Personnel changes at Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG

In the picture, the management of the Wirthwein subsidiary "Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG" based in Mühlatal near Darmstadt. From right: Marcus Wirthwein, Frank Wirthwein, and Dr. Thomas Jakob, who was appointed to the management of the medical technology specialist on August 1, 2020.

Dr. Thomas Jakob began his career at Wirthwein AG on June 1, 2016, as Head of the Medical Technology Business Unit and thus took on overall responsibility for the subsidiary company operating in this industry, "Riegler GmbH & Co.KG," which has been operating under the name "Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG" since July 1, 2020. Since August 1, the PhD chemist, together with the sons of the founding family - Frank Wirthwein and Marcus Wirthwein - has been managing the company, which currently employs around 350 staff.

In an interview, Dr. Thomas Jakob said shortly after joining Wirthwein: "I want to make a difference, the employees feel the fresh wind and go along." Since then, nothing has changed about this maxim, and a lot has happened at the medical technology specialist. The most visible change to outsiders is the rebranding from the former Riegler GmbH & Co. KG to Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG on July 1, 2020. "With this, we want to present ourselves uniformly to our business partners under the Wirthwein brand name and promote future expansion as a globally active corporate group," explains Dr. Thomas Jakob. But manufacturing has also been significantly expanded: additional employees, new fully electric injection molding machines, investments in toolmaking and tool maintenance, fully automated assembly and packaging lines, additional cleanroom capacities, digitization of processes, but also a new training workshop – all signs of a company on a sustainable growth path.
"This is only possible because additional orders, new customers, and an expanded product portfolio have been secured by the entire Wirthwein Medical team," explains the new managing director, who is visibly proud of the team standing behind him.

And the Corona crisis?

"The current pandemic means a boom for the diagnostics industry, which is naturally reflected in increased demands from our customers regarding series products and new projects," explains Dr. Jakob. For example, the medical technology company is currently producing plastic components at full speed, which are needed worldwide for COVID-19 tests. "Injection molding tools with special coatings were built in record time, new injection molding machines were acquired, and additional personnel were trained in the complex manufacturing processes," praises the managing director his team, which has been involved from the very beginning with all additional hygiene requirements and has been coping with both professional and private challenges. "If we all hopefully stay healthy and continue to work as focused and consistent as we have so far, and if there is no lockdown, we will get through the crisis well," the graduate chemist cautiously optimistically states. A bit of luck, in addition to a lot of skill, also belongs to it...

Frank Wirthwein and Marcus Wirthwein know what they have in Dr. Thomas Jakob and look forward to further collaboration – most recently now also at the executive management level.