The Supervisory Board of the Berthold HERMLE AG has appointed Kai Bacher (42) as a member of the Executive Board effective January 1, 2026. He succeeds Franz-Xaver Bernhard (65), who will leave the committee due to retirement upon the expiration of his contract on December 31, 2025. This ensures an early smooth transition and continuity in the three-member executive board, which will continue to include Günther Beck (Finance, Information Technology) and Benedikt Hermle (Production, Service, Human Resources).
Kai Bacher has been with HERMLE since 2003, initially as part of a dual study program in mechanical engineering, and subsequently in various positions in design and product development. He then worked for several years as an assistant to the management and head of product management, closely collaborating with Franz-Xaver Bernhard. As of January 1, 2025, he was granted general power of attorney for the sales department.
Starting in early 2026, he will be responsible for the areas of sales, research & development, product management, as well as customs & foreign trade on the board. His employment contract, which was signed this week, initially runs for three years.
The trained mechanical engineer Franz-Xaver Bernhard began his more than 40-year career at HERMLE in 1983 as deputy assembly manager. After various management positions in technical sales, application technology, distribution, and research & development, he was appointed to the board of Maschinenfabrik Berthold HERMLE AG in 2001. There, after transferring responsibility for sales to Kai Bacher, he will remain responsible for research & development until the end of 2025.
"On behalf of the entire supervisory board," said supervisory board chairman Dietmar Hermle, "I would like to sincerely thank Franz-Xaver Bernhard for his outstanding achievements and his exceptional commitment, with which he has significantly shaped HERMLE AG over the past decades. We wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement. At the same time, we are pleased to have found a highly competent successor in Kai Bacher, who has been with HERMLE for many years, allowing the supervisory board to already get an impression of his successful work."
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