Mettler-Toledo: Product Portfolio & Quality Management

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Without getting into specific figures, since you mentioned it, I'm surprised. I look at many companies, and over the last 30 years, Mettler has consistently improved its gross margin almost every year. Is this improvement coming from pricing, growing costs lower than inflation, or both? How is it happening?

It's a big team doing a great job. I've had the chance to accompany a service technician and see their work. The products are excellent, with many lasting in labs for more than 20 or even 30 years. It's impressive to see such old products still functioning well. People in labs know the brand and are very happy with the products. The reputation is very high, and customers trust and continue to buy the products.

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Could you elaborate on that, for example, with the load cell, which I imagine is one of the most complex parts? Why is it so complex to manufacture, and what are the barriers to others manufacturing a good product in that area?

Then, there are the magnetic force restoration cells, or MFR cells. In Switzerland, we invented a technology called monoblock some years ago. It's fabricated from a single piece of aluminum, which is quite interesting. This is a core competence because it involves assembling very few parts. The process involves a kind of erosion using a wire and a spark to remove small pieces of metal. This can only be done in Switzerland, and we don't want to transfer this core technology to China. To protect our intellectual property, we decided to produce the monoblock load cells exclusively in Switzerland.

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Could you elaborate on that, for example, with the load cell, which I imagine is one of the most complex parts? Why is it so complex to manufacture, and what are the barriers to others manufacturing a good product in that area?

There are also die-cast load cells, where the monoblock is built out of levers and bearings, among other components. This is a complex process requiring a lot of manual work, mainly done in China. However, for very high-end precision, it's done in Switzerland. Mettler-Toledo is fully aware that IP loss is a significant risk when manufacturing in China.

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