At the Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers Association (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, VDMA) Robotics + Automation Members' Assembly, the members of the Automated Solutions sector group elected a new board. Jörg Kipper, managing director of Festo, was reappointed as chairman of sector group, following his previous term of office.
“The Automated Solutions division offers our member companies an excellent platform for international exchange and therefore provides a significant competitive advantage,” said Kipper after his re-election as chairman. “Especially in these challenging times, collaboration across industries is extremely important. With our dedicated board, we want to encourage this cooperation and develop solutions for the required transformation. We are convinced that Europe as a business location has enormous potential, and its diversity is one of its greatest strengths that must be utilized.”
The new board of VDMA Automated Solutions thanked Frank Konrad, who will remain on the board of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association and on the VDMA executive board. Cornelia Püschel, who has been an active member of the Automated Solutions Board for 15 years, was also thankee. “We are delighted that she can continue to contribute her experience to the VDMA Robotics + Automation board and the VDMA executive board,” said Bernd Heitzmann, director, VDMA Automated Solutions. “In addition, the board looks forward to a productive and successful collaboration with the newly elected members, Tony Arquisch, Jörg Kilb and Christopher Pavel.”
The executive board of the sector group for 2024-2027 includes:
- Tony Arquisch, head of corporate development, Asyril
- Thomas Ernst, managing director, PIA Automation
- Jörg Kilb, COO, Hahn Automation Group
- Jörg Kipper, managing director, Festo Vertrieb
- Ralph Lehleuter, geschäftsführender, Gesellschafter MAFU
- Jürgen Noailles, geschäftsführer, Stein Automation
- Christopher Pavel, geschäftsführer, Rhein-Nadel Automation
- Enno Scharphuis, senior vice president, business unit, assembly technology, Bosch Rexroth
Integrated Assembly Solutions becomes Automated Solutions
The new sector group name Automated Solutions was officially announced at the 2024 Robotics + Automation Members' Assembly. The board of former Integrated Assembly Solutions had already decided to change the name last summer to better reflect the ongoing development of the sector group in the field of complex automated solutions. The change of name underlines the growing diversity of the member companies, which include not only component suppliers but also system manufacturers. Originally specializing in manual assembly and handling technology, the area of automated solutions is now being developed and complemented at the same time. This reflects the clear shift toward increasingly automated solutions in assembly and handling technology.
