Gerhard Schubert, the founder of the Crailsheim, Germany-based packaging machine manufacturer Gerhard Schubert GmbH, died 4 July. He was 84.
The company he founded in 1966, is now one of the most innovative and successful companies in international packaging machine manufacturing, according to the announcement released by the company.
“To this day, his visionary ideas of a modular robot-assisted top-loading packaging machine continue to influence modern packaging technology around the world,” it said.
After apprenticing as a mechanic in 1953, Gerhard Schubert gained experience as a design engineer working first at Strunck, and then Kugler, before setting up his own engineering & design office in 1964.
Two years later, he founded Gerhard Schubert GmbH in Crailsheim. Over the years, Schubert built the small company into an international group of companies. Nevertheless, he remained down-to-earth and deeply connected to the region surrounding his hometown of Crailsheim. In addition to his two sons Ralf and Gerald Schubert, the next generation of grandchildren is now working in the company.
Gerhard Schubert’s passing is a great loss. But on his life’s journey, he left traces that will reach far beyond his time with us. He once very aptly described himself: “Yes, I am a visionary. A designer must have vision.” And this vision – to build “the best packaging machines in the world” – is one that the company he founded and built with such success will continue to uphold.