Assured succession at the RAMPF Group
“I am proud and pleased to have found my successors inside the company", Rudolf Rampf reported today at a press conference. The change of generations at the RAMPF Group in Grafenberg has now been completed. Since 1st January 2008, Matthias Rampf and Horst Bader will strengthen the board of management of the reactive resin systems manufacturer.
The changeover of the generations has been successfully completed in the RAMPF Group in Grafenberg. In the picture (from left to right): Michael Rampf, Rudolf Rampf, Eva-Marion Rampf, Horst Bader, Matthias Rampf.
Rudolf Rampf and Eva-Marion Rampf (front right in the picture) can lean back and relax. The future of their company is assured. At the back in the picture (from left to right.): Michael Rampf, Horst Bader and Matthias Rampf.
“According to ifm Bonn, succession at approximately 70,000 German companies is pending every year. In many cases - experts at the DIHK estimate the companies affected to be approximately 43,000 - the choice is difficult. The children prefer to go their own ways and are not interested to continue the business. The sale of the company, in the worst case shutting it down with the loss of jobs, seems imminent. You cannot believe how happy I am not to have to share this fate", explained Rudolf Rampf. The president of the RAMPF Group officially presented his new manage-ment team to the press today. The changeover of the generations is a huge challenge, which has to be well prepared. After all, it is a matter of preserving a life-time's achievement, the 63-year-old pointed out - also in his case. Rudolf Rampf and his wife Eva-Marion founded "RAMPF Kunststoffsysteme GmbH" in Grafenberg between Stuttgart and Reutlingen in 1980. The registered offices of the company were located at the old Grafenberg gymnasium. During the day, Rudolf Rampf mixed the first polyurethane casting resins by hand, at night the laboratory technician developed new products. His wife delivered the products and managed the office. In the meantime, the name Rampf stands for an international group of com-panies with approximately 400 employees (2006: 350), six operating companies and three foreign subsidiaries in the USA, Japan and China. The main focus of activities is the production of polyurethane and epoxy resins, as well as the construction of dispensing and conveyor equipment as well as of machine beds made of mineral casting.
On 1st January 2008, the president handed over responsibly for the business to his successors. In future, he will only be active in the background as chairman of the board of management. The owning family had already made a first step in the direc-tion of company succession in 2005. At that time, Michael Rampf, the older son of the company founder, joined the management of the holding company (RAMPF Holding GmbH & Co. KG). Since then, the 33-year-old is responsible as managing partner for the sales and marketing, quality management, IT, security and personnel divisions of the Group. The qualified graduate of business administration will now be supported by his younger brother Matthias Rampf and Horst Bader, previously managing director of RAMPF Giessharze GmbH & Co. KG.
Matthias Rampf (30) is responsible as acting partner for the research and develop-ment, technology, production as well as service divisions. The younger son of the senior partner has been active within the RAMPF Group since 2005. After his traineeship as a chemical laboratory assistant and following business management studies in Germany and the USA, he took over the executive management position of the Japanese subsidiary office in Osaka.
Horst Bader (44) takes over the responsibility as managing director for the finance, controlling and strategic purchasing divisions. The business administration graduate (School of Applied Sciences) and certified management accountant has worked in different functions at the RAMPF Group since 1988, the last being as managing director of RAMPF Giessharze GmbH & Co. KG in Grafenberg. Before that he was employed in the food industry.
“I am convinced that the new team at the head of our family business will continue to operate in my interests and that of my wife”, stated Rudolf Rampf during the press conference. “All three have gained their experience in different positions and have proven themselves, not just in a professional sense but also from a human point of view. And this makes me particularly happy. In our company fair treatment is given a top priority.”
Under the direction of Rudolf Rampf, the RAMPF Group has developed to become one of the leading manufacturers of reaction resins, machine beds, dosing and automation plant, as well as recycling solutions. From the "two-man business", the chemist from Augsburg has now built up a company which offers made-to-measure solutions. In the past few years, the Group has achieved a healthy, double-digit turnover growth in sales annually. For the current financial year, which ends on 30th June, 2008, the group of companies is aiming for consolidated sales of 85 million Euros.
Press Release_Assured Succession