Episode 28

full
Published on:

15th Jun 2023

Driving sustainability and innovation at tesa tape with Thomas Gassner

Welcome to the latest episode of the FocusCore Japan podcast! In this captivating discussion, David sits down with Thomas Gassner, the General Manager of tesa tape KK Japan and Head of Automotive Asia Pacific. Currently based in Tokyo, Thomas joined tesa in his native Germany straight after completing his engineering degree at university and has been with tesa for over 25 years working in Germany, China, Moscow, Belgium, and now Japan.

Thomas offers valuable insights into his extensive career within a single company, shedding light on the intricacies of working in Japan and the conversation takes a deep dive into tesa’s sustainability strategy, explores how organisations can embrace environmental responsibility, how Japan compares on the sustainability index, and shares how sustainability is crucial for innovation.

Thomas Gassner Bio:

Thomas Gassner is the General Manager of tesa tape in Japan and Head of Automotive Asia Pacific. Thomas is an exceptional individual who has demonstrated remarkable expertise and leadership in sales, marketing, and general management. With a career spanning over 25 years at tesa, he made significant contributions to the company around the globe, including Germany, Belgium, china, Japan, and Russia. His relentless drive for excellence, coupled with a profound knowledge of the automotive industry and industrial market segments, has propelled him to spearhead teams and achieve outstanding results. Thomas holds a Master of Engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

Connect with Thomas:

Website: https://www.tesa.com/en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-gassner-72a6477/

About tesa

As a multinational company, tesa develops innovative adhesive tapes and self-adhesive system solutions for various industries, commercial customers, and end consumers. The age of technical adhesive tapes began 125 years ago – in Hamburg (Germany). Currently, there are already more than 7000 tesa adhesive solutions that help improve the work, products or lives of our customers. Today, the focus is on sustainability and energy-saving processes. tesa invests in the development of environmentally friendly products and solvent-free manufacture processes as well as in the use of renewable energy sources at its locations.


Connect with David Sweet:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/

Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/


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The FocusCore Podcast is hosted by David Sweet and produced by Podlaunch with Jayne.

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About the Podcast

The FocusCore Podcast
Meet interesting and inspiring and entertaining people who show why Japan is a unique, fulfilling and sometimes frustrating place to do business.
We will discuss how to hire, train and retain talent. How to create values that motivate, and review best practices that have worked and attempts that have failed. David will be speaking to company presidents, CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, coaches, consultants as well as sharing with you some of my own experiences and opinions discovered over the years in this great country.
The focus is simple: To explore how to succeed in business in Japan.

About your host

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David Sweet