Michael Hutecker was born in 1961 of German parents in São Paulo, Brazil. He studied applied economics and mechanical engineering in his home town, and in 1984, started along his career path at GROB do Brasil. In 1990 he transferred to Mindelheim, and five years later he moved to GROB Bluffton in America to be a bid designer. Since 1998, the father of two has been responsible for the proposal process and Sales.
Change due to tragic accident
The change in management became necessary when the Manager of GROB Systems, our American subsidiary in Bluffton, tragically died when his private plane crashed on July 27 near his home in Ohio. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. For GROB-WERKE, the passing of Ralf Bronnenmeier is a loss both personal and professional. GROB systems has not only lost its CEO; rather the entire GROB Group has lost a warm, caring and kind colleague who was highly competent and engaged. “Ralf Bronnenmeier was a special person with many positive characteristics and extensive commercial and technical knowledge. He had a distinct feeling for people and his co-workers – and was a good friend to all,” German Wankmiller, Chairman of the Management Board fondly recalled his long-term colleague.
GROB native son and all-rounder
Born in Mindelheim, Mr. Bronnenmeier was a “GROB native son”. He was born in 1967 and started his career path in 1994 at GROB in mechanical detail design in Mindelheim. Due to his studies as mechanical engineer and subsequent course of study in business administration, he was an all-rounder capable of handling both technical and commercial issues. Shortly after joining GROB in Mindelheim, he transferred to Bluffton to be a detail designer, and after only nine months made the leap to project manager. In 1995 his path led back to Mindelheim where he was an assistant to Management and Quality Management officer. Shortly after that he started to develop the “Finance/Controlling” department in Mindelheim and was appointed its head in October 1997.
On March 1, 2003 Ralf Bronnenmeier made his final return to America, and after five months assumed the position of CEO of GROB Systems USA. For more than eleven years in this function he was instrumental in making GROB Systems an organizational model enjoying an excellent reputation among our customers. Together with his 360 employees at GROB Systems, he achieved sales calculated at 105 million EUR in the past fiscal year.
