Three anchors in his life
Bausch + Ströbel director Bullinger is 65 today
A weakness for tinkering, the love for his family and a passion for motor biking - that's what defines Siegfried Bullinger. His public face is that of Managing Director of Bausch + Ströbel. Today he celebrates his 65th birthday.
Ilshofen. The young Siegfried Bullinger actually wanted to be a car mechanic, but after he left school his father urged him to start an apprenticeship with Strunck in Crailsheim (now Bosch). "I started as an apprentice on April 1st 1958, at the age of 13 - that wouldn't even be allowed today", Bullinger reminisces. When work was finished for the day, young Bullinger devoted himself to his true passion: first a moped, later his first motor bike, an NSU. He also took part in cross country races.
By day he was a travelling mechanic and team leader, and he also worked at the Strunck plants in Cologne and Rotterdam. It was there that he was introduced to the world of pharmaceutical and medical packaging. Eventually, in the mid-sixties a colleague at Strunck, Wilhelm Bausch, approached him about joining the recently established firm of Bausch+Ströbel. "You'd need to give me a penny or two more an hour to get my father to agree", was Bullinger's reply. At the time his hourly wage at Strunck was 2.14 marks.
Bullinger went to work for Bausch + Ströbel. There, he quickly became the firm's head of the technical department. He developed the changeover from cycled to continuous transport on ampoule filling and closing machines; he set standards both nationally and internationally. To solidify his bond with the company, Rolf Ströbel and Wilhelm Bausch invited him to become a shareholder.
In the meantime, Bausch + Ströbel had grown from a garage enterprise into one of the market leaders in the world-wide aseptic packaging technology industry. To date the Ilshofen-based company has developed 800 different types of systems and machinery and sold 11,000 pharmaceutical processing machines worldwide.
And outside of work? "I have been married since 1969 - to the same woman", he smiles. Margot Bullinger brought up three children and looks after the accounts at the Flair Park Hotel Ilshofen.
This tinkerer has never lost his passion for bikes, either. "I bought my first proper motorbike for my 50th birthday - it was a BMW", Bullinger says. Now, for this 65th, he has treated himself to a Harley Davidson. He intends to ride it to the company site today.
The 65-year-old is not thinking of retiring. Siegfried Bullinger remains in charge of technology and production at the company, which employs 900 people.
