The CEO of the tool manufacturer WEZAG GmbH & Co. KG, Thomas Glockseisen, was unanimously elected as the new chairman of the board at this year's FWI general meeting on June 15. The qualified engineer succeeds Michael Kleinbongartz, CEO of KUKKO-Werkzeugfabrik Kleinbongartz & Kaiser OHG, who is resigning his position after two terms of eight years in total.

"I warmly congratulate Thomas Glockseisen on his election and I am pleased that with him an entrepreneur who is highly recognized in the entire industry will lead the association," said the outgoing chairman Michael Kleinbongartz. “Together with the entire Board of Management, we have made the association future-proof over the past few years and focused on future fields such as digitization and sustainability. I am particularly pleased that we have successfully accompanied the transition to a new managing director and the introduction of new, innovative event formats during my term of office and that we have been able to win numerous new members.”

The new CEO, Thomas Glockseisen, thanked his predecessor for the successful management of the association and outlined his priorities for the next four years: “The support of a strong association is an important factor for the long-term success of our industry. In this respect, the further networking of our industry within the professional association and a strong representation of our interests vis-à-vis politics are top priorities for me. We want to continue to offer our members the best possible service on numerous company-related topics such as technology, sales and IT. "

In addition, Glockseisen sees the “Made in Germany” brand as an important unique selling proposition of the German manufacturers of hand tools in international competition. “Tools made in Germany stand for quality, reliability and also for the social responsibility of the companies producing here. We want to expand this brand core further in order to give tools made in Germany an optimal positioning on the market", Glockseisen continues.

Together with Glockseisen, Inga Bauer (Bauer & Böcker GmbH & Co. KG) and J. Wolfgang Kirchhoff (KIRCHHOFF Witte GmbH) were elected as deputy chairmen of the legal board.

In addition to the two previous chairmen Michael Kleinbongartz (KUKKO-Werkzeugfabrik Kleinbongartz & Kaiser OHG) and Matthias J. Hoffmann (HAZET-WERK Hermann Zerver GmbH & Co.KG), the following members were elected to the entire board: Andreas Hettich (HECO-Schrauben GmbH & Co. KG), Peter Kissling (MATADOR GmbH & Co. KG), Martin Pott (MPS Sägen GmbH), Ralf Putsch (KNIPEX-Werk C. Gustav Putsch KG), Alexa Schmitt-Kammer (Wilh. Schmitt & Comp. GmbH & Co. KG), Frank Simon (Picard GmbH), Thomas Bamberger (ROTHENBERGER Werkzeuge GmbH), Wilhelm Hahn (Wiha Werkzeuge GmbH), Jörg Hesse (August Rüggeberg GmbH & Co. KG PFERD-Werkzeuge) and Sebastian Schlipköter (MOZART AG ).

The term of office of the board is 4 years.

Around 110 tool and dowel manufacturers with production in Germany are organized at the FWI. The tool industry generated sales of over 4.7 billion euros in 2020 and employed more than 32,000 people.

Maintaining the wide variety of German manufacturers, designing fair competition and strengthening Germany’s production location are the main objectives of the association.

In addition, there are 50 extraordinary members of the FWI. These are industrial companies close to the tool and its distribution channels as well as service providers and foreign companies.

 

Contact:

Stefan Horst, Managing Director FWI
Elberfelder Str. 77
42853 Remscheid

Phone: 02191 438-21
Fax: 02191 438-79
E-Mail: stefan.horst@werkzeug.org

www.werkzeug.org
www.deutscheswerkzeug.de