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Family company maintains tradition
Today, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Tobias Uhlmann can proudly look back on the history of the family-owned company. 60 years ago, when Josef Uhlmann founds the company, he never would have guessed that the enterprise would develop into one of the most successful pharmaceutical packaging specialists worldwide.
Based in very modest premises, the retailer started to produce molds for pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies in 1948. However, by 1954 the enterprising businessman had a factory building constructed in Laupheim that was subsequently extended several times.
After the death of the company founder in 1968, his son Friedrich Uhlmann took over management. With innovative foresight and courage like his father, he modernized the product portfolio. In 1973, for example, the first modular high-speed thermoformer UPS 5000 caused quite a sensation. Uhlmann was on the way to establishing itself on the world market as a specialist in pharmaceutical packaging machines.
Hedwig Uhlmann continued this development when she took over management after the death of her husband in 1994. Within four years, Uhlmann established subsidiaries in South America, Great Britain, Scandinavia and Asia. The company steadily expanded and continually strengthened its global success. Hedwig Uhlmann managed to increase sales to 143 million Euros and the workforce increased to around 1,000 members of staff.
Friedrich und Hedwig Uhlmann’s son, Tobias Uhlmann, joined the Supervisory Board in 2005 and took over chairmanship in 2007. He succeeded his mother in this function and thus represents the third generation of the family to head the company. The 35-year-old does not plan to alter established structures and the company philosophy. Likes his forefathers, he intends to ensure that the generated capital goes into new developments, business expansion and personnel development. This way, the values of a family-owned company will continue to be combined with the targets of a global player.
