Verena Hebgen, who has been with Vecoplan for 25 years, and Markus Heidrich and Dieter Brado, who have each been with the company for 40 years, were thanked for their long service. Detlef Schwarz, Benno Heidrich and Uwe Klöckner were wished all the best in their retirement. Let’s get to know them a little better.
Verena Hebgen initially trained as a draftsperson, but there was something missing: computers, software, IT. She applied for an internal position as a CAD administrator in the IT department, and today she is a project manager responsible for implementing the new ERP system, and the head of the IT application software team. Markus Heidrich was also honoured for his long service to the company. His goal? He wants to make it to 50 years. He is a metalworker by trade and quickly rose to the rank of foreman. He knows a lot about project planning. Dieter Brado is known for his remarkable versatility. He, too, is a metalworker by trade. He has experience as a foreman and in project planning. He has worked on an installation site with one of the company’s founders and was part of the internal and external service teams.
For almost 27 years, Detlef Schwarz “hit the road” for Vecoplan. As an assembly specialist, he has had some impressive experiences throughout his career. He has worked on projects in the Netherlands and the USA, and, most recently, he was in charge of the assembly/service tool magazine. Uwe Klöckner’s colleagues know him as a man of action. He was a fleet manager, helped manage the construction of a new assembly hall at the main site and always jumped in when there was something to fix. In addition to all of that, over the span of his 30-year-and-two-month career, he travelled between five and eight kilometres a day. Multiplied by 200 working days a year, that adds up to a total distance of between 30,000 and 48,000 kilometres! To put that in perspective, the Earth’s circumference is 40,000 kilometres.
“Constructive disruption” is how Dirk Müller, head of the Wood I Biomass division, describes former employee Benno Heidrich’s ability to always find the right customer solution. In his 43 years at Vecoplan, Heidrich, who has a flair for technology, worked not only in sales but also as technical manager of plant engineering, as a project manager and, finally, as head of applications technology. After just one year at Vecoplan, he already had 58 business trips under his belt.
Vecoplan celebrated the six guests of honour at a dinner at Steig-Alm in Bad Marienberg at the end of January. Board members Werner Berens and Ina Hannen, works council chair Rainer Uhr and the respective department heads also attended. “Each and every employee contributes to the success of our company,” said Ina Hannen. “They are the foundation of Vecoplan AG.” Werner Berens added: “It means a lot to us that people remain loyal to our company for so long. That is rare in this day and age.”
