Family-owned firm makes high-tech sewing machines

BERNINA, a 127-year-old family owned Swiss international company, has a kind of startup in Singapore. A leading sewing machine company, it is a household name in Switzerland and around the world as Bernina products are mostly used in homes. The company is named after one of the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps

A scion of the family, Katharina Ueltschi is taking the firm in a new direction in how sewing machines are perceived and distributed. She opened the company's concept store in Funan Mall on North Bridge Road a year ago in a move towards creating a new business model. The concept store showcases its world-class high-tech sewing machines.

"Bernina Singapore is a startup in a 127-year-old Swiss international company. For us, Singapore is a great hub and starting point to test the market and different distribution channels," Ms Ueltschi, who is a director of the company and looks after its operations here, tells The Business Times in an interview.

"It is our goal to develop new offers and customer experiences for those who want to take up sewing or embroidery as a hobby, set up a business or perhaps explore a form of creative expression. We want to go beyond simply selling a sewing machine. Funan is a great mall which provides what we need - younger customers, the right atmosphere for exciting experiences and an attractive tenant mix.

"As a fourth generation family-owned company, Swiss precision is at the heart of every product we create. Our products are known for quality, innovation and design. With innovative features that make sewing easier, Bernina emphasises ergonomic design that allows you to focus on your project - and not the machine," she adds.

Bernina was founded in 1893 by Ms Ueltschi's great-great-grandfather, Karl Friedrich Gegauf, the inventor of the hemstitch sewing machine. At that time the company's products were built for commercial use. The machine could stitch up to 100 stitches per minute which was amazing by the standards of the time. By 1900 the factory employed about 80 people. Today, the Bernina Textile Group is a globally active group of 14 companies. Its goal is to develop and produce products for creative people who engage in textile design as a hobby and a passion.

The company's headquarter is located in Steckborn on the shores of Lake Constance, just 45 minutes by car northeast of Zurich. The company's top of the line machines - the Bernina 8 series, priced at S$15,000, are made in Switzerland. The other models are manufactured in its own factory in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In 2019, the Bernina Textile Group employed 1,182 people and hit an annual turnover of 223 million Swiss francs (S$323 million) - a 10 per cent increase over 2018.

Bernina is the only sewing machine company to be run by its founding family since it started. The company has an apprenticeship programme under which young people start working and learning in the factory from the age of 16. Most of the trainees remain with the company and work all the way till they retire. Every worker puts in 40 hours of work a week and can assemble an entire sewing machine by himself after which the worker proceeds to sign off on the machine. This way if something ever goes wrong with the machine, the service centre can trace it to the person responsible for the assembly of the machine.

Ms Ueltschi's father is the fourth generation owner and chairman of the board of directors of the company. "Together with my brother Philipp, who manages one of our group companies in the United States, I represent the fifth generation. After taking on management tasks outside the company, we are currently developing ideas and concepts for Bernina's future and defining our roles in the company."

Ms Ueltschi says that in Singapore, Bernina's goal is to inspire people and to support them, and to be part of their creative lifestyle. "We offer workshops and masterclasses, we organise team events, kids' parties, we entertain and we educate. We partner with designers and lifestyle brands. We coach and encourage our customers to become creative themselves.

"At our co-sewing space in Funan, students from fashion schools can rent a machine. The offer is gladly accepted by the young people because we are open seven days a week from 11 am to 9 pm. Finally, our origin is to offer sewing and embroidery machines of the brands Bernina and Bernette. Our company also provides dedicated after-sales support. If there are technical problems, we can help," she adds.