Klaus Richter

Biography

 Klaus Richter became Chief Procurement Officer for Airbus Group SE on 1 January 2015. In this function, he is a member of the Group Executive Committee and the Airbus Executive Committee. In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Airbus in Germany and leads the Supervisory Board of Premium AEROTEC Group. He is in charge of procurement across the entire Airbus Commercial Aircraft organisation, having responsibility for developing strong partnerships with suppliers and ensuring timely delivery of all purchased goods on cost and with the proper quality. In addition, Richter leads the General Procurement Organisation of Airbus. He coordinates strategic procurement topics, as well as the development and application of procurement processes and tools across the Group. Richter is also responsible for the Airbus Regional Sourcing Offices in the U.S., India and China. In January 2017, Klaus Richter also assumed the role of the president of the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI). Richter joined Airbus in November 2007 as Executive Vice President Procurement for Airbus. Before joining the Group, Richter was Senior Vice President Materials Purchasing for BMW, based in Munich, Germany. In this position, he was heading all supplier relations for direct materials and equipment across the entire company. Klaus Richter began his professional career with McKinsey & Company in 1993 as a management consultant for automotive, electronics and aerospace businesses and product development, a role which he retained until he joined the BMW Group in 2003 as Head of Purchasing Strategy for production materials. Richter graduated from the Technical University of Munich where he obtained a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1991. After graduation he received a Humboldt scholarship and spent two years as a researcher and teacher at the University of California at Berkeley.

Research Interest

 Engineering