Erich Becker – Tinkerer, Pioneer and Visionary
His idea of shifting to the manufacture of diaphragm pumps in the mid-1960s marks a decisive turning point in KNF’s history. Erich Becker, managing partner from 1966 to 1999, leaves a lasting impact on the company like no other thanks to his inventions and bold decisions.
When Becker joins KNF as a partner in 1962, the company and its 20 employees have reached a dead end. Commissions for motor repair have starkly declined and the thread cutting and drilling machine business is facing grave technical difficulties. Yet the experienced design engineer recognizes the company’s potential. What KNF needs, according to Erich Becker, is a new product. One that does not require expensive servicing and is lightweight, making it easy to ship. After a long and intensive search, he encounters diaphragm pumps. Due to their short service life at the time, they are not very widespread. In industry, these “little diaphragms,” as they are known, are often met with condescension. But Erich Becker recognizes their decisive advantage: oil- and maintenance-free operation. He is certain that, if properly redesigned, diaphragm pumps can save KNF.
And he is right.
Even as a child, Erich Becker shows an affinity for engineering and technology. He is born in 1931 in Steinen im Wiesental, a German town not far from the Swiss and French borders. In his youth, he trains to become a machine fitter and then studies mechanical engineering at the Oskar-von-Miller-Polytechnikum in Munich. In the 1950s, he works as a design engineer both in Germany and abroad, before running his own engineering office. It is there that he meets Kurt Neuberger, who approaches him in the early 1960s to ask for his support in improving the Kurt Neuberger KG machine park.
Just one year after agreeing to join the company, Erich Becker becomes a limited partner. After Kurt Neuberger’s death in 1966, Becker takes over as the company’s sole managing director. He then shifts the company’s focus toward the manufacture of diaphragm pumps. On the days he does not spend in the testing laboratory, Erich Becker travels across the country trying to gain new customers. And his efforts pay off. He succeeds in tapping into new markets for diaphragm pumps and soon establishes an internationally renowned family-run company.
Erich Becker is also an advocate for small- to medium-sized businesses. From 1984 to 1992, he serves as president of the Economic Trade Association for Industrial Companies in Baden (Wirtschaftsverband Industrieller Unternehmen Baden). He also holds active roles in many other committees, including board membership in the State Association for Industry in Baden-Württemberg (Landesverband der Baden-Württembergischen Industrie), membership in the advisory board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques and membership in Freiburg’s Economic Advisory Committee (Wirtschaftsbeirat). In 1992, he is awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, for his service to the economy and professional development as well as to practical research and preparations made for the European Single Market.
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