Ulrich—known at voestalpine simply as “Ulli”—studied International Logistics Management, including Spanish, a language he was able to perfect during a semester abroad in Mexico. Then one thing led to another: First, he participated in our Europe-wide management trainee program, in which projects were carried out every six months at a different voestalpine location—specifically in the Netherlands, Spain, Styria, and Upper Austria. This was followed by professional assignments at locations of the Metal Forming Division in Dettingen, Germany; Krems, Austria; and currently in Linz. There, as part of the “Purchasing Committee,” he works with representatives from all divisions to prepare group-wide procurement topics for final decisions by voestalpine and ensures that decisions made within his area of responsibility can be successfully implemented.
Thanks to his professional development within the company, Ulli has a strong professional network and sees himself as a team player who communicates with his procurement colleagues in the metal forming companies as an equal—even when opinions differ.
He regularly analyzes the division’s procurement data and works systematically to identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration among local companies and to support them. For him, it is important to focus less on difficulties and more on how projects can be successfully managed and problems resolved. In his view, openness to change is a key factor in his success, but also in our collective success.
For Procurement Manager Ulli, May 5, 2025, was a standout day—the day the group-wide decision was made to adopt a new digital procurement platform that will take collaboration among all voestalpine colleagues in the area of procurement to a whole new level. For two years prior to that, he had already been working toward this decision together with experts from all divisions.
For Ulli, personal #FavoriteMoments mainly revolve around sports and exercise: running, hiking, biking in nature, ski touring, or even traveling. He doesn’t particularly like having music in his ears while doing these activities; for Ulli, listening to the sounds of nature is more enjoyable. Incidentally, he plans his athletic outings with sustainability in mind—for the past three years, he has traveled exclusively by public transport in Austria using a “climate ticket” and has had excellent experiences with it. He particularly enjoys taking a look at voestalpine’s “Green Line” at the end of long-distance platform 8 at Linz Central Station.
In our new brand and image campaign #FavoriteMoments, we show our contribution to a modern, sustainable life from the perspective of people. We focus on their individual favorite moments and the commitment of our employees that makes such moments possible. The specially composed song “All these moments” accompanies the campaign and musically conveys our values, courage, community and our joy for the future and is authentically accompanied by pictures of our employees.
Die voestalpine ist ein weltweit führender Stahl- und Technologiekonzern mit kombinierter Werkstoff- und Verarbeitungskompetenz. Die global tätige Unternehmensgruppe verfügt über rund 500 Konzerngesellschaften und -standorte in mehr als 50 Ländern auf allen fünf Kontinenten. Sie notiert seit 1995 an der Wiener Börse. Mit ihren Premium-Produkt- und Systemlösungen zählt sie zu den führenden Partnern der Automobil- und Hausgeräteindustrie sowie der Luftfahrt- und Öl- & Gasindustrie und ist darüber hinaus Weltmarktführer bei Bahninfrastruktursystemen, bei Werkzeugstahl und Spezialprofilen. Die voestalpine bekennt sich zu den globalen Klimazielen und verfolgt mit greentec steel einen klaren Plan zur Dekarbonisierung der Stahlproduktion.