Career portal of GEA Group

Dirk Hämling tells GENERATE about his incredible journey from shop floor to boardroom with GEA Tuchenhagen Brewery Systems and GEA Hupmann.

It was right here at this very workplace where I spent my school holidays as a 17-year-old earning some extra pocket money polishing valves,” Dirk Hämling fondly recalls while giving a guided tour of the manufacturing operations at GEA Tuchenhagen in Büchen, Germany. This is where systems and components in the Liquid Processing field are produced for breweries, dairies and pharmaceutical companies. Little did he imagine then that, just 18 years later, he would be showing visitors around the shop floor – and his former workplace – as Chief Financial Officer of Tuchenhagen Brewery Systems and GEA Huppmann.

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The road to his guided tour duties is marked with successes, consistency and a few surprises along the way. Hämling believes that you develop out of given situations and that you cannot just force things. After graduating from high school, he attended a dual education and training course at today’s GEA Tuchenhagen as industrial clerk, while studying business administration.

Hämling then embarked on his remarkable career journey with GEA Tuchenhagen in the Central Controlling department. It was here that he faced his first challenges. Participation controlling was being restructured and Hämling played a key role in implementing a SAP system.

He was soon heading-up the controlling activities, where he was also assigned more management responsibility, before being appointed Financial Controller of the business area. “I must say, however, that I am not a conventional financial person who keeps a sharp focus on the figures and nothing else,” Hämling explains. “For example, I always like to participate in sales talks with customers, especially when dealing with important commercial and contractual details.”

This attention to detail, combined with his personal motto of always looking a bit further afield proved valuable in coping with 13 months of challenges in China: “There were a number of different commercial and organizational problems at one of our subsidiaries. I had to very rapidly gain an overview, implement the urgently required processes and sequences within the shortest period of time, while also negotiating with Chinese authorities and officials.”

Today, the 35-year-old is active as General Manager and CFO at GEA Tuchenhagen Brewery Systems and GEA Huppmann where he is directly responsible for controlling, accounting, purchasing, invoicing, contractual law, human resources and IT . “Our major project is implementing the new brand strategy,” Hämling reveals. “We are merging the two companies to further sharpen our market focus. The combined capabilities will enable us to act as a competence center, providing the brewing industry with the full range of relevant brewing processes from a single source worldwide. The new brand profile is definitely expedient in this context.”

I certainly know the railway timetables by heart

His demanding workload involves dividing his time between the two locations – Büchen in North Germany and Kitzingen in the south – which entails a lot of traveling. “I certainly know the railway timetables by heart,” he jokes.

With all this you might think he would take the opportunity to rest at weekends. Instead he heads for his favorite running course along the banks of the Aussenalster in Hamburg, where he has often prepared for half marathon competitions. “My two-year-old son usually comes along too, even though he doesn’t really feel like staying seated in the babyjogger while I get through my running.” he laughs.