Salesman Franz-Josef Verwohlt is virtually an institution at Wefapress® and will be taking his well-deserved retirement in January after almost 50 years. Since the 1970s, he has successfully built up the sales regions of Hesse, Benelux and England and developed them as sales markets for engineering plastics in industry. She will be succeeded by Pirkko Schwanekamp, who has been part of the Wefapress® team for several years.

Retirement after a solid career

As a “man of the first hour”, Franz-Josef Verwohlt, better known internally and to many customers as “Piko”, can look back on 49 very successful and formative years. Having started out as a shipping manager in the 70s, he moved into sales and with his talent for Wefapress® was immediately the right man in the right place. Here he has had a significant influence on the development of the company, from the then manufacturer of dog toys in the 80s to today’s specialist for technical plastic parts. He experienced three generations of Wefapress® at his employer: His first boss was Kurt Beck, followed by Lothar Beck and currently the dual leadership of Gerrit & Lutz Beck. “Looking back,” he says, “it was always a good, even buddy-buddy relationship at times.”

Retirement with peace of mind after familiarization and handover to successor

Professional, friendly and relaxed – this is how Franz-Josef Verwohlt himself describes the relationship with his customers that has grown over the years. His personality and detailed technical knowledge have made him a valued consultant – after all, the longest customer relationship goes back 36 years! His successor Pirkko Schwanekamp is also a saleswoman with heart, humor and passion, who knows all the ins and outs of the business very well after almost 6 years at Wefapress. This means that our customers will continue to be in the best hands in the future.

Retirement with a view

Franz-Josef Verwohlt has concrete plans for his retirement: “To have time for myself, for my three grandchildren and for tennis. The family and the TC-Hamaland will be happy, because he plays six to seven championship games in the upper middle class every summer alone – so it should be easy to keep the offspring in check ;-)!

We would like to thank our highly esteemed colleague Franz-Josef “Piko” Verwohlt for 49 dedicated years in which he gave Wefapress® a lot and we were able to grow together. And we wish Pirkko Schwanekamp a successful transition and a continued keen sense of our customers’ needs.