Annual Report - Sonova Holding AG

OPERATIONS AND STAFF
Operations
Within operations – which includes purchasing, logistics,
manufacturing, quality, and IT – one of the priorities in 2005/06
was to optimize product costs. Furthermore, the focus was
on building up production to meet demand for many recently
launched products and the associated transfer of production
to the PALIO platform.
Production sites and processes
During 2005/06, the Phonak Group significantly expanded
its production capacities and pushed ahead with the division of
tasks between the two main manufacturing sites – Stäfa in
Switzerland and Suzhou in China.
The establishment of the Chinese production facility was an
important step to reduce product costs on a sustainable basis.
During the financial year we also adapted our logistics concept
to the new manufacturing structures and switched to direct
distribution. At present, we are continuing to optimize goods
flows and production processes as well as to improve cost
efficiency in the design stage.
Staff
The Phonak Group employed 3,428 people as of March 31,
2006 (prior year 2,926). This total was allocated among research
and development 214 (prior year 188), operations 1,624 (prior
year 1,439), and sales, marketing, and general and administration
1,590 (prior year 1,299). Major staff increases were made in
sales, marketing, and general and administration to increase
market coverage through direct sales representatives and to
support the many strategically important product launches, and
in operations, to create new posts to keep up with the expansion
of the Group’s sales volume.
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Operations and Staff