Second generation takes over: Haimer remains 100% in German family ownership

On 1 August 2026, the Haimer Group completed a generational change in its ownership structure. The company shares were transferred to the second generation so that siblings Andreas and Kathrin Haimer now assume responsibility as Managing Partners and shareholders. The move puts the internationally active family-owned company’s long-term, owner-managed orientation on a clear path for the future.

The Haimer Group is a global manufacturer of shrink-fit and balancing technology, tool holders and pre-setting machines, as well as a provider of tool management solutions. Claudia and Franz Haimer, who founded the company in 1977 and built it up over the past decades, will remain operationally active in the management team until 31 December 2027. During this period, they will oversee the handover process to ensure a smooth and carefully prepared transition to the second generation. In addition, they will continue to support the company in the long term and network as members of a newly established advisory board.

“This step is a very emotional moment as we place our life’s work in the hands of our children,” explains Claudia. “At the same time, the handover is an important milestone in the development of our family business. Andreas and Kathrin are closely connected to Haimer for many years and have already successfully assumed responsibility in the management team. This factor ensures the continuity of our values, our technological expertise and our long-term strategy.”

By transferring the shares to Andreas and Kathrin, the Haimer Group strengthens its position as an independent, owner-managed family business that offers its customers the ‘tool room of the future’ – a holistic tool room concept providing greater efficiency, digitisation and automation.

With this approach, Haimer addresses the challenges faced by manufacturers, including growing cost pressures, a shortage of skilled workers, and the need to digitise and automate. The company says its solutions enable customers worldwide to machine more precisely, reliably and productively.

With Haimer solutions, customers can digitise the shop floor and automate the tool assembly area. The generational change is therefore also a clear commitment to strengthening this system expertise further in line with the company philosophy of ‘quality wins’.

Despite rapidly changing and turbulent times in the metalworking industry, Haimer Group remains 100% in German family ownership, allowing customers, partners and employees to continue to rely on long-term, sustainable decision-making.

Andreas and Kathrin have been working in various management positions in the company for many years and today form the management team of the Haimer Group together with their founding parents. In their new role as Managing Partners, they will continue the established growth course while setting new innovations in the areas of digitisation, automation and sustainability.

In view of the many challenges in global markets, Kathrin emphasises the company’s responsibility towards people and employees: “As a family-owned company, we bear responsibility – for the future of our business, for our employees, for the education of young people as apprentices and for our local communities. Our task is to combine the values that Haimer has stood for over decades with innovative strength and cutting-edge technology. In this way, we aim to actively shape the future of our company – as a reliable partner for our customers and an attractive employer.”

Andreas adds: “We are a manufacturing company ourselves, with more than 200 machine tools and an annual metal-cutting volume of around 5,000 tonnes – so we know from our own experience the importance of crucial stable, productive processes and well-thought-out tool management strategies. That’s precisely why we’re consistently investing in digitisation and automation: from AI-capable shrink fit, balancing and pre-setting machines, through our ‘tool room of the future’ concept, to global co-operation with machine tool builders where our networked solutions are deployed in their plants worldwide. The generational change gives us the entrepreneurial freedom to expand this long-term strategy further and strengthen our role as a technology leader in the periphery around the machine tool and in the networking of the shop floor.”

Looking back on the joint achievements of the past decades, Franz states: “The success of Haimer is inseparably linked to the commitment of our team around the world. The fact that we can now place our group in the hands of our children and, at the same time, see a strong team carrying the company is the best foundation for a successful future. As a family-owned company that can act independently of corporate groups and in a sustainable manner for the benefit of customers, we’re currently seeing strong demand from the semiconductor, aerospace, space, defence and energy industries for our integrated tool-room solutions.”