Managing director of offset printing inks producer Epple Druckfarben from 1952 until he resigned from operational management in 2002, Epple played a major role in the company’s success and was a member of its supervisory board until he left this position in 2015.
Epple was born in Radebeul near Dresden on 8 November 1925 and was the son of Carl and Hadwig Epple.
During his time at school he experienced the work carried out in his father’s ink factory first hand.
After the war the family fled to West Germany and settled in Mittelberg, in the south of the country. Epple then helped his father to set up ink manufacturing in the Bobingen area, close to Augsburg, studied chemistry in both Cologne and Bonn, and subsequently took over the management of the Epple factory together with his sister Karla Berz after the death of his father in 1952.
Berz helped Epple to raise his two small children after the early death of his wife.
Epple Druckfarben moved to its current premises on the outskirts of Augsburg in 1956. It expanded and opened a branch in Switzerland in 1972 and began to supply its products internationally in the nineties.
Epple acquired numerous patents during his career, including one in 1968 for spraying powder that prevents sticking when heavy cardboard sheets are stacked on top of each other.
During Epple’s period in charge of technology at Epple Druckfarben, the decision was taken in 1993 to develop and launch an environmentally friendly mineral oil-free printing ink. From that point onwards Epple continued to work on achieving a strong market position for the company in ecological printing.
Epple was highly regarded by his colleagues and knew every employee by name.
Paritculalrly interested in medicine, he also supported his employees in unconventional ways, for example on occasion driving colleagues suffering from pain to an orthopaedist in Allga¨u, around 70 miles away from the company’s base, so that they could receive the best possible medical care.
Epple, who in his spare time was a passionate skier and motorist, continued to participate with great interest in the company's supervisory board meetings up until his death on Saturday 20 July.
Today more than 200 employees work worldwide for Epple Druckfarben, which last year took a 40% stake in coatings and adhesives manufacturer Pulse Global Holdings – the exclusive UK distributor of its Epple ink range.
