“We’re set for strong growth once again”

By Andri Nay – Two and a half years ago, Steve Hamilton, the owner of Hamilton companies, stated that his company was about to grow in a way that nobody could imagine. This prediction was borne out during the pandemic. Hamilton products were in great demand, whether it was ventilators or laboratory automation machines, which are used worldwide for processing coronavirus tests in particular, as well as other types of tests. During the past financial year, the Graubünden-based division of the group alone succeeded in almost doubling its sales revenues to CHF 1.2 billion. While other businesses suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, Hamilton truly “exploded” and at some points it was unable to meet the demand for its products.

Mr. Hamilton, two and a half years ago, you predicted that the Hamilton companies would grow in a way that no one could imagine. And now it has really happened.
Steve Hamilton: Yes, that’s what I said and it was correct.

Can you foresee the future? Or was it just luck?
At that time, I already knew that we were the biggest player in the world in the field of laboratory automation. While there are many companies that operate in the field of biological testing, there is only one company that supplies laboratory automation to these businesses. That is Hamilton.

So, you are saying that you have no competitors?
Of course there are other companies that operate in our sector but, from a purely technical point of view, they are all less advanced than we are, and hence they cannot achieve the same successes as Hamilton at this time. We have had our finger on the industry’s pulse for as far back as 50 years and we knew early on what our market required. We had already developed the necessary technology, although the market had yet to recognize the benefits of our developments. But we were sure we would reap fantastic dividends as soon as the market was ready for our innovations.

And now the pandemic, of all things, has played into your hands.
Indeed, it triggered a huge demand for our products. But even without the pandemic, we would still have seen unbelievable growth thanks to our capacity for innovation. We simply knew that everything was functioning well at Hamilton and that the company would therefore grow enormously.

And yet the coronavirus pandemic was a major growth engine.
Yes, and – quite honestly – I really regret that we grew because of this horrendous pandemic, which caused so much sickness and sorrow. But at least Hamilton was able to help decisively during the pandemic, thanks to its ventilators and the laboratory robots and sensors used for vaccine production.

By how much did Hamilton actually grow during the coronavirus pandemic?
During the crisis, we had to massively expand the company within a very short space of time at our main sites in the USA and Switzerland. By the middle of next year, we will have grown roughly threefold in Switzerland and by as much as five times in the USA. The growth we experienced in the USA was only higher because the population is larger there.

In Graubünden alone you hired 300 additional staff. Do you think it’s possible that you will have to make some of them redundant when this pandemic is over?
No. We now have more Hamilton machines across the globe, which also means more work for us. There will still be a need for coronavirus tests despite the fact that we now have a vaccine. For me, what the pandemic teaches us is that there are many potential diseases out there that are capable of harming humanity. We will need to prepare for yet more tests in the future, not just for coronaviruses but also for other diseases. Hamilton is there to make this possible.

So what does the future hold for the company?
We are set to grow in ways you cannot imagine – and we are already beginning to do so.

You are predicting another huge surge in growth?
Yes, that’s correct.

You need to say that to create a positive mood, which is then good for business.
No. The truth is that we will very soon begin construction of another, equally sized company building in Domat/Ems. We have only just set up our subsidiary there, and now we are already expanding further. That’s going to be a huge investment in the Graubünden location. At Hamilton, it isn’t all about profit. We want to be the company that enables rapid test results, so that in future people do not have to wait so long for their results. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could receive our results the same day whenever we visit the doctors’ office for a blood test? That is our goal.

That still isn’t possible yet?
No, today it takes at least two to three days before the results of a blood test are available. Our nanotechnology devices can accelerate this process, since they are capable of processing much smaller volumes.

Is that your biggest goal?
It’s a fine goal. But we have many goals. Another aim is to ensure that our company never again gets caught on the wrong foot, as happened to us during the coronavirus pandemic. To me, it almost feels as if we left humanity high and dry, since we lacked the capacity at Hamilton to meet the worldwide demand for our products. I never want to end up in such a situation again. At that time, we had 25% extra capacity, but now I want to increase our extra capacity to 50%. This will mean that we are better equipped to respond to a future health crisis.

In another interview two and a half years from now, you might have to explain why your predicted unbelievable growth did not come to fruition this time.
Yes, so it’s really up to us to ensure that it doesn’t come to that. I promise that Hamilton will continue to grow significantly, which will also positively affect growth in Graubünden and Switzerland.

About Steve Hamilton

Since 1974, Steve Hamilton, an American, has been leading the Hamilton companies, which was founded in the 1940s by his father, Clark Hamilton. Together with his three brothers, he owns the privately run group, which has its main locations in Reno (USA) and Graubünden (Grisons).

Steve Hamilton lives in the USA. He frequently visits the plants in Domat/Ems and Bonaduz, which belong to the subsidiaries Hamilton Bonaduz AG (CEO Andreas Wieland) and Hamilton Medical AG (CEO Jens Hallek). Steve Hamilton openly states that he is married to his work. His age is, and will remain, a secret.