German Valve Association, VDMA, Names New Managing Director

Dr. Laura Dorfer, and outgoing managing director Wolfgang Burchard of the VDMA.
Photo Credit: VDMA

Dr. Laura Dorfer will take over as managing director of the VDMA Valves Association at the beginning of April 2023. She will succeed Wolfgang Burchard, who is retiring.

“Whether in the networked factory or in smart, energy-efficient building technology, the valve industry will continue to play an important role as an equipment supplier and technology provider in the future,” Dorfer emphasized on the occasion of her appointment. “I look forward to accompanying the valve companies in the coming years as they master the market challenges and continue to position themselves for the future.”

VDMA career launch at the "Startup-Machine" network initiative

After completing her doctorate in business administration at the University of Siegen, Dr. Laura Dorfer is responsible for the strategic establishment and successful further development of the VDMA Startup-Machine, acting as project manager since February 2018. With her team, she has developed and marketed products and services for the targeted networking and initiation of cooperation between companies and solution providers from the startup scene for member companies of the VDMA. In the future, she will contribute her networking strength, her market strategy orientation and her intuition for customer-centric products of tomorrow's association world to the further development of the association.

At VDMA since 1991 - Wolfgang Burchard retires

Wolfgang Burchard, managing director of the Valves Association since 1997, will retire at the end of March 2023 after 32 years with the VDMA. During this time, he has succeeded in strengthening the network of the trade association and in important political work on behalf of the industry.

“Wolfgang Burchard is a very committed advocate of the industry's interests. He has understood how to raise public awareness for the concerns of the valve industry and, due to his expertise, has been a valued interlocutor for industry and politics,” said Axel Weidner, chairman of the VDMA Valves Association. “Few industries are as closely linked to the economy as a whole as the valve industry. From taps to high-quality regulators, the range of applications for its products is diverse and must meet a wide variety of requirements. The valve industry has held its course in recent years despite sometimes fierce headwinds. I have enjoyed working for this mechanical engineering sector and am convinced that it will continue to meet the challenges it faces with flying colors in the years ahead,” stated Burchard.

The VDMA represents more than 3,500 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated €770 billion euros ($825 billion USD). Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.