critical projects inside the company, and with industry action groups outside the company. My work is aimed at developing business strategies that will keep our product portfolio up-to-date in order to guarantee the company´s success in future. The strategic planning process comprises of various multi-facetted approaches for analyzing market trends to elaborate and perfect the directions for the future of business whereas our innovations and creativity serve as a driving force to stand out from the strong competition. Take for example our latest product developments: Battery welding as well as additive manufacturing are key drivers in the laser market today. We anticipated the strong need of dedicated laser measurement solutions in those areas and can now serve customers with innovative products serving their needs.

What do you like most about Ophir’s in-house relationship between business development and product management/R&D on one side and sales on the other side?

I appreciate and value my colleagues a lot. They show both, very valuable knowledge and expertise/know-how and highly professional and motivated attitude towards solving the problems. Their engagement, willingness to cooperate and striving for finding the best solution is unmatched.