Herrmann Ultraschall announced that, effective April 1, Thomas Herrmann will transfer leadership of the management board to the current chief sales officer André Deponte. Herrmann will remain on the management board, focusing on driving the company’s innovation strategy.

Deponte has held key leadership roles within the company since 2018. A trained mechatronics engineer, he successfully established the METALS business unit before assuming responsibility for the international headquarters in 2023 and, one year later, for global sales. As the incoming CEO, he sees substantial growth opportunities in strengthening collaboration among the 650 employees across its 27 locations worldwide.

“The most important thing is that we work closely together as a global team. This enables us to deliver outstanding performance and provide our customers with an even more consistent and compelling experience,” says Deponte. “Going forward, we will increasingly rely on digital processes and artificial intelligence. Both will support the global marketing of our innovations, enabling us to offer the right solutions at the right time and in the right place. This will further strengthen our position as a leader in technology and customer value leader in ultrasonic joining technology.”

Thomas Herrmann considers Deponte as the ideal choice for the chairmanship: “Over the past eight years, André has played a decisive role in ensuring that our company continues to develop into a high-performing, globally successful organization. Given the volatile developments in global markets and the generational change among our customers, André will be able to leverage his leadership experience and market knowledge, paired with his technical expertise, to great benefit.”

For Herrmann, this is a first step toward the strategic shareholder role he intends to assume in the mid-term. He will remain a part of the management board, focusing on research and development, IT and finance. He assumed the role of CEO from his father and company founder, Walter Herrmann, in 2007. Since then, both the number of employees and the company’s revenue have quadrupled. In 2021, he was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the auditing and consulting company EY.