And as times had changed, he was granted
privileges his father himself did not receive.
With a chuckle, he admits to having driven
cars around the scrap yard as soon as he was
able to reach the pedals. But even such esca-
pades were not a total waste of time since he
secured his truck driving licence at the
required minimum age of 21 and drove for
the company whenever necessary.
Based on his own experience, and aware of
the fact that the skills required to run a mod-
ern business were different to those of
advertisement advertisement
40 years earlier, his father gave him full sup-
port to complete an academic education in
business administration. With a clear idea of
what the future would require him to know,
he focused on environmental protection and
human resources. His diploma thesis dealt
with proper approaches to handing over a
business to a successor.
Following the completion of his studies, he
insisted on first gaining experience at another
company. He spent two years with Bosch at a
Czech subsidiary where he focused on procure-
ment, process management and IT tools. He
liked the work but, in 2004, accepted his father’s
call to rejoin the family company – but not
before an intensive three-day mutual assess-
ment of motives, objectives and arrangements.
Well-prepared
Starting out as a lorry driver serving the routes
to scrap suppliers, Stephan Karle spent three or
four months working in the company’s various
departments before gradually taking charge of
his own, which dealt with insurance renegotia-
tion and the modernisation of software struc-
Stephan Karle: ‘At sixty-seven, my
father is still such a workhorse,
spending twelve hours and more
a day in his office.’
Jürgen Karle: ‘A customer with a
recycling or disposal requirement
should be served in all aspects of
his problem.’
tures. He currently heads four subsidiaries –
including Süd-Rec, the latest and most
challenging ‘child’ in the bunch.
The company thus looks to be well prepared
for a pending hand-over without hang-over.
When asked what he dreads most about the
prospect of succession, Stephan Karle doesn’t
have to think long before joking: ‘At sixty-sev-
en, my father is still such a workhorse, spend-
ing twelve hours and more a day in his office.
Filling this gap will require me to add at least
one more tier to the management structure.’
JKS Karle was among the first to engage in high-level recycling of wood
residues.
Father & Son
www.macpresse.com
Loc. S. Giuseppe 20080 Vernate – Milano – Italy
Tel. +39-02.905.24.20 – Fax +39-02.905.28.93
A complete range
of equipment to
answer every
recycling demand.
RI_016_Father&son-germany.indd 4 14-05-2008 13:51:28
