Widely travelled and grounded

Dr. Andreas Weier is the new development head of the Detmold based manufacturer of system based construction products, SCHOMBURG
A look at the many life stages of Dr. Andreas Weier would lead one to expect a certain restlessness. In personal discussions this assumed restlessness is quickly revealed as a motivational force. Andreas Weier, the new development head of the Detmold based manufacturer of system based construction products SCHOMBURG, has already worked in many parts of the world. In addition to exotic places like Singapore, Shanghai and Irvine (California) there are also down-to-earth names like Essen, Trostberg and Stuehlingen – and now even Detmold. The 59 year old always has curiosity in his luggage and the habit of asking “strange questions, which in the end are not so silly”.
Since March 2020, PhD chemist Weier has lead the development department of 20 employees. His official title is “Head of CTA/R&D“, but unofficially he calls himself a “dedicated listener”. He sees himself as an intermediary between research, development, management and not least customer interests. Then: “in my job, one must clearly differentiate between invention and innovation. One is a great idea but only with the other one can one earn money”.
In order to do that for the company he must bring many roles under one hat. Firstly is naturally that of a scientist but at least as important in his view is the role of manager and mediator between interests and cultures. And yes, the role of inventor completes Weier. How many patents has he registered? Weier himself has stopped counting. It must certainly be over 30 patent families – the exact number is not so important to the chemist.
He finds it more important that an invention or even a patent offers a solution and creates value for the company as well as later for customers and users. He sees it as essential that all the links in the chain are of significance for the final marketable product: “In a company there are no unimportant functions – only when all functions like purchasing, production, development, product management, distribution, logistics and marketing work hand in hand, can we reach our optimum performance for the customer”.
This performance is naturally currently being put to the test. Weier came to SCHOMBURG at a challenging time. “The disruption to the framework due to Corona is astonishing – I have never experienced such in the past 35 years“. The challenges for his department are really only about making their performance “crisis safe”. That is to remain able to develop despite all restrictions and necessary distancing rules and to guarantee the proven quality even within the altered supply chains. Then: “Our laboratory work can unfortunately only be conducted up to a point from the office at home“.
In spite of Corona Weier still pushes not to forget about the other questions for modern building product systems for solutions. One of which is Radon, the invisible danger from the earth. In addition to cost efficiency and quality demands another aspect is always of importance: production ethics. Weier generally sees producers as responsible for the ecological footprint of their products and as an example with particular emphasis on regionality. This is of value to Weier, which is also becoming requested more and more from the customer side.
With all these challenges is there any room left for a private life? Yes, and Weier knows how to cleverly combine them. Travel is as before his great passion so he is still a globetrotter. And also in his free time, chemistry doesn’t play an unimportant role. Weier has a weakness for whisky. He finds it fascinating what human skills and passion can achieve with simple ingredients such as barley, yeast, water and good storage. But here Weier is not only the cool analyst but he is also interested in all that comes with it: “It is important to me, to enjoy the whisky with others and to lead good conversation. Then I can sometimes hold on to the same glass for some time”.