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Schaerer AG: tapping into a new market segment with a scalable product
To expand its machine portfolio and access a new market segment, Schaerer AG partnered with Zühlke to develop a free-standing, fully automatic coffee solution. In a highly competitive environment, speed to market was critical, and together the teams delivered ‘Schaerer Premium Coffee Corner’ in record time.
Customer benefits
- Rapid time to market as a key competitive advantage.
- Individual configuration options that increase customer retention.
- End-to-end development expertise in embedded software, IoT, UX, and cloud from a single source.
Challenge
Schaerer AG is a leading Swiss manufacturer of professional, fully automatic coffee machines, operating in a highly competitive B2B market. To expand its offering and tap into the fast-growing coffee-to-go segment, Schaerer added a stand-alone fully automatic coffee machine to its existing portfolio of small appliances.
Time to market was crucial to success in this rapidly growing segment, particularly in Asia. The goal was to combine premium coffee quality with the efficiency and simplicity of self-service — while ensuring the product could be delivered quickly and scaled across international markets.
Solution
Schaerer and Zühlke combined their expertise in a close, agile collaboration. Zühlke supported the project with specialists in embedded software, IoT, user experience, and cloud services, developing an integrated system of hardware, software and digital services that could be handed over to business customers at speed.
Interdisciplinary teams and agile development methods made it possible to react quickly to evolving requirements and implement customer-specific adjustments without compromising delivery timelines.
“By working with Zühlke, we’ve been able to permanently tap into a new market segment in record time.”
Outcome
Following a development period of less than 18 months, Schaerer successfully entered the new market segment. Occupying just one square metre, this new compact, stand-alone coffee machine was launched under the name ‘Schaerer Premium Coffee Corner’.
The scalable solution, enhanced with cloud-based digital services, can be configured to individual customer needs, supporting long-term customer retention and creating a strong foundation for future growth.
