Günter Kech steered VEGA for decades. Now he says goodbye and begins his well-deserved retirement.
The measurement technology pioneer retires
Managing Director Günter Kech plays a key role in forging VEGA’s success
He knows VEGA down to the smallest detail and has shaped the level and pressure instrument maker from Schiltach like no other: After more than 50 years with the company, including 25 years in management, Günter Kech is retiring on 31 December 2024. Looking back on a remarkable career.
Schiltach. When a man like Günter Kech announces his retirement, he deserves to say goodbye from an enormous stage. 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 longstanding associates in the company. Be it the first measuring instruments based on ultrasonic technology, which Günter Kech was involved in developing in the 1970s. Or the world’s first two-wire radar instrument, which caused a sensation in 1997 and laid the foundation for the company’s leading market position. Also revolutionary on the market: the plics® platform, which was introduced in 2003. As an innovative modular system, it standardised the operation of all measuring principles.
The top priority: Making everything easier for the user
Inherent in all these developments was the endeavour that still characterises VEGA today and which Günter Kech played a decisive role in achieving: maximum simplicity for the user. The best example of this is the VEGAPULS 6X, a level sensor for practically all applications. Now on the market for two years, it makes selecting the right sensor much easier. What motivated Günter Kech all these years? It must have been his unbridled curiosity and immense internal drive. “You were one of the most curious people at VEGA,” said managing partner Isabel Grieshaber. Kech always wanted to know what was going on and strived constantly to make things that were already good even better.
Getting to the bottom of things
This is also reflected in the various positions that Günter Kech occupied during his career at VEGA – as a developer, as an initiator of product management, as head of sales or as a programmer and mastermind of the company’s own CRM system, which he pursued with a passion. 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 make the best of every situation. With this attitude, he played a significant role in the successful development of the sensor technology maker. When he started his apprenticeship in 1971, VEGA had just 75 employees; today, the globally active company employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.
Solid as a rock
Throughout his career, Günter Kech never forgot that it’s the people who make VEGA what it is: “I’ve always seen myself as a direction setter, decision-maker and service provider for all of my coworkers,” he explained. Qualities that Isabel Grieshaber also highlighted 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 senior management as a duo in the future, she has found a counterpart “with whom I have good vibes, fortunately as good as with you,” she said to Günter Kech. “But you will be greatly missed in our trio.”
Time for the family
“I've worked hard, invested a lot of my life in VEGA and have been richly rewarded by the successes I experienced,” said Günter Kech, looking back and letting his passion for the instrumentation manufacturer shine through. But now he’s looking forward to handing over responsibility and “to having more time for my family.” He concluded his speech by thanking his long-time associates, people who had a special influence on him during his time at VEGA, and all the employees: “Thank you to everyone who worked with me on VEGA’s success. It wasn’t just me, it was teamwork that made it happen.” In return, they expressed their appreciation with several minutes of applause.
He knows VEGA down to the smallest detail and has shaped the level and pressure instrument maker from Schiltach like no other: After more than 50 years with the company, including 25 years in management, Günter Kech is retiring on 31 December 2024. Looking back on a remarkable career.
Schiltach. When a man like Günter Kech announces his retirement, he deserves to say goodbye from an enormous stage. 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 longstanding associates in the company. Be it the first measuring instruments based on ultrasonic technology, which Günter Kech was involved in developing in the 1970s. Or the world’s first two-wire radar instrument, which caused a sensation in 1997 and laid the foundation for the company’s leading market position. Also revolutionary on the market: the plics® platform, which was introduced in 2003. As an innovative modular system, it standardised the operation of all measuring principles.
The top priority: Making everything easier for the user
Inherent in all these developments was the endeavour that still characterises VEGA today and which Günter Kech played a decisive role in achieving: maximum simplicity for the user. The best example of this is the VEGAPULS 6X, a level sensor for practically all applications. Now on the market for two years, it makes selecting the right sensor much easier. What motivated Günter Kech all these years? It must have been his unbridled curiosity and immense internal drive. “You were one of the most curious people at VEGA,” said managing partner Isabel Grieshaber. Kech always wanted to know what was going on and strived constantly to make things that were already good even better.
Getting to the bottom of things
This is also reflected in the various positions that Günter Kech occupied during his career at VEGA – as a developer, as an initiator of product management, as head of sales or as a programmer and mastermind of the company’s own CRM system, which he pursued with a passion. 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 make the best of every situation. With this attitude, he played a significant role in the successful development of the sensor technology maker. When he started his apprenticeship in 1971, VEGA had just 75 employees; today, the globally active company employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.
Solid as a rock
Throughout his career, Günter Kech never forgot that it’s the people who make VEGA what it is: “I’ve always seen myself as a direction setter, decision-maker and service provider for all of my coworkers,” he explained. Qualities that Isabel Grieshaber also highlighted 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 senior management as a duo in the future, she has found a counterpart “with whom I have good vibes, fortunately as good as with you,” she said to Günter Kech. “But you will be greatly missed in our trio.”
Time for the family
“I've worked hard, invested a lot of my life in VEGA and have been richly rewarded by the successes I experienced,” said Günter Kech, looking back and letting his passion for the instrumentation manufacturer shine through. But now he’s looking forward to handing over responsibility and “to having more time for my family.” He concluded his speech by thanking his long-time associates, people who had a special influence on him during his time at VEGA, and all the employees: “Thank you to everyone who worked with me on VEGA’s success. It wasn’t just me, it was teamwork that made it happen.” In return, they expressed their appreciation with several minutes of applause.
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Wednesday, December 18, 2024
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