Gerhard Schubert, founder of the globally recognized market leader in top-loading packaging machines and the pioneer in packaging automation, celebrated a milestone birthday.

Gerhard Schubert, as founder of the packaging machine manufacturing company that bears his name, is one of the most influential developers and thinkers in the packaging industry. With his idea to handle complex packaging tasks with modularly designed, flexible machines, he initiated the successful growth of his company, which continues to this day. Schubert, a pioneer who has been shaping the packaging industry, celebrated his 80th birthday in July 2018. Gerhard Schubert was born on 16 July 1938 in Crailsheim in Baden-Württemberg. He began his professional career at the age of 15 as a mechanic at packaging machine manufacturer Strunck in Crailsheim. Following his apprenticeship, he worked first as a designer at Strunck, then at the Kugler company in Schwaebisch Hall. In addition to his daytime employment, he began working for himself during the evenings. Finally, in 1964, he founded his own engineering and design office and then in 1966, Gerhard Schubert GmbH Verpackungsmaschinen. In 1981, Schubert introduced the world’s first packaging robot at the interpack fair, revolutionising the packaging industry. As a trailblazer, he began making his mark in the world of packaging in 1966 with his modularly designed, flexible packaging machines, and he was in fact one of the first to begin working with digital technology. This exceptional ingenuity has paid off. Today, Gerhard Schubert GmbH is the recognised world market leader in CNC-controlled top-loading packaging machines (TLM). Perhaps above all, Gerhard Schubert saw the long-term success of packaging robots as based on balancing out more control with less mechanics. Since in the 1990s there wasn’t any software on the market that could take on the task of packaging machine control for him, he developed his own control system. In 1996, the company launched the first machine with a control system developed by Schubert. Gerhard Schubert’s innovations, such as modular and intelligent top-loading packaging machines, are being adopted by packaging machine manufacturers around the world. Well-known brands such as Ferrero, Nestlé, Unilever and Roche have come to rely on automation solutions from Schubert. Founded in 1966, the family company currently employs 1,250 people.