Obituary: Arthur Handtmann
Arthur Handtmann, president of the advisory board of the Handtmann Group of Companies, passed away at the age of 91 on 14th April surrounded by his family.
Arthur Handtmann has passed away at the age of 91.
Many of those acquainted by Arthur have described him as “open to new ideas”, “inquisitive” and “extremely approachable”.
Born in Biberach, Germany, in 1927 to a Swabian father and English mother, Arthur was said to be extremely respected by local and non-native employees, by his business partners in Germany and abroad, and by numerous people he came into contact with.
After being called up to the military and time spent as a prisoner of war, Arthur joined his parents’ business in 1947.He was the third generation of his family to work at Handtmann and the mechanical engineer transformed it from a small brass foundry into an international group of companies.
During his time as managing director from 1950 to 1998, the workforce increased from 56 to 1,500 employees and sales rose from DM 350,000 to DM 250 million. Building was his passion and under his leadership a number of new plants and buildings were constructed.
Arthur’s approach to business areas was based on diversity and today the Handtmann group comprises light metal casting, systems engineering, filling and portioning systems, process technology and plastics engineering.
In 1998 Arthur handed over the management of the group of companies to his son Thomas. However, he stayed on as president and the company continued to grow. Now, in 2018, Handtmann has 3,600 employees worldwide at its 13 locations and recorded sales of €800 million in the previous fiscal year.
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