Reiser Simulation and Training was founded by Wolfgang Reiser in Bavaria, Germany, in 1988. What began as a ‘one-man show’ in Wolfgang’s garage, supplying components for lasers, morphed into a company reengineering avionic equipment for the flight simulation industry when Wolfgang teamed up with Michael Stock of Stock Flight Systems.
For a number of years, the company operated as a highly reputed manufacturer of quality flight simulation components. Then, around 5 years ago, the company was given a contract to replicate entire helicopters for flight training purposes, effectively shifting Reiser Simulation and Training from a parts supplier to a full systems provider.
Customer co-pilots
CEO at Reiser, Dr Roman Sperl, says it has been important to work closely with customers throughout this process in order to convince them of the company’s ability to achieve such an ambitious goal. “When we said we will build an entire helicopter as a replica, there was nothing we could show to say we’ve done this before and we know what we’re doing,” says Roman. “So it was always a challenge to get the customer to such a point that you would convince him and he would believe in you, that the goal — no matter how high up it would be — that you would reach it. I admire those people because they had the guts to make a decision to go with a small company.”
It’s also crucial for Reiser to work closely with customers because correctly training pilots is very important for safety. Roman says, “Customers are the key to success. Aside from your staff, they are the ones who give you every day reasons to operate, to deliver products to them and to serve them.” Roman explains that the company must excel at what it does in order to prepare customers for the difficult task of flying aircraft and helicopters. He adds that customers are demanding, and rightly so, because the environment they are preparing for is a challenging one. Reiser prides itself on playing a vital role in their development.
Aviation adoration
In order to create quality simulators and training replicas while delivering the best simulation training, Reiser employs people who love aviation. Roman says he looks for staff who are motivated and want to do the job. “Those people are the ones who will stand behind you even when projects require working longer shifts or overnight — you really need to find out if people are willing to take that up and are motivated by aviation,” he says.
The company is still growing and Roman describes Reiser as a “28-year-old start-up”. He’s proud to say he receives applications from people around the globe, and that people are attracted to “an agile, German, medium-sized company”.
In order to keep employees motivated, Reiser trains staff to stay at the cutting edge of technology. Roman says, “Our staff are the essence of the company. People have to love their job to excel and so we are constantly trying to give them a reason to do so. Routine is the killer of all innovation. We constantly train our people to do new things, and in doing so, be able to develop and manufacture great products.”
Reiser Simulation and Training key facts
- Company name: Reiser Simulation and Training
- CEO: Dr Roman Sperl
- Headquarters: Berg, Germany
- Number of Employees: 200
- Industry: Aviation & Automotive
