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Press Release 2008 - Gripping Systems
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Third German Machine Construction Summit in Berlin
German Machine Tool Industry Award awarded to Heinz-Dieter Schunk
15.10.2008 -
Heinz-Dieter Schunk, managing partner of SCHUNK clamping and gripping technology specialists, based in Lauffen am Neckar, was awarded the German Machine Tool Industry Award on Tuesday, October 14, 2008. During the Third German Machine Construction Summit in Berlin, the independent jury of experts from economics and science recognized the Swabian businessman's life achievements. Under his management, a small garage business has been transformed into an innovation hotbed for clamping technology and automation with 1,800 employees. SCHUNK's precision products are used in numerous sectors to increase quality and efficiency.
Every two years, the top decision makers from the German machine and plant construction industry, one of Germany's most important industries, come together for the German Machine Construction Summit in Berlin. After Prof. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Berthold Leibinger from machine tool builder Trumpf and Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Dieter Kress from tool specialists MAPAL Dr. Kress, who were both honored in 2006, Heinz-Dieter Schunk has now become the third winner of the German Machine Tool Industry Award. The award is presented by the business paper "Produktion".
From Garage Business to Global Technology Leader
Heinz-Dieter Schunk was 22 when he joined his father Friedrich Schunk's company in 1964. The small business, founded in 1945 in Lauffen am Neckar, had made a name for itself right from the start due to its high quality standards. In the 1950s, the company manufactured precision parts for Porsche and aircraft parts for Merkle, among other things. In the 1960s, Heinz-Dieter Schunk began to systematically expand the company: In 1966, the first chuck jaws product range was launched. SCHUNK was the first supplier of standardized chuck jaws for lathe chucks in Germany. To this day, the company has continued to lead the way in this product division and offers the world's largest range of standard chuck jaws. In 1978, Schunk revolutionized the market for toolholding systems with the introduction of the high-precision hydraulic expansion holder. SCHUNK also made a name for itself as an innovative leader in the field of automation, where the company is known to this day as a global pioneer of automation technology. SCHUNK has increasingly developed from a manufacturer of well-designed and reliable automation components into a provider of economically and technically sophisticated functional modules for a multitude of industries. Today, the company is one of the leading suppliers in the field of automation and is the global market leader in the clamping technology sector. The number of employees has increased from around 450 in 1995 to 1,800 in 2008 throughout the world and 1,500 of those in Germany.
Quality and Service Prove to be a Recipe for Success
Heinz-Dieter Schunk's business success is due to his work motto: "Leaders in quality and service can afford to demand higher prices." He has been proved correct over and over again. The higher cost price of SCHUNK products often pays for itself in a short space of time for the user, due to the exceedingly high technological quality. It is not entirely unselfishly that Heinz-Dieter Schunk attaches so much importance to training within the company: "Investment in good training pays off in the long term because it guarantees top performance in the company," says Heinz-Dieter Schunk. Which is why twelve per cent of the company's workforce has been made up of trainees for many years now. But the human factor is also important to him, as well as the valuable workforce: "Not only do we give young people the professional skills they need, but we also regard people skills and emotional competence as top priorities. That gives them strength of character and encourages team spirit." Which is one reason why SCHUNK trainees spend two weeks of their training period in welfare facilities in the region.
"Original German Quality is in Demand Around the World"
In the business, Heinz-Dieter Schunk is known as a staunch supporter of Germany as a production location. In the past two years alone, around 10 million euros have been invested in expanding production at the Brackenheim-Hausen production site. At the headquarters in Lauffen am Neckar, SCHUNK is to expand capacities by around a third by 2009, at a cost of around 20 million euros, and plant enlargements are also planned at the lathe chuck site in Mengen. "Focusing on our domestic locations allows us to remain flexible and means that we can react very quickly to market and technological development requirements," says Schunk. That applies just as much to manufacturing as it does to distribution or administration. Ultimately, it is the customers' quality requirements that bolster the domestic locations: "Original German quality is in demand around the world." It is with good reason that the businessman attaches so much importance to using high quality German raw materials, local development expertise and the long experience of the employees on site, as well as the highest manufacturing standards.
Committed to Commercial and Community Life
But Heinz-Dieter Schunk, with his knowledge and wealth of commercial experience, is not only committed to his own company: Among other things, he is a member of the main executive committee of the VDMA (German Engineering Federation), a member of the economic advisory committee of the Baden-Württemberg department of trade and industry, a member of the innovation advisory committee for the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and a member of the board of trustees of Beschützende Werkstätte Heilbronn (Sheltered Workshops Heilbronn).
Family Businessman with Heart and Soul
The fact that family and high-tech company are intrinsically linked with one another for Schunk is clearly demonstrated by the roles of both of Heinz-Dieter's children with his wife Katharina Schunk. After receiving in-depth training, both his son Henrik and his daughter Kristina have now taken on an multitude of managerial functions at the family-run global player. So the clamping technology and automation pioneer's future is in safe hands.
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