2019 - TODAY
Berndorf 4.0 - with fresh energy into the age of a multipolar world
At the start of the new decade, Berndorf AG made important decisions about succession in key positions at an early stage. The plans for a major generational change at the top of the Group were presented on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the plant's founding, which was celebrated in late summer 2018 together with almost 1,500 employees from all over the world at the parent site in Berndorf. The plans were implemented in 2020 - step by step.
Sonja Zimmermann succeeded her father Norbert Zimmermann as the new Chairwoman of the Berndorf AG Supervisory Board. However, Norbert Zimmermann continues to assume responsibility for the company as majority shareholder. Peter Pichler, who had been Chairman of the Berndorf AG Board for many years, stepped down in the middle of the year, with Franz Viehböck succeeding him as CEO. Dietmar Müller remained CFO on the new two-member Board. Peter Pichler, who was preparing to take up a seat on the Berndorf AG Supervisory Board, passed away far too early and completely unexpectedly at the end of 2020.
Ready for new tasks: Generation change at Berndorf
The new leadership is symbolic of a new Berndorf era. Sonja Zimmermann is the first woman to head the BAG Supervisory Board. She is the second generation to represent the majority shareholder, which has been stable for more than three decades. The new CEO Franz Viehböck, for his part, was the first and so far only Austrian to be a member of a space mission 30 years ago, spending almost eight days on the MIR space station. He says: “The Berndorf Group has the technological tools to make a contribution to the positive development of the planet.”
The new Berndorf leadership faced a completely unexpected challenge in its very first year after the global outbreak of Covid-19 infections. From 2020 to 2023, the novel form of pneumonia, which was first confirmed in China at the turn of the year 2019/2020, kept society, business and politics on tenterhooks as the coronavirus pandemic. Three quarters of a billion infections and 20 million deaths worldwide, as well as many restrictions on personal and business travel, left deep scars on the global economic system.
Despite lockdowns: on a safe course through the coronavirus pandemic
National and regional lockdowns imposed by the authorities at different times to contain the spread of the virus repeatedly brought production in production facilities to a standstill and disrupted supply chains worldwide. Nevertheless, the Berndorf Group managed to steer a safe course through all phases of the coronavirus pandemic thanks to forward-looking management at its plants and the sustained safeguarding of its financial independence and liquidity. Most of the companies continued to operate in compliance with all safety requirements and managed to get through the crisis under their own steam.
As a result, the Group not only achieved a positive result in 2020, but also massively accelerated initiatives to digitalize and streamline processes in the companies. The resulting development boost in the organization made it possible to work even more closely together globally between locations in Europe, Asia and North and South America through improved digital exchange within the Group.
2021 was one of the most successful years in Berndorf's history. The expansion of production capacity in Asia and the USA, which has been driven forward to this day, allows Berndorf subsidiaries such as AICHELIN, Berndorf Band, HUECK and Joh. Pengg to focus even more closely on customer needs. Berndorf is thus taking full account of the fact that economic development is now being driven by a large number of global centers.
Berndorf Group on the road to climate neutrality
In 2022, it became clear that the gradual easing of the coronavirus pandemic would by no means bring the planet's development into calmer waters. With Russia's attack on Ukraine, the war returned to Europe. Supply chains were shaken again, inflation replaced many years of price stability and a massive energy price crisis made the need for an independent energy supply the most important component of the energy transition in the economy.
A time that is rich in external influencing factors requires decisions to be made with foresight. Necessary investments in energy independence were possible from our own resources. For example, the subsidiary Venturetec Rotating Systems at the Group's site in Kaufbeuren, which was opened in 2020, already covers half of its electricity requirements from its own resources thanks to photovoltaics. Berndorf AG's parent site in Lower Austria is the third-largest business electricity generator in the country.
2025 – Change in the BAG management board
Berndorf AG is entering the second half of the current decade with a change in its management board. Effective July 1, 2025, Thomas Karazmann succeeded Dietmar Müller as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The Viennese native is new to Berndorf and previously served as CFO of the Pankl Group. In keeping with Berndorf tradition, the handover was meticulously planned over many months. Dietmar Müller, who did not renew his board mandate after four terms, can look back on 35 successful years in Berndorf and is continuing his career as an entrepreneur. Together with CEO Franz Viehböck, Thomas Karazmann is preparing Berndorf for the challenges of the future.
The focus is on long-term innovation projects that will secure the group's position in the high-tech sector in the future. The decarbonisation of heat treatment processes, the energy-efficient production and storage of hydrogen for industrial applications, and the expansion of international networks with increased energy transmission capacity promise great potential for success.
The Berndorf joint venture Lumpi, a producer of wires and ropes, has become one of the most important providers in the field of electrical energy and data transmission. In 2025, the company's largest expansion project to date was completed at its Berndorf site, representing a total investment of €25 million. New buildings and the state-of-the-art adaptation of production halls, totaling 10,000 m² of operating space, now enable the company to better serve the booming market and leverage typical Berndorf strengths.
Formula for the future: innovation, investment and international presence
Looking back on the first half of the current decade, it is clear that the world has changed both economically and politically. Uncertainty surrounding tariffs, energy prices and supply chains is now the norm rather than the exception. In this situation, it is important to take matters into our own hands in order to achieve new growth. Berndorf AG is focusing its strategy on expanding the regional strengths of its group companies globally.
The group will be able to maintain its leading position in global competition if its businesses can rely on a secure technological edge and highly trained specialists. All current and future expansion and investment programmes at Berndorf locations therefore focus on technical qualifications such as automation and digitalisation – always with the aim of creating the best possible production conditions.
Science and technology in this time
2020: Discovery of the Covid-19 virus at the turn of the year. Infections trigger coronavirus diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic that will last until 2023. Global economic exchange is drastically restricted during this time.
End of 2020: Emergency approvals for mRNA vaccines were granted. These were the first approvals for the use of mRNA technology in humans in the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
2022: Russia attacks its western neighbor Ukraine militarily in February. The classic conventional war returns to Europe and continues to this day. Important economic links are interrupted.
End of 2022: The software company OpenAI, founded in 2015, releases a significantly improved version of its chatbot GPT for free use by the public. This makes powerful artificial intelligence (AI) available to a wide audience for the first time. Within just five days, ChatGPT-3.5 has already registered one million users.
2024 - Elon Musk's private space travel company SpaceX takes a big step towards its goal of building a fully reusable rocket. During the fifth test flight of the “Starship” spacecraft, the first rocket stage was successfully caught for the first time, returning to the launch pad and landing exactly where it was supposed to.