The ‘gentle helmsman’ of futronic – Michael Preuß – was appointed Managing Director of the German company in 2004. He has therefore spent 25 years – his entire working life – at futronic, first as software developer and then as sales manager, taking over as managing director in 2004.
Managing Director Michael Preuß, aged 50, joined futronic exactly 25 years ago, first in the role of a software developer and then as Sales Manager. He took over as head of the Tettnang control system specialist together with Wolfgang Lachmann in 2004. Aside from a few holiday jobs and temporary work as a student, Preuß has spent his entire working life at futronic.
Prior to embarking on his professional career, Michael Preuß took a degree in Electronics Engineering at Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences, only ten miles from Tettnang. Whereas many of his fellow-students got out into the big wide world after completing their final exams, he opted to remain faithful to his native Upper Swabia, starting to work at futronic as a software developer on 6 April 1987. Bernt Küstner, former Managing Director of futronic, soon asked Preuß to accompany him on numerous trips abroad mainly to the US, the Far East and South Asia, where he forged valuable contacts with customers and industry experts before eventually taking over as Sales Manager.
When Bernt Küstner retired in 2004, Michael Preuß took over the helm at futronic together with Wolfgang Lachmann. As Managing Director with responsibility for sales and distribution, Preuß steered the company to a record profit in 2008. It was also under his aegis that futronic came through the recession intact with a positive result 12 months later. During this time, futronic successfully strengthened and enlarged its Industrial Automation division. It was not long before the payroll had almost returned to the level of the boom era in the early 1980s. The move to a new building complex in Bürgermoos industrial park in 2008 marked an important milestone in the history of the company and its Managing Directors.
Michael Preuß always has a sympathetic ear for his staff. Mutual respect and an agreeable working atmosphere are extremely important to him. Flat hierarchies and his friendly nature and gentle leadership style are key factors. His colleagues show their gratitude with great loyalty to the firm, in many instances over a period of several decades.
Michael Preuß, born in 1962, is married with two grown-up children. When he isn‘t away visiting customers all over the world, he likes to cruise around the countryside with his wife on a heavy motorbike, relax with a fishing rod in the early hours of the morning or attend to the needs of Hiltensweiler brass band, of which he is chairman.
futronic GmbH is one of the world’s top three suppliers in the field of complex automation solutions for plant and equipment manufacturers in the glass production industry. The company has grown considerably in recent years: a team of 61 staff currently support around 900 installations worldwide. Among the customers of its Industrial Automation division are numerous top-flight enterprises like Zeppelin Systems, Liebherr, KTW K.Weißhaupt and ZF Friedrichshafen. futronic, established in 1972, is a Jetter AG company. Managing Directors are Michael Preuß and Wolfgang Lachmann.