AKE Brochure EN

OUR QUESTIONS ...
An interview with the AKE managing directors:
Bernhard König and Boris Schneidhuber
In 2008 Bernhard König and Boris Schneidhuber took over the leadership
of the company from company founder Josef Ameres. A lot has happened
since then. The two managing directors report on recent years and look into
the future:
You
„
have both been at AKE for a long time now. Tell us about your careers.
Bernhard König: After studying mechanical engineering in
Regensburg, I started my first job in the Design department of the
Deggendorfer Werft shipyard. Soon after that an opportunity came to
work directly in Passau again, at AKE as a design engineer and project
manager. That was a very exciting time, during which I learnt a lot.
„
Even back then, I worked together with Boris on projects; he was a programmer and I was project leader. In 2001 my life moved
to Nuremberg where, after various roles, I finished up as technical manager in a cable works. During this time, I never lost contact
with AKE, and I had a constant wish to come back here at some time. Then the day came, and I had a meeting with far-reaching
consequences, with Mr Ameres. I applied for a job as production manager, and received the response, “That probably won’t be
quite enough...”. Mr Ameres then told me of his plans. And that is how I returned to AKE in 2008 as one of the two managing
directors. Since then I have been responsible for the operational business and for human resources.
Boris Schneidhuber: After my vocational training I joined AKE in 1988 in the area of electrical engineering; soon after that was
added joint responsibility in the area of software. In 1992 I then became department manager for electrical engineering and
software development, and was entrusted with the task of training new employees. A few years later came the responsibilities of
quality management representative in addition - I was faced with the challenge of introducing a quality management system as
per the ISO 9001 standard. In 2005 we successfully received certification for the first time. Having already for many years been
a member of the management team which had been assembled by Mr Ameres, in 2008 the company founder offered to hand
over to me the managing directorship, jointly with a former colleague, whom Mr Ameres wanted to bring back from outside the
company. In 2011 Bernhard and I bought AKE technologies GmbH, and since then my responsibilities have covered sales, finance,
and strategic product development.
When
„
you look back, what is it that you remember?
Bernhard König: First and foremost are of course the memories of the major events in recent years, both professional and
interpersonal. But very often the smaller things are also of far-reaching importance. When I’m asked about my lasting memories,
many occasions come to my mind. For example, the first company excursion, which became the seed for what is now a tradition
of many years. The first AKE pensioner - that doesn’t happen everyday in the life of a managing director. The establishment of the
second works in Passau, with all the organisational challenges which were felt by many. The establishment of the subsidiary in
Romania, and thereby the birth of the AKE Group. But there’s also the permanent growth of the AKE family - and here I particularly
„
mean the many weddings and births which enrich the social life of a company.
Boris Schneidhuber: One is to be permanently and ongoingly confronted with repeating obstacles, and with overcoming them.
The greater the development steps towards the future and the related challenges, then the smaller the problems already
experienced and solved appear to be. Apart from innovative force and visionary thinking, the greatest assets of our company are
our employees and their capabilities. I well remember how we were able to master one apparently insoluble situation or another,
thanks to team spirit and our outstanding, motivated employees. Something that has repeatedly been confirmed in recent years
is that without the support of our own families, much would not have been possible, or at best only to a restricted extent. When
I review recent years, there’s one thing above all that I remember: that Bernhard and I have been able to count on our families
and our team at any time!
In
„
your opinion what is/was the greatest challenge?
Bernhard König: That is probably the permanent readiness to throw overboard what was old, and always to readjust to changed
circumstances. At AKE, this characteristic is certainly one of the most outstanding above all. If you want to survive in a shark
tank, then you’ve got to be able to swim well and swim fast. Driven by the volatile automotive market and guided by our Sales
department, we are in a constant state of change, and we always match AKE’s outputs to the requirements of our customers. To
keep that up is the biggest challenge and at the same time the biggest success factor for our group of companies.
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Managing directors Boris Schneidhuber (second from left) and
Bernhard König with their wives