After 75 years Gerhard Juchheim takes a look back at a lifetime of accomplishments

The JULABO team congratulates Gerhard Juchheim on his 75th birthday and thanks him for the courage to found JULABO as a young man. The team is also grateful for Gerhard Juchheim’s persevering and determined management of the company on its course to today’s modern expert of temperature control with international reputation. The Beginning In 1967 with courage, confidence and a little seed capital Gerhard Juchheim - then 28 years young - founded the company JUCHHEIM Labortechnik KG in the beautiful Seelbach. Previously in 1965 20 of a total of 50 contacted communities gave a positive answer to his request for an industrial settlement in Baden-Württemberg. Of these 20 communities he pre-selected a few which he personally visited – one of them was Seelbach in today’s Ortenau district. With the support of the municipality he acquired a property and first built a residential house for his young family with industrial and office space. In the very beginning the double garage was used for the mechanical production of the first laboratory units. The fledgling company of four employees established sales and administration. After only 3 years Gerhard Juchheim built the first production hall adjacent to the residential house and purchased the necessary machines and workbenches. Another 2 years later – in 1970 – the young company already employed 20 people. He continued to enlarge the company by acquiring neighboring properties and developing them. At the beginning of the 80s the number of employees had risen to an impressive 100 persons. The Products After his professional training as industrial manager he seized the opportunity to manage and expand the company of his father in Solingen from 1958 to 1966. The company produced high-precision glass contact thermometers and contact protection relays for temperature control applications in laboratories and industry. These contact thermometers were the basis for the first laboratory circulators which he developed and produced in Seelbach. In 1972 Gerhard Juchheim and his company were the first in the industry to introduce units with fully electronic temperature control on an analog basis. Thus the units were equipped with almost wear-free parts improving the application possibilities in science and research enormously. In 1990 Gerhard Juchheim successfully took another innovative step by opting for microprocessor technology and enlarging the range of products significantly. This period marked continual improvement to the instrumentation hardware and software. With the advancement of digital control in the burgeoning computer age digital interfaces were integrated into JULABO unit for direct connection to PCs. This enabled remote PC control with data collection and recording. He never stopped searching for new technologies and solutions. The latest innovation is the Presto® highly dynamic temperature control system which JULABO has successfully marketed in recent years. The People of JULABO Gerhard Juchheim is proud that in 2013 more than 300 people are securely employed at the Seelbach site. The staff has contributed substantially to the success and growth of JULABO: Starting with the team for the development of electronics, manufacturing and refrigeration JULABO employs highly trained personnel in production, administration, organization and environment and quality management. More than 10% of the staff are apprentices and the company also provides for continuous, professional education for various vocations. He is also proud of the 10 foreign JULABO subsidiaries which contribute significantly to the success of the company. The Management Since 1996 the eldest son, Ralph Juchheim, very successfully manages the most important foreign subsidiary Julabo USA. Thanks to his commitment a notable company with more than 30 employees has developed from a small sales office founded in 1993. Since 2007 Gerhard Juchheim has handed the management of the head office in Seelbach and global responsibility to his son Markus Juchheim. Markus Juchheim completed his MBA education in the USA. Since joining he successfully manages the affairs of JULABO leading the company to a bright future. He is supported by excellent division managers for marketing and sales, research and development, controlling and personnel, plant management, product management and quality management. JULABO is certified according to ISO 9001/ISO 14001. For JULABO compliance with international standards and the use of environmentally friendly materials are obligatory and implicit. Great importance has been attached to energy saving with solar and geothermic systems! Worldwide Distribution Germany is and remains a large and important market. Nevertheless, nowadays 70% of JULABO products are exported worldwide. With its 10 subsidiaries and more than 100 distributors the company delivers its products from Seelbach to the whole world. JULABO uses all modern communication outlets including internet; it supports and serves retailers and end customers in science, research and industry by personal visits, phone and e-mail. At the same time JULABO offers professional training conducted by its sales managers and technical service. Product management constantly ensures that JULABO stays in tune with market trends and constantly collects innovative ideas for new products which are passed to the research and development department. JULABO has successfully introduced its temperature control systems for Sous Vide cooking in gastronomy. Meat, fish and vegetables are sealed in vacuum bags and gently cooked at low, extremely stable temperatures resulting in low food ((kept food as that’s what it’s called on FuCh homepage and brochures)) shrinkage and preservation of flavor and nutrients. It quickly became clear that this trend has far more potential. The business division grew rapidly and was established as independent company “Fusionchef GmbH & Co. KG“. JULABO and Seelbach Right from the start Gerhard Juchheim was impressed by Seelbach and the surrounding region. His commitment to the popular climatic resort and the Baden region is clearly shown in a consequent location policy. With the trademark „Made in Germany“ and the company guidelines JULABO will continue on the road to success from Germany into the entire world. In the Ortenau region JULABO supports regional cultural events and sports clubs, especially equitation. Until 1990 Gerhard Juchheim was an active show jumper and had his own riding stable in Seelbach. He currently owns a competition horse which he stables at the equestrian club in Lahr-Reichenbach. On the occasion of his 75th birthday Gerhard Juchheim looks at his life’s great work with pride. A generational change has taken place at JULABO resulting in many positive changes for the staff. In addition to building expansions to accommodate development, production and administration, JULABO is especially proud of its own company restaurant, the “JULABO Bistro”. As founder of the company Gerhard Juchheim wishes the JULABO team continued success! In four years JULABO will celebrate its 50th anniversary – definitely another reason for a big party.

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