Yilmaz Tosun, Head of Sales, ASC

You have decided to move from a large rail corporation to the compact business structure of ASC. What are you looking forward to in this new operating environment?

I look forward to closer customer proximity, short decision-making paths, faster ways of working – where I can fully contribute, share my experiences and develop the best solutions directly with customers. Large organizational structures offer many advantages but are typically slowed by complex processes, while the benefits of human interaction are often not sufficiently utilized.

What have been your key professional positions to date – in which sectors do you feel “at home”?

I have always worked in information and communication technology (ICT), initially as Project Manager for complex billing systems, then as Sales Account Manager and Sales Director for South East Europe & Middle East and later as International Sales & Business Development Manager and Director.

My deep industry knowledge ranges from IT (software and hardware) to telecommunications, energy and battery technology, document management systems and, most recently, the mobility sector with a focus on railway systems.

Which of your strengths will ASC and its customers benefit from, in particular?

Basically, I am at home wherever complex problems in need of explanation are found. I’m passionate about developing strategic, sustainable solutions and ensuring their practical, user-friendly implementation.

I believe my broad cultural interests benefit me when dealing with people from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and approaches. Early on, as a taxi-driving student in Berlin, I learned to conduct trust-building conversations and to listen attentively to people from various upbringings and education. I love dealing with diverse challenges and ideas. This can lead to the best new innovations.

How are you planning to start into your new role as ASC Head of Sales?

As a passionate networker, I will support ASC in linking its specialized products with the needs of customers and international partners. I’d like to increase the mutual understanding and trust, conduct market analyses, identify strengths, unique selling points and commonalities between key customer groups and help identify new paths to business prosperity for them. ASC supplies a wide variety of market segments, customer groups, distributors, system solution and integration partners – both nationally and around the globe. I intend to further strengthen and expand this matrix jointly with the ASC team.

What first impressions as ASC’s latest employee can you share?

We’re a small, highly innovative, agile company. The internal atmosphere is characterized by mutual respect and support. Customer orientation and marketing have a high priority at ASC Sensors. All necessary tools and processes are in place to record, analyze and process individual customer benefits.

ASC’s products are very precise, robust and stable over the long term, ensuring nearly 100 per cent customer satisfaction. The areas of application for our sensor solutions are broad, which meets my interest in a wide range of topics and industrial fields.

How important is teamwork to you?

Without close, joyful collaboration, a modern team with this dedication to customer focus cannot exist. For me, the word “TEAM” stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. This approach benefits the customer, our partners, the company and ultimately every single employee alike.

Who is Yilmaz Tosun outside of work?

I consider myself a positive person of many life experiences in an international context. I like very open and direct communication, am loyal and always curious to learn new things. That’s why I seek intercultural exchange, enjoy reading, going on city and cultural trips including culinary tasting, excursions into nature to lakes and mountains, skiing, but also biking and motorcycling …

You will soon be representing ASC at InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin – what do you expect from the trade fair?

First, I am looking forward to meeting ASC customers and partners in person and to arranging initial appointments for more detailed strategy discussions. With the expansion of the ASC RAIL series and further product innovations, there will be specific technical content to present of relevance to the rail sector. I look forward to stimulating days at the expo and to partnering with the ASC team on this important milestone .