Since July 2020 Timo Henkelmann and Dr. Mark Dolezal are the new managing directors of ELABO GmbH. We asked them how they came to ELABO and what visions they have for the company.
Could you describe your career so far?
I studied technical physics in Graz. Then I did my doctorate at the faculty of mechanical engineering in Vienna in the field of materials science and materials testing. The subject of my doctorate was the damping behaviour of heterogeneous materials. During this time I worked on a research project to optimize the acoustics of violins. As technical director I was responsible for the EU project with numerous partners in 5 countries. However, I decided not to pursue a university career and chose a career in the private sector. So I joined Philips in 2002. There I initially worked as a process engineer in the loudspeaker production in Vienna. After a short time I became department manager and was responsible for the whole area of process development and automation. And this topic still accompanies and inspires me to this day. Most recently, I was also an interim member of the Management Board there for about a year, before I left in 2014 in the context of a restructuring and the closure of production in Vienna. That was an exciting and intensive time in a great team. Many major international brands were our customers, for whom we specified, procured and ramped up many semi and fully automated lines.
After leaving the company I decided to run my own engineering office. A customer, with whom I realized a very successful project during this time, then offered me a position as CTO, which I accepted. Here I was responsible for the complete engineering and production, mainly in the automotive sector. I also built up the Mobile Devices business unit, where we primarily developed autofocus cameras for use in drones and mobile devices. The optimization of production was also successful there - the result was significantly increased at that time.
At the end of 2017, I took up my position at ELABO as Business Unit Manager Test Systems and CTO.
How did you first decide to join ELABO?
The topic of automation has been a constant theme throughout my entire career – it interests and inspires me. That's why I was immediately convinced by the test systems division at ELABO. This is where the latest technologies and quality meet – the potential was obvious.
You will manage the company together with Timo. What are your areas of expertise and how is the cooperation?
My main responsibility is in the area of test systems with service and test field, device development and sales, purchasing, personnel and finances.
The cooperation with Timo has always been very good and is characterized by great trust. We have the same way of thinking and the same goals that drive us. We want to take ELABO forward and together we want to continue to develop the business positively. Our cooperation is very constructive, we constantly exchange ideas and form an opinion together. This works perfectly.
What is your vision for ELABO?
We both see a great deal of potential in ELABO - which we want to develop and expand further. The first step is to optimize processes and interfaces. Our goal is then to achieve a healthy growth curve with new solutions and other industries that we serve both nationally and internationally. We would also like to push ahead with the software sector in particular.
At ELABO, we have a very heterogeneous product and service portfolio which will enable us to continue writing a success story in the future.
And what are your plans? Which topics will you tackle next?
We are a pioneer in terms of digitalization. That's what we want to reflect in all areas. Here we are relying on a new ERP system as a basis. We also want to get new impetus from outside, which has already happened to some extent, but we also want to take our existing employees with us on this path. A fresh breeze from outside and the many years of experience of our colleagues are a good mixture which will bring ELABO forward. It is also important for us to have an open approach, in which the ideas and creativity of our employees are encouraged. Strengthening the personal responsibility and participation of the employees and an exchange at eye level - Timo and I agree on this - are important aspects that will become more important in the future.
All in all, ELABO should thus become more modern, more powerful and more efficient.
What are the biggest challenges?
We know where we want to go and therefore have to face and adapt to the requirements of the market. This process of change with the sum of upcoming issues is a challenge in itself. We have to manage to take the entire workforce with us and keep the barriers for each individual employee as low as possible.
How do you balance your everyday business life?
When the weekend starts on Friday and I'm on my way to my home town Vienna, I can already switch off a bit on the way. The physical distance alone is a benefit. When I get home, my two children (11 and 13 years old) and my wife are already waiting for me to tell me all the news. She and I have been happily married for almost 25 years now. We both share a passion for travel - we have been to many countries in Europe, the USA, Africa, the Caribbean and Mauritius. We are not running out of destinations: next we would like to travel to Asia or South America.
On weekends, the family is always the focus of my attention. Together we go cycling, swimming or hiking - just being together. We also go to the theater, musicals or concerts together. We also introduce our children to the topic of culture and have a theater subscription for both.