Committed to shared values.
Throughout the Geberit year 2014.

A new magic word is on everyone’s lips

In Geberit’s three-tier sales model, it is the customers of Geberit’s customers that have to be convinced of the added benefits offered by the products. One of the hot topics at the Geberit training courses is therefore “sell-through” – the art of indirect sales promotion. Training manager Erk Thomsen and his team want to light the fire of enthusiasm in the participants. After all, that’s what you need to become a hotshot salesperson.

As close as you get to the river

In terms of floor area, De Rotterdam is the largest building in the Netherlands. Soaring majestically above the bank of the Meuse, the three towers positioned side by side are a real eye-catcher on the Rotterdam skyline. IJDock in Amsterdam is also making something of a name for itself. The group of buildings is located on a man-made peninsula, with apartments, offices, a hotel and the headquarters of the water police all sharing a base. Not so the new Palace of Justice: as one would expect, this building is independent.

Swissbau gets the ball rolling

Over 100,000 visitors catch up on all the latest trends in the construction and real estate industry at Swissbau in Basel. Among the most popular highlights at the Geberit booth are the Monolith Plus, an impressive designer bathroom and an area dedicated entirely to the 50th birthday of concealed cisterns. This anniversary will also feature prominently on the program at Aquatherm in Vienna, SHK in Essen and IFH in Nuremberg.

Outstanding architecture in New York City

Nothing lasts forever in the city that never sleeps. However, One57 can at least temporarily lay claim to the title of the city’s tallest residential building. Standing at 306 meters and spanning 75 floors, the skyscraper is home to 135 residential units and a hotel featuring 210 rooms and suites. With a group of investors reported to have paid 90 million dollars for the penthouse, New Yorkers not only talk about the building’s height, but the high prices of the luxury apartments as well. Geberit is represented inside One57 with its Duofix installation system, Sigma concealed cisterns 12 cm and actuator plates Bolero.

Swiss Re goes all out to ensure a quiet working environment

The reinsurer Swiss Re is building a spectacular headquarters in Zurich made of steel, concrete and glass. A two-story facade mock-up featuring the same materials and design principles as the actual building itself has already been built for test purposes. The mock-up is equipped with a roof drainage system featuring two Pluvia roof outlets as well as PE pipes. The acoustic values are now being tested by building physicists under realistic conditions. One thing is sure: gurgling sounds emanating from the roof won’t be a problem for the management at Swiss Re.

Geberit On Tour in Namibia and Botswana

The On Tour team has crossed South Africa twice already in order to give plumbers a greater understanding of the benefits of Geberit piping systems and selected sanitary products. The third staging now goes beyond the usual boundaries. With a great deal of perseverance, the South African sales team wins over the plumbers in the neighboring countries of Namibia and Botswana. The team does not even let the endless wait at customs dampen their spirits, and the awe-inspiring landscapes and interesting encounters with plumbers prove a fitting reward for their patience.

New products in the limelight

The innovative products from Geberit launched in 2014 attract a great deal of attention thanks to their technical finesse and elegance.

Coveted vote of confidence for three new products

The two actuator plates Sigma70 and Omega60 plus the new wall drain for showers take home the prestigious iF Design Award, with the jury praising their high degree of innovation and the special emphasis placed on design.

A convincing 2013

The Geberit Group achieved convincing results in 2013. In a continued challenging environment, market shares were gained in many markets through above-average sales increases. Despite continued, substantial investments in organic growth, the results were up on the previous year’s values. Sales in 2013 increased by 4.7% to CHF 2,291.6 million. Net income increased by 12.5% to CHF 435.8 million, with a return on sales of 19.0%.

Building site rocks – a night that will live long in the memory

Straight from the building site to the after-work party – not something you experience every day. Geberit’s partners flock in their droves to the 36 “building site rocks” events hosted by Geberit Germany. In addition to partying like there is no tomorrow, a total of over 9,000 plumbers, sanitary engineers and staff from wholesalers also get to take their first look at the new products from Geberit.

Voting marathon at the 15th Annual General Meeting

858 shareholders meet for this year’s Annual General Meeting – the 15th in the history of the Geberit Group. Due to the new Swiss ordinance on compensation, votes are being held this year on numerous amendments to the Articles of Incorporation. All the proposals submitted by the Board of Directors are approved. The Chairman of the Board of Directors Albert M. Baehny and all members of the Board of Directors standing for re-election for a further term are confirmed in office.

Geberit pros in discussions with top young talents

Talent – you either have it or you don’t. For a company like Geberit, the situation is somewhat different. Either it already has the talented employees it needs or it goes out and finds them. This is exactly the responsibility of Hansjörg Rohr and Reto Kamm, who represent a group of employees actively promoting Geberit as an attractive employer for highly qualified talents. Their appearance at the Polymesse at ETH Zurich is met with great interest among the students.

... lead to Milan for once

Milan’s Salone del Mobile is a must for lovers of design. Together with the Fuorisalone, which takes place at the same time in the district of Brera, it makes Milan the place to be for design aficionados. Geberit Italy makes a splash at this event and welcomes around 10,000 industry representatives at its booth. Geberit also features at other design fairs, including the Caracalla in Budapest, the Europe-wide architect@work event series and the Biennale Interieur in the Belgian city of Kortrijk.

Nothing but the finest in the new five-star hotel The Chedi Andermatt

Located in the heart of the Alps, The Chedi Andermatt is made up of four interconnected buildings with overhanging double-pitched roofs. Anyone fortunate enough to stay at this hotel can expect the very highest standards and perfection right down to the smallest detail, with a fireplace in each room and bathrooms featuring large bathtubs, natural stone floors with underfloor heating, separate rain showers and shower toilets from Geberit.

A Harley on the toilet

Each year, Geberit statics specialist René Gmür (pictured) and application engineer Urs Späni carry out between 80 and 120 statics trials in order to test the stability of the installation elements. Even the most minor design adaptation means new trials under real-life conditions. As stipulated by European standards, wall-hung WC and bidet ceramic appliances have to be able to withstand a weight of 400 kilograms – the equivalent of a Harley-Davidson.

Geberit is in a celebratory mood – and thanks its loyal partners

The 50th birthday of Geberit concealed cisterns is celebrated at five galas held in Duisburg, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Stuttgart and Bern. On the guest list are diverse partners. Their better halves are also invited as well – and for a special reason, as they later find out. Toward the end of the spectacular program of entertainment, they are each presented with a rose as a thank you for always supporting their loyal partners.

Partnership takes no breaks

Thanks to their extensive networks, they know about building projects before the first plan has even been drawn. Their advice is sought after and respected by planners and architects alike. And they are on the ground on the construction site when issues need resolving. The technical advisors at Geberit are the all-rounders when it comes to day-to-day business.

Geberit know-how features at two World Cup stadiums

The 20th FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil. One of the most exotic venues is Manaus – right in the heart of the Amazon region. The stadium there, the Arena Amazonia, is completely new and equipped with the Pluvia roof drainage system. And it’s Geberit PE-HD pipes that feature at the legendary Maracanã Stadium in Rio, some of which are installed high above the heads of the fans.

Brescia, Verona, Trento, Turin, Padua, Milan and Genoa ...

... are the first stops on the I-Love-Water tour, which is traveling through Italy for the first time. In the heart of bustling city centers, a simple container featuring the entire AquaClean product range and other design products is causing quite a sensation. “Come on by and check it out for yourself”, it signals. The innovative tour finds a fitting conclusion in September in the Eternal City of Rome.

Imagine a world where a renovation takes place ...

... and nobody is bothered in the slightest. When modernizing its properties, the major northern German housing association GEWOBA relies on prefabricated sanitary walls from Geberit. These reduce the construction period, noise and dirt to a minimum. Oswald Vogel, site manager at GEWOBA: “A complete system from a single manufacturer that has an approval for all the individual components makes things a lot easier.” This means that renovations are over in a flash – much to the delight of the tenants.

Four areas tested at the Lichtenstein plant

Geberit’s production plants continuously undergo certification audits – standardized test procedures carried out by independent experts. However, the fact that four areas – namely quality management, environmental management, energy management and occupational safety – are being tested at the same time is new for Doreen Schrön, Head of Quality and Environmental Management at the Lichtenstein plant in the German state of Saxony. “We did our homework!” she beams on the successful conclusion of the audit.

The smart companion is proving popular

It is quite possible for plumbers on a construction site to suddenly come across a cistern from Geberit that they have never seen before. Thanks to ProApp, the smartphone app for sanitary professionals launched in March 2013, there is no need for alarm. It’s proving a massive hit – by the end of 2014, the app will have been installed on 40,000 devices.

These gorillas have it good

A lot has changed in animal keeping in zoos since the first apes moved into the famous Wilhelma zoological garden in Stuttgart back in 1958. This can be seen in the new ape house, which features a range of top-quality facilities including a bonobo cinema. Here, our joint closest living relatives can access nature documentaries and animated cartoons at the push of a button. The drinking water supply is intelligent as well, with the Mapress Stainless Steel piping system ensuring that the water quality is hygienically perfect.

Substantial sales growth in the first half of the year

The Geberit Group achieved convincing results in the first six months of 2014 in a challenging environment, and significantly up on the already favorable results from the same period in the previous year. Sales grew by 7.1% to CHF 1,256.4 million. In local currencies, this represents an increase of 8.6%. Operating profit (EBIT) increased by 16.6% to CHF 315.6 million, while net income rose by 16.9% to CHF 272.7 million.

One-man show in Lithuania

Karolis Bacevičius practically needs a clone just to handle the day-to-day business. Being the sole technical advisor in Lithuania, visiting his customers in Kaunas, Klaipėda, on the Baltic coast and in the capital Vilnius sees the 26-year-old cover around 3,000 kilometers a month. Success is on his heels, as his support is more sought after than ever before.

The Musée des Confluences in Lyon – not your everyday museum

Designed by the Vienna-based architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, the museum is intended not as an exclusive Temple of the Muses, but as a public gateway to the knowledge of our time. The two intricately linked architectural units, namely a crystal and a cloud, therefore have little in common with classic museum architecture. While the crystal functions as an urban forum that receives visitors, the cloud contains knowledge from the world of technology, biology and ethics. Geberit is part of this futuristic building, supplying the Duofix installation system, Sigma concealed cisterns 12 cm, pneumatic urinal flush controls and lavatory taps as well as the Mepla piping system.

AquaTour Austria on the topic of odor

Smell can make all the difference. The group of skilled experts from architecture, property development, science and the hotel industry meeting up at the hotel Park Hyatt Vienna to discuss the neglected issue of odors in the bathroom (both good and bad) are fully aware of the importance of this issue. Geberit already offers solutions in this area, such as its DuoFresh odor extraction unit.

The new shower channel is put to the test by the professionals

When plumbers install a Geberit CleanLine shower channel, they want to be sure that everything is in place for the craftsmen carrying out the subsequent steps to then finish off the work. With this in mind, a test carried out under real-life conditions involving qualified craftsmen from four countries aims to find out whether the new product is up to the job. Bet it is?

Geberit France launches a competition for end users

People of France – reveal your undiscovered talent for design to the world! To mark the 50th anniversary of Geberit concealed cisterns, the company is looking to find the best amateur bathroom renovation project in the whole of France. Many gems are to be found among the great number of sketches submitted – highlighting once again the diversity of design possibilities afforded by the concealed cistern.

Geberit apprentice lands bronze

At the first national SwissSkills championship, 1,000 young professionals from 70 professions pit their skills against each other in their quest for glory. In the industrial tool mechanic category, Geberit apprentice Raphael Wolfer (on the right) manages to secure a bronze medal with a focused performance.

Geberit AquaClean launches hotel offensive

As a quiet, clean refuge that provides you with complete privacy for a few short days, there is no place quite like a hotel room when it comes to trying out a shower toilet. That’s why hoteliers are currently being offered special conditions and service packages as an incentive to convert to the shower toilet from Geberit. This move will benefit Geberit the hoteliers alike, not to mention the hotel guests, who will get to enjoy the comfort of cleaning with water – and maybe then opt to buy one for themselves.

Thumbs up down under

Caroma, the leading producer of bathroom accessories in Australia, will use products from Geberit in future. Tony Rusten, the Managing Director of Geberit Australia, therefore has every reason to be delighted: “This is a real game changer for us. We estimate that this will allow us to move from 1 percent market share in the Australian cistern market to over 50 percent.”

In front of the wall meets behind the wall

Geberit announces a cash offer to acquire Sanitec, Europe’s leading company in the area of bathroom ceramics. The offer price of SEK 97 per share corresponds to a total offer value of CHF 1.29 billion. The new company will be a unique integrated company in the sanitary products market in Europe.

The first 50 employees move into the green plant in Ruše

Although construction work on the new flagship plant in Slovenia is still underway, logistics and the first of three processes are already in place at the new site. The same goes for the first third of the workforce, who are quick to realize that the working and production conditions have taken a huge step forward. The new plant is bright, spacious … in short, it is designed in accordance with state-of-the-art practices. If all goes to plan, the rest of the workforce will soon join their colleagues and see the giant strides that have been made.

Apprentices roll up their sleeves for a good cause

This year’s social project sees eight apprentices (this year featuring four men and four women) travel to the northern Indian city of Varanasi, where they aim to prove themselves during their two weeks at a home for physically disabled children. The impressions gained engaging with the children, exploring the Ganges and – last but not least – working together with local craftsmen installing toilets, urinals and washbasins – are the stuff of which lifelong memories are made.

Young and enterprising

Following his apprenticeship in Switzerland as a plastics technologist, David Niederöst opted for an assignment alongside his Geberit colleagues in the Indian city of Pune. These are five months that shape him: “My tasks are very diverse and go way beyond the field I did my apprenticeship in. From training new staff on the injection molding machines right through to meetings with other companies – my job involves a little bit of everything.” This includes experiences that push him to the limit: “You learn to keep a cool head and to remain on the lookout for solutions – even in difficult situations.”

Geberit sets standards in pipe production

Villadose, the Italian plant where building drainage pipes are produced, has grown. A recently opened hall with an area of 6,500 square meters offers more than enough space for the required capacity expansion. A state-of-the-art production line is already up and running. The growth has resulted in improvements, as can be seen in the area of logistics. With the site now integrated into Group logistics, it can easily supply its customers in international markets in a timely manner.

Knowing where the shoe pinches

When plumbers have issues – whether large or small – Hubert Fecker is on hand to assist. Whatever the problem, the Head of Technical Hotline (Technik-Telefon) and his team at Geberit Germany are there to find the solution: “Most questions relate to retrofitting existing concealed cisterns with dual-flush technology and stop-and-go flush.” Every now and again, he and his colleagues end up conducting a bit of historical research, so to speak: “We receive a question about the very first concealed cisterns about once a week on average – which speaks volumes for their durability.”

Geberit AquaClean arouses attention in Geneva

This water jet is known virtually the world over: The Jet d’eau in the basin of Lake Geneva propels five hundred liters of water per second to an altitude of 140 meters While this is certainly a bit too powerful for a pleasant cleaning effect, it is a perfect setting for an advertising campaign aimed at drawing people’s attention to the shower toilets from Geberit AquaClean.

The first port of call on landing

Almost 70,000 passengers travel through Zurich Airport each day. It would be fair to assume that, on average, each of these passengers visits one of the toilets there once. It is therefore no accident that Flughafen Zürich AG, which operates Zurich Airport, attaches importance to cleanliness and modern, reliable sanitary technology. The 1,000 toilets, 500 urinals, 1,500 washbasins and 50 WCs for disabled persons are checked and cleaned up to five times a day, and six permanently employed plumbers tend to the technical maintenance of all the installations right around the clock.

Water is our element – anything but empty words for Geberit

Together with the renowned aid organization Helvetas, Geberit employees want to help people in need. This certainly applies to those living in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula in Mozambique, where the average life expectancy is less than 50 years. No sooner said than done: The resulting sum is enough to fund four new wells and provide 3,000 people with access to clean drinking water.

A proud CEO steps down

Albert M. Baehny has been at the helm of the Geberit Group as CEO for ten years. He will be stepping down from this role as of January 1, 2015, but will remain closely connected to the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors.