Portrait. Under CEO Hannes Hecher, the camel copters from Schiebel were the world market leaders. But Hecher wants more. Because ambition is definitely his thing.
How often does a 13 year old product suddenly shoot through the roof? This is exactly what Hannes Hecher (57), CEO of the camcopter manufacturer Schiebel, is experiencing. Camcopters are huge drones or tiny helicopters, depending on how you look at them. Too small for human pilots, but big enough to attach any conceivable camera (hence the name) or measuring device to its underside. That is their unique selling point. And then they start flying, remote-controlled, in any wind and weather, and film and measure everything within a radius of 200 kilometers.
No wonder that governments were the first to listen. In Cambodia, the original camcopter tracked down landmines from the air. A plant in Phnom Penh testifies to this today. Then the United Arab Emirates became interested in the versatile giant drone. Fortunately, says Hecher, because their participation in the second plant in Abu Dhabi financed the considerable further development costs.
Since then, camcopters have been monitoring desert borders there, locating smugglers in North Africa, locating refugee boats in the Mediterranean or pirates off Somalia, and monitoring the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. And then there’s the location in Manassas, Virginia, which produces for the North American market.
And of course the plant in Wiener Neustadt. 120 employees assemble camcopters there. Except for the outer skin, he buys all the parts, says Hecher, "that keeps the workforce low".
Technicians with body and soul
Innsbrucker Hecher went on board in 2013, just as the camcopter’s sales began to take off. Two things stand out in Hecher’s CV: his fascination with technology and his rousing ambition. "If someone applies to me and says that they are looking for a challenge, then I answer: ‘You will find it with us.’" He, Hecher, put together high-performance teams that were not afraid to go: "Why do you do it to one To climb the mountain? Because you are happy up on the summit. "
His other professional passion is technology. Even trained in HTL and WU-BWL, his path led him to Siemens first: "As a Tyrolean, they put me straight into cable car technology." Then he followed the call of the wide world and went to Haas do Brasil, one as general manager Manufacturer of devices for food production. To Paraná in Brazil, then to Richmond in Virginia / USA. Why didn’t he stay with Siemens? “Because Haas made me the international offer. Not Siemens. "
Adaptable Tyrolean
Because it was always on his agenda: global orientation, pushing a technique, aiming for world market leadership. In return, he says with an ironic smile, he also brings something that is not usually attributed to Tyroleans will: great adaptability.
After seven years I went back home, for the sake of the family. “This change was the most difficult. It was not that easy to find schools for four children that accepted Brazilian and American education. ”Finding a suitable job for him, however, was child’s play.
Schiebel came six years later. Here, says Hecher, he finds all the freedom that his Tyrolean heart needs. "As an Austrian SME, I want to face the big players." He has global market leadership, and now the next step is coming: "We want to enter the private market. In agriculture, in traffic and disaster operations, in supply flights. ”The orders are there, now he is fighting for the approval of the aviation authority for civil airspace. It is a multi-year project, he moans, comparable to the approval for a Passenger aircraft. He makes do with exemptions, but: "There’s more."
Coherent life
He was “very satisfied with his CV. Because I recognize the common thread. It is coherent. ”He was pleased to find his striving for the wider world again with all children. Only one thing troubled him: that none followed him into technology.
TO PERSON
After completing HTL and business studies, the Innsbruck resident Hannes Hecher (57) 1991 on board at Siemens. From 1998 he was General Manager at Haas do Brasil in Brazil and the USA, from 2005 CEO at Hauser in Linz. He has been CEO of Schiebel since autumn 2013 Group, where he is expanding the possible uses of the successful Camcopter S-100. He is currently fighting for its approval for civil airspace.
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