Arburg: Senior partner Eugen Hehl dies

Eugen Hehl - (Photo: Arburg).

Eugen Hehl, Senior Partner of Arburg GmbH + Co KG, passed away on 12 December at the age of 94. In addition to his entrepreneurial vision, the trained master mechanical engineer was characterised above all by his contributions to the development of Arburg's worldwide sales and the company's construction infrastructure, as well as his great social commitment to and in the region. Today, the family-owned company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of machines for plastics processing.

As Chairman of the Management Board for many years and responsible for Arburg's worldwide sales, Eugen Hehl has played a significant role in the company's global success. Technically trained, but with a keen instinct for sales in particular, he played a decisive role in shaping the family business for more than seven decades in congenial co-operation with his brother Karl, who died in November 2010. With his ideas and constructive solutions, he gave the company an unmistakable face worldwide. As Managing Partner, Eugen Hehl was the "master builder of the company" in both senses of the word and played a key role in the global success of the family business.

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Building up global sales structures
In 1951, Eugen Hehl began to build up his own, initially regional, sales structures by travelling extensively. As early as 1957, he took the company's sales organisation to an international level with its first trade fair participation in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As early as 1962, Eugen Hehl travelled to Japan and the USA to further promote machine sales.

From the very beginning, the ambitious hunter, early sportsman and tea drinker was focussed on detail and single-mindedly drove forward the construction activities at the main factory and in the successively established Arburg branches around the world. With foresight, he had two to four-year-old buildings in Lossburg partially demolished in 1966 in order to enable a so-called grid development and thus better expansion possibilities on the company premises in the future. The exterior design of many of the Arburg branches around the world is similar to that of the main plant and is therefore clearly recognisable.

Great social commitment
Eugen Hehl was held in high esteem both personally and professionally at Arburg, in his home town of Lossburg and far beyond the region. Together with his brother Karl, Eugen Hehl was also known for his great social commitment. The two of them built the Gebrüder Hehl-Stift in Lossburg, which officially opened in 1999. The senior citizens' residence, which is run by the Diakonie social welfare organisation, offers assisted living, short-term care and care for the elderly. Eugen Hehl was also involved in church activities, including the church choir of the Protestant parish of Lossburg.

Excellent achievements
The Federal Republic of Germany awarded Eugen Hehl the Federal Cross of Merit for his services in November 2000. He was also awarded the Business Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg in 1990 and the Baden-Württemberg Competence Prize for Innovation and Quality in 2015. Further honours include honorary citizenship of the municipality of Lossburg in November 1997 and the Golden Master Craftsman's Certificate in 2005. The American Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) presented Eugen and Karl Hehl with the Business Management Award for their joint life's work in 2007. Eugen Hehl was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2015 for his life's work. In 2020, the senior partner received the highest award of the Association of German Engineers (VDI), the Richard Vieweg Medal of Honour.

More information: www.arburg.com

Arburg GmbH + Co KG, Loßburg, Germany

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