The Munich family entrepreneur Karl Haeusgen — grandson of Karl Heilmeier, one of two HAWE co-founders — has been elected as the new VDMA President for the next four years by the General Assembly of the VDMA in Wiesbaden. He succeeds Carl Martin Welcker (Alfred H. Schütte GmbH & Co. KG), who has held the office since 2016 and could not be re-elected. Haeusgen is Chairman of the Supervisory Board and co-owner of HAWE Hydraulik SE, based in Aschheim in the district of Munich.
“First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Welcker for his dedicated work in the past years,” said Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier. “I congratulate Mr. Haeusgen on his election. I am looking forward to our cooperation and exchange of ideas to strengthen the competitiveness of the mechanical and plant engineering industry and thus the industry in Germany and Europe.”
Haeusgen born in 1966, is married and has three children. After studying business administration in St. Gallen, Switzerland, he worked as an assistant to the Executive Board in the area of materials management at MAHO AG, Pfronten and at Barmag Far East Ltd, Hong Kong, a subsidiary of the then German textile machinery manufacturer Barmag AG. Subsequently, Haeusgen held various positions at HAWE where he was responsible for sales, marketing, corporate development, quality and organization. From 1996 to 2019, he was a member of the management board and speaker of the board of HAWE Hydraulik SE.
HAWE Hydraulics SE specializes in hydraulic power units, valves, sensors and accessories used in more than 70 industrial sectors. Matched electronic components and software expertise complement the modular system. HAWE employs around 2,490 people in 18 countries; the turnover in 2019 was 411 million euros.
Haeusgen has been involved in the VDMA for many years; he is a member of the Restricted Board and the Main Board of the VDMA. From 2008 to 2014, he was Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Bavaria. Since 2013 he has been Vice President of the VDMA.
Henrik Schunk elected (born 1972) was appointed to the office of Vice President. He has been VDMA Vice President since June 2018 and was already strongly involved in the association before: from 2009 to 2012 as a member of the Executive Board of VDMA Robotics Automation and since 2013 as a member of the VDMA Main Executive Board. Since 2002, Schunk has been a managing partner and since 2010 CEO of the automation specialist Schunk GmbH & Co KG, based in Lauffen am Neckar.
Newly elected as Vice President is Bertram Kawlath (born 1970), managing partner of the Schubert & Salzer Group. Kawlath is a member of the main board of the VDMA as well as member of the board and vice chairman of the VDMA in Bavaria. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the VDMA Impulse Foundation. The Schubert & Salzer Group, headquartered in Ingolstadt, produces in Germany. Its core business areas are the development and sale of measurement and control technology solutions for flowing and gaseous media, the production of steel investment castings for customers in mechanical and vehicle engineering, and the development and sale of ERP systems for medium-sized companies.
