When Michael Behrens was appointed CEO at Vetaphone A/S at the end of 2024 it marked a significant milestone in the company’s long and illustrious history. Established in the early 1950s when plastic packaging was growing in popularity after the Second World War, Vetaphone was the brainchild of Verner Eisby, who is universally acknowledged as the inventor of what we have come to know as ‘corona surface treatment’.
Management of Vetaphone subsequently passed to Verner’s two sons, Frank and Jan, and the company, which remains in family ownership, has grown to become a global market leader in industry sectors from extrusion to printing and converting. Throughout its history, the company has continued to pioneer surface treatment technology and as it looks to expand its capabilities and product portfolio into the 21st century, it has made a significant management change at the top with an outside appointment.
Industry publicist Nick Coombes spoke with the new CEO Michael Behrens after his first 100 days in office to find out what his plans are for the future.
What attracted you to the job of CEO at Vetaphone?
Michael Behrens: Vetaphone is a technical company that has a full value chain, from engineering to 24/7/365 support, and is exporting its technology and expertise all over the world. That was important to me because my experience comes from this kind of company. I also liked the fact that it is a family-owned business, and continues to be so, with the short decision times that this structure allows. Background research showed me that the company has consistently grown and has a professional Board of Directors already in place, so I knew that I was looking at an ambitious enterprise with a commercial mindset and great values. Finally, I learned very quickly that Vetaphone is a premium brand within the Corona and Plasma surface treatment markets, and I found that very appealing.
What were your impressions of Vetaphone before you joined?
M. Behrens: My first impression was of the company’s HQ. It’s a very striking building that is well-known in the city of Kolding, and says much about the quality of the company and its products. I was born and raised here, and still live in Kolding, so the name Vetaphone has been around for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I have seen how the company has added more office and production space and began to hear more about its growth and development through my professional network. But I never knew exactly what they were producing, nor did I know the Eisby brothers before I came for the interview.
Has this changed after 100 days in the job?
M. Behrens: Obviously, I now know what the company does, which is a big help! But seriously, the Eisby brothers were very transparent and honest during their thorough recruiting process, and these are values that I truly appreciate. The picture they painted of Vetaphone is very much what I have experienced in my first 100 days. We seem to share the same values, and ‘take’ on people, and have a management style that is well aligned. It makes discussions easy to the point that we were communicating on the same frequency from the first day. You could say it was pretty much a perfect start.
What do you see as the main challenges both internally and externally?
M. Behrens: Internally, to maintain the current culture and great camaraderie, but also ensure that we stay agile and alert to market changes so we can respond to them quickly. This will need more structure in the way we run the business, and I’m keen to build a strong winning attitude – a culture of success and expectation. My own style is one of combining soft facts with hard facts, and hard facts is an area where we are already improving. It’s not quite an iron fist in a velvet glove, but statistics can neither be ignored nor denied – it’s the hard reality of the tough commercial environment in which we operate, and only the best and strongest will survive.
Externally, we need to make sure we develop strategic partnerships with our existing and new customers. Vetaphone has unparalleled knowledge and expertise in surface treatment, so our approach is more consultancy work than just a matter of selling the product. It’s not enough to know that you need surface treatment, you need to know why and how it works if you are going to get the best out of what is highly sophisticated technology, so education has always been a central part of our business ethos. Knowledge is power, so our duty is to empower our customers. This we can do with the help of our worldwide agent and service setup, which we believe brings added value to our customers, wherever they are located.
That sounds like a lot of change?
M. Behrens: The business environment is constantly changing – if you stand still, you go backwards. While we’ll need to make changes to grow the company even more, I want to reassure our customers that nothing will be lost to them in terms of expertise, commitment to ongoing development, and service – and, for the time being at least, the ‘Vetaphone family’ touch that customers have come to know and appreciate will continue. It’s been the rock on which our success has been built – so, as the saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – but we all know nothing stays the same forever and the key point is finding a way to grow the business with happy customers.
What do you think are the main assets you bring to the company?
M. Behrens: Having worked in international sales for most of my career, I have a commercial mindset, and I believe it is very important for every CEO to talk directly to customers, maybe not every day, but as often as possible. How can you define and refine your management policy if you’re not up to date with what’s going on in the outside world? We don’t operate in a vacuum – all our R&D is in direct response to the changing demands of the marketplace, and I need to know what they are.
I have a sportsman’s mindset from my career as a national team golfer – I am structured, and I constantly want to improve things. Vetaphone has a very strong brand identity in the market, but I know that the competition is tough and that we must improve every day to keep that unique position.
And finally, how important is it to maintain the Eisby family connection?
M. Behrens: To my mind, it’s very important, at least in the early years, because of their unrivalled knowledge and experience in surface treatment. Although both Frank and Jan have stepped back from frontline management, they still have active roles to play in day-to-day company life here as owners and Board Directors. Frank is now heading up a new Business Development Unit, while Jan is playing a valuable part in developing the Vetaphone Academy Educational Unit. There will be Eisbys at Vetaphone for a long time yet, I can assure you!
Caption: Michael Behrens is the first CEO in the company’s history to be an outside appointment – he is seen here with Jan and Frank Eisby, whose father, Verner founded the company in the 1950s.