Marc Bitzer, president and chief operating officer at Whirlpool Corp., is photographed May 25. Bitzer was promoted in October. (Tony Wittkowski | HP Staff)
By Tony Wittkowski | Business Reporter | The Herald-Palladium
BENTON HARBOR — Marc Bitzer is no stranger to change.
The 51-year-old has lived in several countries and has risen through the ranks at Whirlpool Corp. since he began working for the home appliance maker in 1999.
His newest change comes as no surprise to those closest to him. Bitzer was named president and chief operating officer for Whirlpool in October.
Apart from traveling and selling washing machines – as Bitzer likes to say – he is in charge of supporting all of Whirlpool’s regions. In other words, all operations around the globe report to Bitzer. His knowledge of the Benton Harbor-based company is limitless, as he can be heard over conference calls concerning Whirlpool’s quarter earnings report.
In the Twin Cities, there are more than 4,000 Whirlpool employees. But Bitzer has to consider the entire 97,000 that call Whirlpool home.
Prior to the promotion, Bitzer was heading up the North America and Europe regions, which are Whirlpool’s largest regions when it comes to revenue. Running both regions helped him understand the global issues that come with the daily operations, Bitzer said.
“As opposed to me being a player on the field, I’m probably more of a coach on the bench,” Bitzer said. “It’s sometimes hard not to jump onto the field.”
In addition to being named president and COO, Bitzer joined Whirlpool’s Board of Directors.
When he was promoted in October, many perceived the move as a precursor to Bitzer being the unofficial successor for Jeff Fettig once he retires as CEO of Whirlpool.
“The decision is not mine to make, it’s our Board of Directors,” Bitzer said. “I’m flattered that people speculate, but it’s not what I’m worried about right now. I’m worried about what mark I leave in my current role.”
There is no normal day for Bitzer. He has more miles on the odometer than a traveling salesman.
Constantly on the move, Bitzer tries to visit several regions every week. Sometimes it’s not enough to use Skype or make a call.
“You need to do all that stuff before you talk about big strategic decisions,” Bitzer said. “I try to spend a lot of time visiting stores and factories because it’s one thing to sit in an office, it’s another to go and be in the factories.”
In the week the Senior PGA Championship came to Benton Harbor, Bitzer was traveling around the world. During the last seven days in May, Bitzer flew to India, Germany, Italy and Germany again. He returned stateside to San Francisco, made his way to Benton Harbor, traveled to Chicago, and back again to Benton Harbor before traveling to France.
Seven days, nine destinations, dozens of face-to-face visits.
Bitzer is big on email. He hardly listens to voicemails because of the time constraint. He spends an average of 20 hours on the plane every week, constantly changing time zones. His work day begins around 6 a.m. so he can make calls to his counterparts in Asia, who are wrapping up their day in the evening.
It’s been estimated that last year, Bitzer flew 181,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of flying seven times around the world. Halfway through 2016, Bitzer has already traveled 160,000 miles.
“That’s more of a sad statistic,” Bitzer said. “Traveling, being tired and not seeing your family is not the fun part. Being on the shop floor and meeting people is the fun part.”
A few weeks ago in Taiwan, Bitzer was visiting a factory and found time to do a few store checks. During his Taiwan visit, Bitzer met a 78-year-old shop owner who has been a Whirlpool trade partner for 40 years.
“He dressed up in his suit and you could tell he was so proud when someone from Whirlpool came,” Bitzer said. “He had his family there. That was touching.”
Tracking where Bitzer has lived is a story itself.
His family lives in Germany, near Munich. But they still have a house in Stevensville, which is where the family lived for six years. The Bitzers were planning to move back to Southwest Michigan in July.
Bitzer was born in Germany, where he lived for two years. His parents moved to Switzerland, where he spent the next 10 years. He would move to Munich and completed his military service. However, he studied in Switzerland and worked in the U.S. before moving back to Munich.
From there, Bitzer lived in Canada, Munich for a third time, Italy, and now the U.S. once again.
If he’s not on a plane, Bitzer said he calls Munich the home he most identifies with. The now-Stevensville resident is married with two children. The children previously attended Lakeshore Public Schools and will again this fall.
His children have had as interesting an upbringing as their father.
They have German passports, were born in Switzerland, grew up in Italy and lived six years in the U.S. Having never lived in Germany, Bitzer wanted his children to get some exposure to where his family comes from. So, his family was moved to Germany, where they have stayed until the move to the U.S. this summer.
“I don’t have to spend that much time over there anymore. It just makes sense to move back,” Bitzer said. “For them, it’s not moving to the U.S., it’s coming back.”
Outside of work, Bitzer is a fanatic with endurance sports and is a wine enthusiast. When he’s not corralling coworkers for bike rides, Bitzer is making his own wine – which he promptly named “Off the Grid.”
“When I drink my wine, I’m off the grid,” Bitzer said.
Bitzer joined Whirlpool in September 1999 in Europe for another brand – a time when Jeff Fettig was president of the Europe division. He was an outside consultant prior to that, working with Fettig off and on.
Whirlpool has had a large impression on Bitzer and his family. Since Fettig first hired him, he’s been comfortable with a brand leadership role.
“I’m not a big fan of job descriptions. I never had a job description at Whirlpool,” Bitzer said. “I like to say I had this canvas to write on. With every job, the canvas got bigger. Now that I’m COO, the canvas is the size of this table. … I’ve become comfortable with leaving a mark.”
Post graduation, Bitzer said he didn’t see himself working at Whirlpool. Bitzer said he finds it difficult to understand others who try to plan for the next 60 years.
From a young age, Bitzer was being groomed to join a small, family-owned company. Because he didn’t want to jump directly into the family business, Bitzer took a break and tried his hand as a consultant. When he got Whirlpool as an assignment, the rest was history.
“Life is not a gradual progression,” he said. “Life has its discontinuities you cannot plan for. Could I have ever planned to be here? No. But that’s just what life is.”
That’s why Bitzer doesn’t know where or what he’ll be doing in the next five years. However, that doesn’t mean he’s unprepared.
“Whatever agenda you have has to be a mixture of continuity and change. It’s an odd combination,” Bitzer said when asked what kind of company Whirlpool will turn into. “To disregard 105 years of history is foolish. But to only rely on that history is also foolish. You need to have a smart combination of extreme continuity and extreme change.”
Contact Tony Wittkowski at twittkowski@TheHP.com or (269) 932-0358. Follow him on Twitter: @tonywittkowski.
(Author’s Note: This article was originally published on July 27, 2016)
Tony Wittkowski 