Umicore: New Managing Director for Business Line Electroplating

For 22 years Thomas Engert successfully led the fortunes of the renowned specialist for electroplated (precious) metal coatings and associated electrodes and now, after 39 years with Umicore, he is handing over the helm to the previous head of technical sales. With his many years of experience at Umicore and in the industry, he will ensure that the company's jointly developed goals are achieved, according to the company. Herkommer, born in 1968, studied at Aalen University of Applied Sciences and completed a master's degree at the University of Manchester. He gained more than a decade of professional experience at various companies in Germany and abroad before joining Umicore as a sales engineer in January 2005. Later, as Head of Strategic Business Development, he was able to help determine the course of the Electroplating business line before taking over responsibility for technical sales and, consequently, the product portfolio in 2014. Commenting on his ideas for the Electroplating Business Line as the new Managing Director, he explains, "I have many plans, but I want continuous change in order to implement them sustainably. Employees, service providers and partners should be able to contribute." Of course there will be tangible changes, he continues, but he is not afraid of that for one reason in particular: "We are capable of development. We - and by that I mean first and foremost our qualified employees with their expertise, experience and established networks - have proven that time and again. Incidentally, this ability to evolve is also the decisive point why I decided to take on the task of managing director."

Herkommer has been involved in sales at most stages of his career. That's why he intends to continue focusing on a high level of customer orientation in order to identify new industry requirements at an early stage. He sees customers as partners. For him, close cooperation is the key to understanding and meeting future market needs. "This is the only way to be successful and to develop each other further," says Herkommer. The broad product portfolio for technical and decorative applications is to be retained in any case, but it is to be specifically adapted to market changes and current challenges through innovations. One example of this is a newly developed electrolyte that meets the demand for high-performance yet durable charging contacts for electric cars. The expansion into products and processes for the semiconductor market also demonstrates the continuous and forward-looking evolutionary capability. In this way, Umicore Metal Deposition Solutions should remain crisis-proof and still be able to meet the challenges of the volatile electronics market.