Well-deserved retirement after 40 years

Eckard Herb, man of the first hour, has brought the company forward in many ways and has been instrumental in making it one of the leading industrial companies in the mold making industry. Although retired for one year, he was officially dismissed on 19/04/2018 during the Technology Day of the Braunform GmbH at the evening event in a winery in the region in the circle of colleagues and customers, the management and the owner family of the company.

Eckard Herb began his professional career in 1977 with the newly founded company Braunform GmbH of family Erich and Elke Braun from Bahlingen. The contact to the owner Erich Braun had come about by chance over private ways. "I was immediately convinced that the young company would be successful, but first I wanted to get a picture of it," says Eckard Herb.

The company has grown steadily and with it the areas of responsibility of the tool mechanics of the first hour. And so Eckard Herb, who had started as a toolmaker, eventually found himself responsible for the assembly department. Back in the early 1980s, many pilot tools were built for a customer in the automotive industry for whom temporary design drawings were made. "I put the product drawing on the drawing board and drew the mold insert around the part – with pencil.", so Herb with a mischievous smile. "Unthinkable today. Today, everything is constructed using professional 3D CAD systems", he adds. Years later, Herb moved to Technical Sales and then took over the Technical Management of the Mold Shop of Braunform GmbH.

As an authorized officer and technical director as well as with his sure instinct for the technically possible, as some patents show, Eckard Herb was involved in almost all decisions regarding strategies, innovations, production techniques and process safety. Company founder Erich Braun describes Eckard Herb as a companion, in good times as well as in bad times. Eckard Herb has passed on his knowledge to many young colleagues throughout his career. "Especially for the second generation in the company, he has always been an important contact person," says Pamela Braun, owner and management. The management, colleagues and customers of Braunform GmbH wish Eckard Herb all the best and a lot of fun in his retirement.