30 years at Axonlab: Interview with Vice-President Ines Wegmann

Ines Wegmann has been a central part of Axonlab for three decades. In an interview, she provides insights into her professional motivation, talks about formative projects and shares her experiences that have contributed to the development of the company and her own career. A conversation about commitment, innovation and professional development.

Ines Wegmann, Vice-President Axonlab

What motivated you to join Axonlab 30 years ago?

After earning my PhD at ETH Zurich, I wanted a chance to have a lasting impact in industry. When I came on board 30 years ago, Axonlab was a young company on solid footing, where I was given the opportunity to use my technical background and my understanding of the field and market to help shape the future.

How have you developed professionally during that time, and what changes have you witnessed?

Over the course of the many different roles that I have had the privilege to serve in, my job has been to meet the needs of our growing customer base by bringing about continuous change, defining innovations and trends and developing new business fields. I’m really proud to have played a significant role in building up Axonlab – a company that, over the past 3 decades, has grown from a few colleagues to over 450 employees in 12 countries.

What do you appreciate most about your work at Axonlab?

I especially appreciate the wide range of jobs that the company has entrusted me with over the years, the chance to develop the company into one of the largest distributors in our industry and, most of all, the responsibility for perfectly customizing our distribution portfolio for the end consumer.

Is there a project or experience that really stands out in your memory?

Let me answer that from a couple of different angles:

The product and the team:

The journey from a laboratory-scale PCR product to a POCT PCR system (molecular pathogen detection in 15 min.), including the crisis management that went along with that during the Covid period:

• In Switzerland: The collaboration between our teams, the authorities and our customers when it came to allocating Covid tests.
• In Austria: Distributing Covid tests that had been ordered, which was a massive, Herculean task for the team.

The business:
The milestones along the road to building two business units: the Diagnostics Central Laboratory in Switzerland and our globally successful Molecular Diagnostics unit.

What is your favourite Axonlab product and why?

Rather than discuss a product in the classic sense, I would be more inclined to mention achievements: our Axonlab corporate values and our in-house trainers, who have spent decades doing an outstanding job of preparing our apprentices for professional careers.

What advice would you give someone who was just starting out at Axonlab?

Focus on active exchange and synergy-building with other "Axönlers" (Axonlab employees). Jointly developed ideas promote creative solutions that benefit the customer. Strive to master and perfect the balancing act between the stakeholders' demands as effectively as possible.

What special talent do you have that most people don’t know about?

I’ve managed to take an uncultivated patch of arid soil in Portugal and turn it into a flowering oasis.

If you could give any of your Axonlab colleagues a “you’re an awesome coworker” award, who would you give it to and why?

I’m going to apply the analogy of the Oscars to a modern company here: I’d like to distribute numerous of awards throughout the company rather than limit myself to just one person. After all, what makes our company thrive is our teamwork and the way our collaboration brings Axonlab values to life.