Bonding - More than materials | Herrmann Ultraschall

REPEAT OFFENDER am passing on my experi- ence to the young talents in design. What has never changed over the years is my fascination for ultrasonic technology. Sharing this enthusiasm, our “ultrasonic excitement,” with the customers is one of my greatest joys. I was hired in 1990 as a project engineer to work for Herrmann Ultraschall in the USA. Together with my wife, I wanted to venture the move to America. However, things didn’t quite work out that way, Letter of a professed engineer: passion for technology Now I look back on 30 years with the company and am amazed about the development of the com- pany into a global player. I have held various managerial positions in design, development, product management, and marketing and have made a key contribution to shaping the product portfolio of our series machines, systems, and modules. In partic- ular the modular design principle and the repeat part strategy – do the same thing the same way – were and are my “babies.” Now, I and I stayed to support the company’s burgeoning internationalization from Karlsbad. At the start of the 1990s, the company was in a sort of identity crisis: are we a machine builder that uses ultrasonics or an ultra- sonic developer that builds machines? The latter was the right path. Focused on ultrasonic welding technol- ogy, we regularly presented our new developments at international trade shows. Yes, we have always been one step ahead of our com- petition in terms of innova- tion, which has also led to our reputation of being the technological leader. But the gaps between us and the competition are getting smaller, and the quantum leaps are becoming more challenging. Maintaining our competitive edge must be the motivation for the future. Speaking of trade shows, to this day, we still serve our legendary ultrasonically-mixed cocktail at these events – according to legend, the copyrights E veryone onto a bus and off to the Palatinate for some wine tasting. That was how we set out on a company outing 30 years ago when I started out at Herrmann Ultraschall – a family business in the truest sense of the word. The boss and his wife at the front, then us. Ingeborg Herrmann mixing the legendary ultrasonic cocktail with the power of ultrasonics at the K-Messe in 1974. Volker Aust loves his job and has been at it for three decades. He loves thinking back to and reminiscing about the developments at Herrmann – and give a few inside scoops. are held by senior boss Ingeborg Herrmann. In addition to welding plastic parts, we estab- lished new business areas. At the end of the 1980s, the PACKAGING business unit was created, a special target market for sealing packaging materials. As a young engineer, I had the chance to learn at a renowned drinks bottler what happens when a juice bag is not tightly welded as sticky orange juice dripped from the high shelf onto my neck. Lesson learned: tight means 100% tight! 99.9% is simply not enough. Then came our third business unit NONWOVENS in the mid-1990s, from which we are particularly benefiting now in time of COVID. Here, the focus is on bonding nonwovens, for ex- ample, for making diapers and face masks. When I think back to how the very first modules literally blew up in our faces during the continuous welding … but all beginnings are hard, as is well known. Speaking of beginnings, the latest addition to the family is our fourth business unit METALS for welding nonfer- rous metals, for applications such as making lithium-ion batteries. Its beginning was heralded with many good ideas and at Productronica in Munich in 2017. The only thing we were missing at the show booth were the actual ultrasonic welding machines to do all this. So, trying to inspire customers without a finished product? A new dimension! And what should I say? It worked. Our METALS start- up is shaping up to become trend-setting international business area. But my absolute personal highlight was our AMG generator roadshow from summer 2016 to spring 2017. Four continents, 11 countries, 78 presenta- tions, hundreds of enthu- siastic faces. With a demo case specially developed for this one purpose, I trav- eled the world and present- ed our latest development. Supported by many won- derful sales colleagues, I experienced a true ad- venture, as well as many challenges. For example, I learned how to “speed up” the customs clearance process in Argentina, why the audience in China sat in the meeting room with thick winter coats and fur caps while I froze my butt off in my summer suit, or that in Brazil a factory hall roof does not necessarily provide much protection when tropical rain comes, for which reason it would have been good if I had put a few drainage boreholes in the demo case. Well, if anyone wants to find out more – we can always meet up for a coffee in one of our many “com- munication & coffee” areas. Oh yeah, I have not even introduced myself yet: My name is Volker Aust. I am a senior expert in the area of development, construction, and product design. My passion? Ultrasonics and our company. 105 104