Meet the Team: Shmulik Barzilay, Our International Sales Manager

In this week’s blog post, we asked our International Sales Manager, Shmulik Barzilay, what he does in his spare time, and his favorite part of working at Ophir. We also found out about his journey to becoming our International Sales Manager, and where he sees the laser commercial market going in the near future.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work I’m a family man. I enjoy spending time with my wife and two daughters in Tel Aviv, and exploring the outdoors with our dog. I also love motorsports, and enjoy the adrenaline boost of driving racing cars in the desert. When I want something more peaceful, I enjoy playing golf.

What is your favorite part of work?

As part of my work, I get to know people from all over the world and learn about their culture. I find this to be the most fascinating part of travelling – not as a tourist, but to have a chance to witness day-to-day life in India, Turkey, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Europe. I get to meet people of different levels – workers, engineers, managers, University professors, as well as people who work in all different industries –  such as automotive, space, medical, and research. I get to see each country through the eyes of a local, and eat local food with the people I meet. For me, this is priceless.

How has your role evolved since you first joined the Ophir team?

I have already been working at Ophir for nine years, and during this time I have received more and more responsibilities. Both the team and I take sales management to the next level of involvement. In my eyes, my job is to drive the sales network in such a way they will be committed to our success on one side, but will also know that I am here for them from the Ophir side, for anything they need. They can trust us to do everything to support them, and give them tools to succeed. It’s not only a “give and take” relationship, but a real bond and connection. I see the distributors and partners of Ophir as my family, I fight for them as I know they fight for me. We train them, we meet customers with them, exhibit with them – but it’s not only a professional relationship, it’s also personal. This is what I bring to this role.

What is the most promising commercial market for lasers?

Well, what’s nice is that the laser market is evolving everywhere and on every level. It doesn’t matter if it is the automotive industry (electric batteries or LIDAR), or high-power material processing industry, we see an increase in using lasers and laser instruments across the board. Anyone who uses a laser needs our equipment for power measurement or beam profiling. In general, the laser power levels are increasing constantly, and Ophir is the only company who can offer solutions for this market – such as up to 120kW power measurement, or PYROCAMs for long wavelength beam profiling.