Varta is a company founded in Germany in 1887 by Adolf Müller. In the years it was founded, it produced accumulators for internal combustion engines. Now the world battery giant. So how did Herbert Schein, the CEO of this company, manage to become CEO while he was working? Here is his story:
German engineer and businessman Herbert Schein started working in Varta in 1991 in the field of application technology and quality management. Prior to this assignment, he held different positions within the technology giants Siemens and Philips. He carried the experience he gained in the field of process technology and electrochemistry even further in Varta. On the one hand, he made market analyzes and developed important projections about Varta in the field of battery technologies. He rose rapidly in his career and became the CEO of Varta Microbattery GmbH in 2008. Successfully implemented important investment decisions. With IPCEI funds and resources from the federal government, Varta has been strengthened. Thanks to the innovative solutions it developed, it was included in the TOP 100 in 2011. In 2016, he became the CEO of Varta AG.
Who is Herbert Schein?
Varta's CEO, Herbert Schein, was born on July 2, 1965 in Oettingen, Bavaria, Germany. He continued his education life in Augsburg. He completed his undergraduate education in electrical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences. He was interested in technological products from an early age and tried to make some inventions in his own way. He was particularly interested in electronic gadgets. But in those years, the battery life of these vehicles was too low to be compared with today's. So much so that the life of the most durable battery did not exceed 5 minutes. As battery technologies have improved, the lifetime of the batteries has increased. From the second half of the 1970s, the state of Bavaria began to host significant investments in technology. In the next period, this state would become one of the most important technology centers in Europe. The most important of Herbert Schein's inventions was the color graphics controller kit. This invention, which he made during his university years, was met with interest by Siemens. After completing his undergraduate education, he started working at Philips as a product engineer. He took part in various studies on integrated circuits at Philips.
Herbert Schein (1965- )
In the 1980s, important projects were being implemented in the field of battery technologies. In this process, Varta batteries reached a significant power not only in Germany, but also all over the world. As a matter of fact, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, had Varta batteries in his camera. And this has given Varta a huge market power around the world. Thus, Varta batteries became the first batteries used outside the world and proved their quality to the whole world. In the 1980s, the work carried out under the leadership of Varta in the field of battery technologies raised many standards. Varta has become the leader in the field of electrochemistry with many innovations, especially the sealed battery concept. The Hagen factory for industrial batteries has started high-capacity mass production. As battery types increased, expectations from Varta in terms of production technology and quality management were also increasing. Herbert Schein, who joined the Varta family in 1991, knew Varta's place and importance in the battery technologies market. Moreover, he had an innovative vision that would carry Varta even further.
Herbert Schein and Varta
Herbert Schein, who started to work in the field of application technology and quality management at Varta in 1991, managed to stand out with his different abilities. He was both an electrical engineer and closely following the developments in the field of electrochemistry. He gave importance to market analysis and tried to analyze the needs correctly. In those years, the battery systems market had a rapid growth momentum. However, investments in lithium-ion technology could not achieve the same momentum. Capacity was also low in the production of intermediate components for energy storage products. To increase the energy density of battery systems, battery manufacturers have introduced numerous innovations to date. In this context, Herbert Schein implemented a very important innovation. This innovation was to use materials richer in silicon at the anode and nickel at the cathode used in batteries. This reduced the cost and extended the battery life. This innovation in the field of application technology at Varta enabled him to rise rapidly in his career adventure. In 1994, he became Varta's international product manager.
In 2001, Herbert Schein added a new responsibilities to Varta. He took over the management of the company's worldwide marketing activities. One of his most important innovations during this period was to establish a global business unit for hearing aid batteries. Thus, it increased the high machine precision. This development brought with it an increase in intracellular efficiency with finer parts. Herbert Schein's career at Varta has not only combined process technology and electrochemistry in battery manufacturing. At the same time, it implemented new investment and purchasing decisions that offer effective solutions to Varta's market needs. In the early 2000s, Varta gained a multinational character with different business partnerships. In the context of capacity increase, its facilities in Nördlingen implemented important projects. In 2002, its units serving in the field of consumer batteries were transferred to Rayovac. Automotive batteries were acquired by Johnson Controls. In 2007, Herbert Schein came to the management of Varta Microbattery GmbH. A year later, he was appointed CEO.
In 2016, Herbert Schein became CEO of Varta AG. A year later, Varta's public offering began. In 2019, Varta shares quadrupled. In this process, IPCEI support provided significant gains for R&D and P&D processes in lithium-ion technology. Indeed, within a few years, the energy density in lithium-ion cells has increased by over 30 percent. In addition, under Schein's management, Varta opened new production facilities in Ellwangen as well as Nördlingen. This resulted in an additional 200 million annual battery capacity. These developments strengthened Varta's power. In addition to the battery market, Varta's leading position in the consumer batteries market continues today. Under the leadership of Herbert Schein, Varta is one of the leading players in the industry with an annual production of 1.2 billion alkaline batteries. Moreover, the product variety is constantly increasing. Varta continues to grow in consumer batteries as well as in other energy sources.
Would you like to meet this successful professional manager? Link:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbert-schein/?originalSubdomain=de