Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/03/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The Leica Store in Bellevue, WA had it's grand opening tonight, and Oliver Kaltner, the incoming CEO, was there, along with a host of other Leica USA folks. I had a chance to chat with Mr. Kaltner for about 15 minutes, one on one. Things of interest he said: His background is very strong on customer service and one of his goals is to make an experience with Leica CS the best in the industry. He feels that it will be difficult in the short term to shorten wait times, due to trained staff concerns, but he wants to make sure that once an item is in for repair Leica goes beyond the industry normal in quality of service. He also said too many new items were leaving the factory not in 100% condition and too many items are not correctly repaired before being sent back to the customer. Correcting that will be a priority. He also changed the normal Leica schedule of having a "road map" meeting from once a year to quarterly. The first quarterly meeting will be the week after he officially takes over as CEO (April 1st). He said Leica needs to be more nimble and wants the company able to respond to legitimate customer needs, with regards to lenses, cameras, and software updates, in a quicker fashion. He seemed very well versed in Leica history and products. He held his own in a discussion about the differences between the 1(A) & 1(C) Barnack cameras, and also regarding the merits of the latest generation APO ASPH FLE lenses vs. Mandler era designs. All in all, I think, if allowed by finances, will bring some good things to Leica. Jay