Industrial companies today operate under intense time pressure and growing demands for adaptability. Production systems are running at high capacity, supply chains react sensitively to disruptions, and even short periods of downtime can have significant economic consequences.<\/p>\n
As a result, expectations placed on industrial partners are changing. Alongside technical expertise, responsiveness, operational reliability and the ability to remain capable of acting under pressure are becoming increasingly important.<\/p>\n
Particularly in plant engineering, availability is therefore evolving from a purely technical metric into a strategic factor for operational stability and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
Against this backdrop, we spoke with Ramin Ghalibaf, CEO of METZEN Industries, about the realities of industrial projects under pressure, culture as a performance factor, and why customer proximity is often underestimated in demanding industrial environments.<\/p>\n
Question:<\/strong> Mr Ghalibaf, how do customers recognise the difference between industrial partners today?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>Rarely during normal operations. Differences become visible when conditions become unstable or when decisions need to be made under time pressure.<\/p>\n This may involve short-term technical changes, supply bottlenecks, unplanned plant shutdowns or projects facing significant scheduling and cost pressure.<\/p>\n In industrial production environments, economic pressure arises immediately in such situations. Every additional hour of downtime directly impacts production volumes, delivery capability and costs.<\/p>\n In these moments, presentations matter less than operational responsiveness: Who is available? Who can assess technical decisions quickly? Who understands the impact on ongoing operations? Who takes responsibility even when information is incomplete?<\/p>\n Industrial companies observe very closely how partners perform during these phases.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> Customer proximity is often used as a communications term. What does it mean in practice?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>Above all, understanding the customer\u2019s operational reality.<\/p>\n Many decisions in plant engineering are not made in isolation within engineering departments, but under economic, scheduling and production-related constraints. Facilities often operate at high capacity, shutdown windows are tightly scheduled, and technical interventions must be planned alongside ongoing operations.<\/p>\n Anyone who fails to understand these interdependencies may deliver formally correct solutions, but not necessarily robust ones.<\/p>\n For us, proximity therefore means short communication channels, direct dialogue and contacts with genuine technical understanding. People who not only advise, but understand industrial reality and take responsibility through to implementation.<\/p>\n Particularly in demanding projects, this significantly reduces friction and increases operational stability.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> Plant availability is often associated with service and maintenance. Is that too narrow a perspective?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>From our perspective, yes.<\/p>\n The future availability of industrial facilities is already shaped during early project phases \u2013 for example through technical design, accessibility, maintenance concepts, manufacturing quality or the integration of new components into existing systems.<\/p>\n Many problems do not originate during plant operations, but from insufficient coordination between engineering, manufacturing and on-site operational conditions.<\/p>\n That is why it is important not to view projects in isolated functional areas. Plant engineering always also means considering how technical decisions will affect future operations.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> What role does experience play in an environment that is constantly changing technologically?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>A major one \u2013 although not in the sense of routine.<\/p>\n Experience primarily helps to assess complexity more quickly. Many critical situations are structurally similar, even if the technical details differ. Teams with industrial experience recognise risks earlier, prioritise differently and often make more pragmatic decisions.<\/p>\n This becomes particularly important when time is limited or production shutdowns must be avoided.<\/p>\n At the same time, experience alone is not enough. What matters is the combination of technical expertise, execution capability and the willingness to take responsibility.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> You frequently speak internally about culture. Why is it so important in an industrial environment?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>Because culture directly influences decision-making.<\/p>\n Under pressure, it quickly becomes clear how organisations actually function: Are problems addressed openly? Are decisions escalated or resolved? Do departments work against each other or together?<\/p>\n Particularly in projects with high technical and operational complexity, such factors directly affect execution quality, decision-making speed and ultimately the stability and availability of industrial facilities.<\/p>\n That is why we work intensively with our code of conduct and the behavioural principles derived from it. This is less about abstract values and more about practical collaboration in day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n For employees, this means not passing responsibility on, but actively addressing issues. For managers, it means providing orientation and making decisions transparent and understandable.<\/p>\n Such factors have a far greater operational impact than many companies assume.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> METZEN invests a comparatively large amount of time in selecting new employees. Why is this process so important to you?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>Because technical qualifications alone are rarely sufficient.<\/p>\n Our projects often require collaboration under highly dynamic conditions and tight timeframes. Plant shutdowns, conversions and modernisation projects frequently have to be implemented within very narrow windows. That requires people who work in a structured way, take responsibility and remain capable of working effectively within teams.<\/p>\n The recruitment process is therefore not only about assessing professional qualifications. Both sides get to know each other intensively \u2013 professionally, personally and culturally.<\/p>\n That significantly reduces friction later on.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> What does this mean for leadership?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf: <\/strong>Leadership is often underestimated in industrial organisations.<\/p>\n In operationally demanding environments, leaders directly influence the speed, transparency and quality of decisions. Particularly in critical situations, teams strongly orient themselves around the behaviour of their leaders.<\/p>\n That is why we do not expect leadership to be a purely administrative function. For us, leadership means taking responsibility, creating clarity and enabling collaboration.<\/p>\n That applies regardless of hierarchy.<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> Even despite digitalisation and automation?<\/p>\n Ramin Ghalibaf:<\/strong> Technology, automation and systems are evolving rapidly. At the same time, industry fundamentally remains a business built on responsibility. Especially under pressure, it becomes clear how resilient collaboration really is. Availability is therefore not created by technology alone, but by people, decisions and partners who take responsibility when it matters most.<\/p>\n Industrial projects are ultimately delivered by people. That also applies in highly automated plant engineering environments. Reliability, accountability and collaboration therefore remain decisive factors \u2013 particularly when projects do not go according to plan or production availability comes under pressure.<\/p>\n In a market increasingly shaped by standardisation and cost pressure, differentiation between industrial companies is shifting more and more into operational reality: responsiveness, technical resilience, cultural stability and the ability to remain capable of acting under pressure.<\/p>\n Particularly in industrial plant engineering, availability is proving to be far more than a technical metric. It is equally the result of collaboration, decision quality and operational reliability.<\/p>\n We thank Ramin Ghalibaf for this conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Industrial companies today operate under intense time pressure and growing demands for adaptability. Production systems are running at high capacity, supply chains react sensitively to disruptions, and even short periods of downtime can have significant economic consequences. As a result, expectations placed on industrial partners are changing. Alongside technical expertise, responsiveness, operational reliability and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":20858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[533,535,534],"tags":[624,629,627,607,611,614,623,610],"class_list":["post-24720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-topics","category-corporate","category-uncategorized","tag-engineering-industry","tag-gerwin","tag-gerwin-silotechnik","tag-manufacturing","tag-materials-en","tag-mechanical-and-plant-engineering","tag-metzen","tag-service-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProximity as an Operational Factor<\/h2>\n
Availability Does Not Begin During Operations<\/h2>\n
Experience Reduces Complexity<\/h2>\n
Culture as a Performance Factor<\/h2>\n
The Recruitment Process as a Cultural Filter<\/h2>\n
Leadership in Operational Organisations<\/h2>\n
\u201cIndustry Remains a People Business.\u201d<\/h2>\n
\nPrecisely because of them.<\/p>\n