A look back at the highly influential career of Dr Reinhard Ulbrich, 1931-2020
Dr. Reinhard Ulbrich, the former Business Director of DuPont’s Cyrel flexo printing plates division in Europe, has died aged 89.
Dr. Ulbrich played a major role in the development of flexo printing from almost a cottage industry to the high-precision technology of today. Many still regard him as the “King of European Flexo”.
Joining DuPont in the Mylar film division in Switzerland in the early 1960s, Reinhard progressed up the corporate ladder, moving to Düsseldorf in 1969 as the manager for films in Germany. After a short spell at DuPont’s US corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, he returned to the Photo Products department in Frankfurt, German,y and eventually took on the role of Business Manager for the Cyrel business in 1982.
Flexo printing at that time was very much the stepchild of the printing industry and DuPont’s flexo plates were all made in the United States. After intensive lobbying, Dr. Ulbrich persuaded the DuPont management to install a new production line for Cyrel plates based in Frankfurt and hired young, enthusiastic printing engineers and sales staff to aggressively grow the business.
His people skills were legendary. As a supplier to the industry, Reinhard was always ready to listen to his customers’ needs. They loved being with him and he brought warmth and fellowship to the flexo industry. DuPont colleagues regarded him as both a mentor and a friend, and his staff found him easy to work with. Always full of ideas, his “customer always comes first” attitude motivated many to find new ways to delight clients.
The Cyrel “Grand Prix” flexo printing competition, which ran throughout Europe and latterly in Asia in the 1990s, was an example of Reinhard’s customer-focused thinking, bringing together flexo printers, plate-makers and brand owners to celebrate excellence in flexographic printing on cartons, flexible packaging and labels. Notable personalities such as German statesman Hans-Dietrich Genscher and US astronaut Neil Armstrong graced the events with their presence.
Born in Silesia, then a part of Germany that today belongs to Poland, Dr. Ulbrich looked east after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He focused on growing flexo printing in the former eastern bloc and Russia, where many credit him with introducing flexo printing, helping to build the economy after the revolution. Even after his retirement from DuPont, Dr Ulbrich travelled frequently to Moscow and helped introduce flexo printing courses at the Russian Academy of Printing, for which he was awarded an honorary doctorate.
With coronavirus restrictions currently preventing large gatherings, his family, friends and colleagues intend to hold a memorial event sometime in the autumn in Frankfurt, in true Reinhard style, to give thanks for his life and achievements.
Dr. Ulbrich leaves behind Katrin, his wife of many years, and his two daughters, Barbara and Caroline, as well as grandchildren Alicia and Gabriel. We offer them our most sincere condolences for their loss.