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As Chairman of the Board of the trade association, Jan Drömer represents more than 250 German and European member companies from the fields of automated guided vehicles, industrial trucks, cranes and hoists, warehouse technology and continuous conveyors. "Companies are facing major challenges. Economic and political uncertainties as well as bureaucratic hurdles are blocking many aspects of day-to-day business. Having a strong voice as an industry association is more important than ever and I am delighted to be able to lead and represent the trade association on behalf of many German and European intralogistics providers," emphasizes Jan Drömer on taking office. TThe 44-year-old has been a member of the Executive Board since 2018 in the then newly founded Automated Guided Vehicles department and succeeds Steffen Bersch, who has resigned from his position when he left SSI Schäfer.
Despite the current domestic and foreign policy situations, the new Chairman also sees development opportunities for the intralogistics and conveyor technology sectors: "Despite all the obstacles, we must not forget to look at the potential for the industry. Manufacturing-X also offers an exciting field of activity for companies in the intralogistics and conveyor technology sectors. With my professional background in trade association work, I can hopefully set the course here."
About VDMA
The VDMA represents 3600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and medium-sized businesses. The companies employ a total of around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. It accounts for an estimated turnover of around 860 billion euros in the European Union. Around 80 percent of the machines sold in the EU come from a production facility in the internal market.
About ek robotics
ek robotics is one of the world's leading manufacturers and system integrators of innovative high-tech transport robotics for production and warehouse logistics. At five locations worldwide (Hamburg, Germany, headquarters), Reutlingen (Germany), Milan (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic) and Buckingham (UK), the transport robotics specialist with over 300 employees creates intelligent, networked and flexible transport solutions for the fully automated, internal material flow of its globally active customers. For more than 60 years, ek robotics has been setting new standards in the automation industry and benefits from decades of experience in the development, production, integration and turnkey delivery of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). With convincing support throughout the entire AGV life cycle, the AGV pioneer continues to assist its global customers even decades after commissioning.
