Inquiries & Help
Then Today
Mr Sammali, first of all, congratulations on your 20th anniversary.
Thank you very much.
Briefly describe your career within ASCO over the last 20 years.
When I started, there was a department called DIB (Dry Ice Blasting), which was mainly active in the field of dry ice blasting technology and the associated dry ice production machines (for the production of pellets with a diameter of 3mm). My tasks at the beginning were special projects in the field of dry ice blasting and customer service in the field of DIB. The transition was smooth as I speak different languages. As a result, I soon took over part of the Italian sales region. In 2007, I took over as deputy head of the DIB department, and as part of the reorganisation in 2010, I became head of the DIB department. After briefly switching to the area of responsibility, I returned to the management of "Sales Dry Ice Systems" in 2022.
What has changed in the last 20 years? Also with regard to the industry for dry ice systems? How has ASCO evolved?
The biggest change for the company was certainly its integration into the "Messer Group". ASCO was previously a medium-sized company. The new structure made the whole day-to-day process even more professional than it had been in the early days. However, it was also not easy, as there were a lot of changes and a new corporate culture had to be internalised.
The demand for dry ice was already high in my early days. But it has grown steadily over the years. New areas of application have been added. The increased number of market participants has led to a crowded market. This has also meant that logistics and processes have become more and more professional over the years.
What were the biggest challenges you faced during your time as Head of Sales and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges was certainly the aforementioned integration into the "Messer Group". ASCO was active in mechanical and plant engineering, while "Messer" is an industrial gases company. Positioning ourselves within the large Messer Group was certainly a challenge. The coronavirus period was certainly also a challenge. Functioning despite the pandemic and continuing to operate successfully. As after every crisis, new opportunities have also arisen after the coronavirus pandemic. In order to prevail against the competition, to survive and to continue to be successful, alternative paths sometimes had to be taken.
What is a highlight that you will never forget?
Thanks to an "innovative" all-in-one model at the time, which offered customers CO2 supply, tank infrastructure and dry ice pelletisers from a single source, we were able to sell 20,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year even as a non-gas company, despite major competition such as "Linde Gas". This is an enormous amount for such a small company as ASCO, which was not previously active in the gas business. The introduction of this business model was certainly also a highlight.
Another thing I will certainly remember is the realisation of a project for the customer "Daimler Mannheim". Above all, the special development of the order will remain unforgotten. It was already the end of a trade fair day and we were already tidying up when the responsible project manager came to visit us at the stand. We took our time and recorded and discussed his ideas together. The project was realised by Daimler at the Mannheim site exactly as we had worked it out on that day of the fair. "Daimler Mannheim" is still one of ASCO's most important customers today.
Dry ice is used in a wide variety of areas. Can you describe some of the most innovative applications that you have introduced or accompanied in your career?
ASCO has generally not focussed on short-term trends, but on its core business of dry ice production and CO₂ recovery. Dry ice has an incredible number of applications and new ideas and enquiries are still coming in that could be pursued but take up a lot of time and money. For us, this was not an option with the main area in which we operate.
The all-in-one concept was certainly very innovative at the time. In the field of blasting technology, I think the most innovative was combination blasting, i.e. blasting with sand combined with dry ice, which is possible with our ASCOJET.
What trends do you see for the future of dry ice technology and how is ASCO preparing for this?
Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 are becoming increasingly important for mechanical and plant engineering, both from the perspective of the provider of digitalised products and services and the user of internal processes.
Remote services or analyses, training via video, virtual reality and much more are steps that have already been developed and tested and are already available in some cases. However, this is no longer really my area of expertise. In the future, personal contact will certainly no longer play the same role as it does today. Online meetings will become increasingly important. Here, too, the coronavirus pandemic has contributed to this communication tool being used even more intensively. This will certainly become less and less and that is certainly a key factor, although we will continue to seek personal customer proximity.
Online meetings are one of the many great new possibilities, but they will not replace personal customer contact, or at least not completely.
CO₂ neutrality is certainly a big issue, and we are noticing a strong increase in demand for CO2 recovery solutions ("carbon capture") from a wide range of industries. And then there is certainly the "competition" from alternative cooling options that we are facing.
It also depends very much on how all the legislation will develop in the coming years. These will have a major impact on costs and therefore investment decisions.
And one last question: What advice would you give your former self?
Nothing. Because if I had done something differently, I might not be where I am today.