Jubilee Celebration 2023
Kurtz Ersa honors 47 company anniversaries
In mid-September, the Kurtz Ersa Group held its annual jubilee celebration at Bronnbach Abbey for the third time. The festively decorated Bernhard Hall of the former Cistercian abbey provided the festive setting to honor 47 company anniversaries for their many years of loyalty to the company. In addition to the management, members and shareholders also took part in the event.
The following were honored for ten years of service: Ulli Behner, Nicolai Böhrer, Fabian Diehm, Tom Kühlinger, Elisa Rüppel, Christin Wolz and Rafael Zwiesler (all Ersa GmbH). Marco Behl and Stefan Schöffer (both Kurtz GmbH & Co. KG), Artur Eine and Florian Helfenstein (both Kurtz Ersa Logistik GmbH), Elaine Sandvoß and Torsten Schwab (Kurtz Holding GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs KG) and Said Magdi (Kurtz Ersa Automation GmbH) were also invited to the stage for ten years. The following Ersa employees have reached 15 years of service: Stephan Beck, Dennis Brick, Anneliese Fahle, Benedikt Schebler, Jörg Schneider, Fabian Schulze, Jochen Seitz and Evelyn Wiegand – Rudolf Richter (Kurtz) and Ulrich Dosch from Kurtz Ersa Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong, who could not be present in person, were also honored. Eduard Oleinikow (Automation) and Alexander Trippel (Ersa) have been with the company for two decades.
For 25 years of cooperation, a whole dozen each received an IHK certificate: Uwe Ackermann, joined Kurtz GmbH on 01.09.1998, Dipl.-Ing. Mechanical Engineering DHBW with a thesis on “Safety concept for moulding machines”, from May 2010 Head of Sales Support and 2015 Head of Project Department Particle Foam Machines, currently Head of Order Center, appreciated for organizational and communication skills. Matthias Dänecke, started at Kurtz GmbH on 07.01.1998 as a painter and for general locksmith work, became in the course of time the “boss” of the job site, where the machine frames were prepared for painting. Currently, the always reliable employee works in the assembly department and continues to work at the job site. With Hakan Temiz, who joined the company as an apprentice tool mechanic for moulding technology on 01.09.1998, another Kurtz employee was honored for 25 years of service. Since 2005 Temiz has been active in quality assurance and as a skilled worker on several start-ups on assembly in Germany, Spain and Turkey.
On the Ersa side, there were half a dozen employees with 25 years: Mira Adelmann started her apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at Ersa on 01.09.1998, then worked as a sales clerk for soldering tools and is also active as an assistant to the head of internal sales. Sebastian Englert started at the same time as an apprentice as an industrial mechanic, was often on the road on assembly, from October 2006 warehouse clerk in spare parts dispatch and from 2012 deputy group leader goods receipt in Kurtz Logistics, before the change to Ersa as team leader plant logistics took place in March 2020.
Oliver Graf started as a temporary worker at Ersa on 01.05.1998 and was quickly taken over for the assembly of soldering machines and quality control – followed by group management and management of scheduling in the order center, from August 2014 the group management of production planning and since May 2022 the management of work preparation. Maria-Luise Grein, who joined the Kurtz Ersa Group on 15.09.1998 as an internal sales representative for soldering tools, has been the Kurtz Ersa Group´s foreign trade and customs officer since 2010 – prior to this, she was responsible for export tool sales (2001), foreign trade and customs at Ersa (2006) and export control at Ersa (2008). Udo Münkel was employed by Ersa from 01.08.1998, initially as an external employee, before he was taken on as an industrial mechanic in the assembly of soldering systems and their subassemblies – thanks to his precise working methods, Münkel is universally applicable in the field of electronics production. Uwe Spielmann, joined the aluminum foundry of Kurtz GmbH on January 12, 1998, after more than 12 years at Metallbearbeitung Wertheim (MBW) moved to Ersa, where the industrial mechanic has been assembling Ersa POWERFLOW wave soldering machines since December 2017.
Eckhard-Heinz Ruff, hired on October 15, 1998 as a warehouse and shipping employee, was area manager for warehouse and shipping (2007) before being appointed head of logistics at Kurtz Ersa Automation GmbH from 2011 – since 2017, Ruff has also been responsible for training management in his area. Also celebrating 25 years is Christian Wolz, who was hired as an industrial mechanic on 01.04.1998 – after sub-area management in the assembly area (August 2007), Wolz rose to team leader assembly (February 2018). The last jubilarian with 25 years was Inge Ries, who learned office management at Ersa from September 1998. In July 2000, she moved to human resources, where Ries has since been responsible for travel expense accounting, time management, and retirees and anniversaries as a personnel administrator.
Already 35 years with the company are: Master machinist Udo Kirchner, who was appointed head of assembly for Kurtz special machines shortly after joining the company in November 1988 and is currently head of assembly for foundry machines and trimming presses. Joachim Kraft, Chairman of the Works Council since 2002 and Chairman of the Group Works Council, started as an industrial mechanic at Kurtz Maschinenfabrik with assembly assignments for standard and special machines. Before he was released from his duties as a works council member, Kraft, who is universally appreciated for his straightforwardness, open manner and tireless commitment to the employees, was active as a group leader and was in charge of the acceptance of machines at the test stand.
Peter Lehmann took up his position on 01.02.1988 as design engineer for Kurtz pre-expanders and material handling systems and was responsible for the sales regions Asia (from 2001) and America (from 2011). From 2015 Lehmann, since 01.07.2023 in partial retirement, was responsible for the project planning of particle foam machines and was appreciated by customers for his dedicated competence. Michael Schwab was hired as a machine fitter at Kurtz Maschinenfabrik on 03.10.1988 – this was followed by numerous assignments for assembly and commissioning for foundry machines, pre-expanders and trimming presses in Germany, France and Malaysia, where Schwab was able to reliably demonstrate his many years of experience. Jürgen Schlessmann, who started at Ersa as a machinist on Jan. 04, 1988, moved to MBW within the Kurtz Ersa Group in 1996, qualified there as a certified welder according to DIN EN 287-1 and worked in the bending department. At the end of 2017, Schlessmann switched back to Ersa, where he has since been active in assembly for component transport.
A whole professional life of 40 years have been spent in the Kurtz Ersa Group: Ulrike Duddek was hired on 01.04.1983 as a sales/machinery export clerk. At the beginning of 2005, Duddek moved to Sales Service/Machines before returning to her old position in October 2007 – as an indispensable link to her colleagues at Kurtz Ersa Asia. Tilo Keller has been loyal to Kurtz Ersa for 40 years – he joined Ersa on August 15, 1983 as an apprentice industrial clerk. During his apprenticeship, Keller was already in charge of the advertising department there and qualified further as a marketing specialist. In 2002, he began applying his extensive know-how to the holding company´s fledgling central communications department, which he headed for many years. Since July 2019, Keller has been playing a key role in shaping the external perception of the mechanical engineering company on an international level as Senior Manager Corporate Communication.
Only two Kurtz Ersa employees have been with the company even longer – 45 years: Waltraud Häfner began her training as an industrial clerk (Ersa) on August 1, 1978 – after successfully completing her training, she became secretary to the commercial manager, moved to work preparation in 1985, and in September 2005 to incoming goods in logistics. Currently, Häfner is responsible for booking the material flow as a clerk.
Jürgen Rüppel joined Kurtz GmbH on 01.09.1978 as a trainee machine fitter. In 1991 he passed the examination for industrial master craftsman – specialization metal, whereupon he was employed as master craftsman in the tool shop of the aluminum foundry, which he later managed. In the middle of 2008 he changed to the order center of the machine factory as dispatcher, since the beginning of 2023 Rüppel additionally took over the creation of production orders for the assembly preparation. The management thanked all those celebrating their jubilee for their tireless commitment to their company and emphasized that it was the dedication of the workforce that had made Kurtz Ersa what it is today: a global machine builder.
