Measurement technology pioneer retires
Managing Director Günter Kech has steered the fortunes of VEGA for decades. Now he is retiring.
He knows VEGA down to the smallest detail and has shaped the manufacturer of level and pressure measurement technology from Schiltach like no other: after more than 50 years with the company, including 25 years in management, Günter Kech will retire on 31 December 2024. Looking back on a remarkable career.
Schiltach. When a man like Günter Kech announces his retirement, he deserves the big stage to say goodbye. The VEGA Christmas party with around 1,100 employees and many invited guests of honour provided a worthy setting for the occasion.
Measurement technology revolutionised
Even a whole evening is not enough ‘to do justice to the work you have done for VEGA’, emphasised Elfriede Rauber and Edgar Schillinger, two of Kech’s long-time companions in the company. Be it the first instruments with ultrasonic measurement technology, which Günter Kech was involved in developing in the 1970s. Or the development of the world’s first radar two-wire instrument, which caused a sensation for VEGA in 1997 and laid the foundation for the company’s market leadership. Also revolutionary on the market: the introduction of the plics® platform in 2003, an innovative modular system that standardised the operation of all measuring principles.
Top priority: Simplicity for the user
All of these developments were characterised by the endeavour that still distinguishes VEGA today and that Günter Kech played a decisive role in shaping: maximum simplicity for the user. The best example of this is the VEGAPULS 6X, a level sensor for all applications in equal measure. It has been on the market for two years and makes choosing the right sensor much easier. What has motivated Günter Kech over the years? It must have been his own huge drive. ‘You were one of the most inquisitive people at VEGA,’ said Managing Partner Isabel Grieshaber. Kech always wanted to know what was going on and was always striving to make what was good even better.
Getting to the bottom of things
This can also be seen in the various positions that Günter Kech has held during his career at VEGA - whether as a developer, in setting up product management, as head of sales or in his passion as a programmer and mastermind of the company’s own CRM system and, last but not least, as part of the management team, of which he has been a member since 1999: He always wanted to get to the bottom of things and get the best out of every situation. With this attitude, he has played a key role in the successful development of the measurement technology manufacturer. At the beginning of his apprenticeship in 1971, VEGA had just 75 employees; today, the globally active company employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.
A rock in the surf
Throughout his career, Günter Kech has never forgotten that it is the people who make VEGA what it is: ‘I have always seen myself as a guiding light, decision-maker and service provider for the employees,’ he explained. Characteristics that Isabel Grieshaber also emphasised in her very personal laudatory speech: ‘You were always honest, always straightforward - and you were my rock in every situation.’ In Markus Kniesel, with whom Isabel Grieshaber will share the management as a duo in future, she has found a counterpart ‘with whom the vibes are fortunately as good as with you’, she said in the direction of Günter Kech - ‘even though you will be missing from our trio’.
Time for the family
‘I have worked hard, invested a lot of my life in VEGA and have been more than rewarded by the successes,’ said Günter Kech, looking back and flashing his passion for the measurement technology manufacturer many times. Now, however, he is looking forward to handing over responsibility and ‘having more time for my family’. He concluded his speech by thanking long-time companions, people who had a special influence on him during his time at VEGA and all employees: ‘Thank you to everyone who worked with me on VEGA’s success. It wasn’t just me, it was teamwork.’ In return, they expressed their appreciation with minutes of applause.
