Rudolf Rampf receives Enterprise Medal
Visibly elated, Rudolf Rampf received the Enterprise Medal of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg yesterday in the presence of his family in the New Castle in Stuttgart. Minister of Economics Ernst Pfister presented the medal with reference to the special business achievements of the 63-year-old. The entrepreneur from Grafenberg has built up a company, which is leading in the field of reaction resins worldwide, from a "two-man operation". Today, the RAMPF Group has 400 employees and six operating companies.
Rudolf Rampf (left) receiving the Enterprise Medal of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Thanks to his enormous personal commitment, RAMPF has developed to become a model employer amongst small to middle-sized companies in the region, according to Economics Minister Ernst Pfister.
Rudolf Rampf is accompanied by representatives of the region.
"To develop one’s own company is a lifetime achievement, which calls for a big commitment. The effort required not only costs money, but it takes a lot of courage and time", Rudolf Rampf summed up yesterday at the award ceremony of the Enterprise Medal. At the same time, the entrepreneur thanked his family, without the support of which it would not have been possible. His two sons, Michael and Matthias Rampf, have already taken over at the helm.
The senior partner remembers only too well the beginnings of his self-employment. The chemist took his first steps in 1969 in an auxiliary building of the bakery his father-in-law owned. The manufacture of household cleaners was only a sideline. Rudolf Rampf’s full-time occupation was in the development of industrial paints for the company Woerwag (Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen). After a further course of study in technical business administration, there followed five successful years as laboratory manager with Lechler Chemie (Bad Urach). After this, Rudolf Rampf decided to establish the "RAMPF Kuststoffsysteme GmbH (Plastic Systems) ". In the old Grafenberg gymnasium he developed the first casting resins in 1980. His wife Eva-Marion drove the products by truck to customers, accompanied by their sons on the passenger seat chewing on pretzels!
Today, 28 years later, the name RAMPF stands for a strong, international group of six companies. Companies for casting resins, tooling, Epucret, automation, dosing technology and ecosystems are united under the umbrella of the RAMPF Holding. Asia, the USA and Mexico belong besides Europe to the most important foreign markets for the specialist for reaction resins and mechanical engineering. On a worldwide basis, 400 employees work for the continued success of the enterprise.
Rudolf Rampf had not counted on such a positive development - the objective was to have ten employees at the most. But things came about differently. In 1996 the RAMPF Group was formed through the integration of the mineral casting specialist EPUCRET Polymer Technology. The RAMPF Tooling GmbH was founded in 2003 at the site in Grafenberg. In the second half of the year the companies Dosing Technology and Ecosystems were added - as well as the first foreign location, the RAMPF Group, Inc. in the USA. Two years later the establishment of the RAMPF Group Japan, K.K. followed in Osaka. The year 2006 brought a new member, the RAMPF Automation GmbH (Neumarkt/Austria). And success story goes on - in 2007 an industrial centre for mineral casting was built in China.
In the course of the integration of the different divisions, the company’s founder placed a particular emphasis on healthy growth. Over-hurried decisions were and still are not his way of doing business. The central focus is still firmly placed on re-active resin systems. The enterprises of the group have settled around this core business. They profit intensively from the resulting synergy effects. The balance speaks for itself: The RAMPF Group has developed under the direction of Rudolf Rampf to become one of the leading manufacturers of reaction resins, machine beds, dosing and automation plants, as well as recycling solutions. From the "two-man company", the chemist who originally came from Augsburg has created an innovative enterprise, which offers made-to-measure solutions. In the past several years the group was able to achieve a healthy, double-digit sales growth annually. For the current financial year, which ends on 30th June 2008, the company group is aiming for a consolidated turnover of 85 million Euros.
