Dortmund. The Supervisory Board of the Wilo Group met today and resolved to approve an early extension of the contract with CEO Oliver Hermes until the end of 2023.

“We are pleased to confirm the continuation of our very successful collaboration with Oliver Hermes,” said Prof. Dr. Norbert Wieselhuber, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dortmund-based technology company for pumps and pump systems. “With Oliver Hermes at the helm, the Wilo Group has accelerated its profitable growth, Wilo’s leadership in innovation and technology has flourished and the brand has gone from strength to strength. Oliver stands for a consistent, future-orientated and customer-orientated approach for the group,” Wieselhuber continued.

Oliver Hermes currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Wilo and was initially appointed to the Group Executive Board on 1 October 2006. Under the leadership of the 47‑year old economist, Wilo’s revenues surpassed the one billion Euro turnover mark for the first time in 2010. Mr Hermes, who was born and raised in Essen, was also the driver of the technology company’s successful internationalist strategy. “I am deeply grateful for the continued trust placed in me by the Supervisory Board,” said Oliver Hermes in reaction to the news. “My goal is to further strengthen the Wilo brand in the future. We will achieve this by resolutely advancing our strategy of intensified globalisation over the coming years, by implementing the digital transformation of our company and by making inroads into new growth markets.” In the past year, the most recent milestones achieved in the implementation of our regionalisation strategy include the acquisition of the U.S.-based pump manufacturer Weil & Scot in March, the signing of a special investment contract in Russia in October and the opening of a new sales subsidiary in Cairo, Egypt, in November. The digital transformation is most prominently expressed in the new build of the new headquarters in Dortmund. The roughly 200 million Euro project will also feature a brand new ‘Smart Factory’, which exemplifies the digitalisation of Wilo’s core business processes, from production and logistics to marketing and sales. According to Oliver Hermes, so-called smart urban areas will be one of the many growth markets of the future.“ These are modern metropolitan areas where many different aspects of daily life are intelligently connected with municipal infrastructure facilities,” Hermes explained. “Today, already half of mankind lives in urban areas, with the tendency towards a rapid increase.” As a consequence, a combination of all the challenges that come with the mega trends of our times, such as the digitalisation, limited water supply, energy shortages and urbanisation, can be observed in these urbanised areas. As digital pioneer of the pump industry, Wilo responds to these challenges by developing smart and resource-efficient solutions.