Heinz Zahoransky, managing director of molds and automation systems manufacturer Zahoransky AG and the son of the company founder, died in July, in Freiburg, Germany. He was 95.
Zahoransky played a leading role in turning the family business, which was founded in 1902, into an international company, the firm said in a news release.
Zahoransky developed more than 200 of the company's estimated 700 registered patents. He worked 46 years before retiring from management in 2005. Zahoransky Group began as a brush maker and developed to become an engineering firm focused on equipment for the production of toothbrushes, household cleaning objects, drug delivery devices and other medical equipment.
After retirement, he was named an honorary citizen of Todtnau and awarded the Cross of Merit of Germany, the Medal of Merit of the La Rioja region in Spain, the Baden-Württemberg Business Medal and the Entrepreneur Prize of the city of Freiburg.
"My father was not only a forward-thinking entrepreneur who made us a world-class technology leader. He was also always committed to good causes in the region and beyond," Ulrich Zahoransky, his son and a board member, said.
Heinz Zahoransky was born in 1928. His schooling was interrupted by Word War II and of imprisonment in France.
After returning home, Heinz Zahoransky earned his diploma from a night school program, where he also met his wife, Hanni Galli. They were married in 1953.
Heinz Zahoransky then completed his studies in mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe in 1954 followed by his doctorate in 1958.
In 1959, he joined his father's company was appointed managing director alongside his stepbrother in the same year.
Starting in 1963, Heinz Zahoransky managed the company alone for three decades and laid the foundation for its successful development.
Under his leadership, the company experienced an unprecedented period of growth thanks to numerous new designs, most of which were based on his ideas.
Heinz Zahoransky put an emphasis on global customer contact, consistently invested in the expansion of the production facilities, and introduced a company improvement system that rewarded employees' suggestions for efficiency and improvement.
In 1970, the second-generation manager founded a Zahoransky company charity supported by both employees and the company. He also introduced profit sharing so employees would share ownership.
After he stepped down from the management board in 2005, Heinz Zahoransky remained on the company's supervisory board until 2012.
During retirement, he focused on private interests, such as astronomy and painting.
Heinz Zahoransky is survived by two children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.