Designer and product specialist Martin Drumm joins the Penn Elcom team, bringing his vast experience, zest for innovation and imaginative flair to the company’s legendary flightcase and racks hardware division, where he will be designing and develop cool new products and bringing them to the market.
Says Roger Willems, Chairman of Penn Elcom, “It is a fantastic opportunity for Penn Elcom’s global operation to have someone of Martin’s calibre on-board and we are all very excited! He completely understands our industry and will help shape and influence Penn Elcom’s key product strategies in the mid and long term futures. We welcome him enthusiastically”.
Martin, who describes himself as “creative and a little crazy … in a good way”, is based near Frankfurt in Germany.
He’s worked for many high profile industry flightcase manufacturers over the years and his inventions in this area have included – famously – SIP foam inserts for moving lights, together with various ingenious wheel plates, butterfly catches, corner handles, cap locks, rivet protection dishes, etc., all of which are now essential everyday working solutions used universally across the professional entertainment and AV industries.
Martin has also worked as a furniture and interior designer for assorted commercial and domestic projects and his concepts have also been used for exhibition stands, so his knowledge embraces a dynamic mix of environments. The aggregate experience gained from all of these is united in his unique and resourceful approach to design.
Known for lateral and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking in the quest for neat solutions, he will be travelling to Penn’s manufacturing facilities worldwide – currently the U.K., U.S.A, Latin America and Asia – where he will be working with existing staff, training new personnel and co-ordinating a network of design studios.
All of this will add to Penn Elcom’s efficiency and ability to respond quickly to new industry and client demands and trends.
Martin’s initial projects at Penn include the organisation of a whole new production range of flightcase hardware which will benefit customers building their own quality case products who will be able get all the materials needed from a single source – Penn Elcom.
Having the right environment is essential for creative ideas to flourish and Martin is looking forward to a fertile relationship “working with a market leading brand” together with the challenges, opportunities and inspirations on the table at Penn Elcom.
As a team player, he appreciates friendly and inclusive atmospheres, and observes that Penn is a very large operation with a diversity of individuals and personalities embracing many cultures. “Everyone I have met is highly motivated and a nice person! It is a big company that still has the vision and foresight never to underestimate the value of people and integrate this with international success”.
