IBAK bids farewell to Dr. Werner Hunger
After 40 years at the helm of IBAK Helmut Hunger GmbH & Co. KG, Dr. Werner Hunger retired from active professional life on December 23, 2022. He has handed over the responsibility for the family business to his sons Daniel and Dorian Hunger. They had already been working as co-directors with him since January 01, 2020 so they were able to jointly prepare for the gradual transition.
Dr. Werner Hunger joined the management in 1991 at the age of 41; he had already become part of his father's company nine years earlier. He began his career in the design aand development department and became its head in 1997. For 16 years he managed the company together with his older brother, until Herwig Hunger went into well-deserved retirement after 33 years of management. On December 23, 2022, Dr. Werner Hunger had his last active working day in the position of managing director. He will remain associated with IBAK as a shareholder and advisor. "As he now retires from active professional life at the age of 72, he can look back on several extremely successful decades. He is handing over a flourishing company with an outstanding team that is ideally positioned for the tasks ahead. His profound comprehension of his social responsibility towards the workforce was his outstanding feature. We wish him good health, happiness and fulfilment in his new fields of interest and activities," says IBAK senior executive Karsten Bauer.
Focus on sewer technology
IBAK products are used around the globe to ensure reliable and proper functioning of sewer systems on a long-term basis. With Dr. Werner Hunger as captain, IBAK was always on the right course. He designates concentrating the capacities for design and development on sewer inspection as one of the key decisions: "That we withdrew as far as possible from the maritime sector at the time, thus ending our dependence on shipping, was good and correct. Better one sharp spear than three with blunt tips." In the company's development, a series of milestones followed to prove this assessment. For example, in 2000 with the ORION, which was the first inspection camera to be designed entirely in 3D design software. Two years later, IBAK introduced the PANORAMO technology for the generation of 360-degree spherical images in sewers. Branch offices were opened among others in Illerrieden (2005), Georgsmarienhütte (2011) and Krefeld (now Moers), as well as Freigericht and Leipzig (2019). With a network spread throughout Germany, the company lives up to its high demands on service orientation and customer proximity. In 2012, the portfolio was expanded to include cutting robots, and the world's first full HD inspection camera, the PEGASUS HD, was launched on the market. IBAK makes sure that all new developments and improvements are compatible with previous models and focuses on modularity of the system components. Furthermore, compact mobile systems make it possible to reach hard-to-access sewer reaches and manholes. Hardware solutions combined with new software-related developments ensure that users are supported with additional information before, during and after inspections.
It is perfectly clear that defining Dr. Werner Hunger's work in terms of individual projects is too narrow a view. The manifold duties of a managing director consists of listening, bundling and decision-making. "When he now retires, he can do so with pride and satisfaction. For 40 years, his name was synonymous with continuity, integrity and a sense of proportion. For customers, he was a highly valued partner with whom it was possible to cooperate successfully and with confidence," says IBAK senior executive Janina Galinski.
Atlas says more than a thousand words
Dr. Hunger, who expressly said that he did not want any fuss to be made over him on his retirement, met with sincere appreciation on December 23, 2022. How great the respect, the appreciation and the gratitude were and are was not only clearly felt on that day: the IBAK workforce presented him with Atlas, broad-shouldered, steel-hard but nonetheless giving a good-natured and knowledgable impression. The tall steel titan consists of countless turned and manufactured parts that are otherwise to be found in the sewer inspection and rehabilitation systems. The name Atlas is a reference to the company name: IBAK stands for Ingenieurbüro Atlas Kiel, the origin of the company over 76 years ago. With these and other surprises, the informal and cheerful get-together in a small circle went far beyond the planned scope.
Further towards the future
IBAK will stay on course and continue to offer practical solutions as a manufacturer of sewer inspection and rehabilitation systems and the associated software. Now Daniel and Dorian Hunger are taking over the helm at IBAK. They had already been managing directors of IBAK alongside their father since January 2020. Thus, 3 years ago, the third generation of the founding family took over responsibility for the medium-sized company with more than 400 employees. Something that was particularly important to Dr. Werner Hunger: "It fills me with pride that IBAK has existed for so long under the leadership of the families of Herwig Hunger and Werner Hunger. I think that family ownership in particular has made the company something special."
The brothers Daniel and Dorian Hunger are aware of the challenges and look forward to continuing the Hunger family tradition of running the company. Daniel Hunger views his task with respect and creative enthusiasm: "My father has put IBAK on a stable footing for the future. I look forward to continuing IBAK's success story together with my brother."
"I am approaching my new task with the greatest possible commitment and am proud to be able to actively continue IBAK's international orientation, pronounced customer focus and innovation strategy," says Dorian Hunger.
The two managing directors are supported by the three senior executives Manfred Weber (Technical Head), Karsten Bauer (Head of Human Resources) and Janina Galinski (Head of Sales and Marketing). With the new dual leadership, IBAK has started the year 2023 with a forward-looking view, building on its roots as the oldest and largest company in the industry.
