Steffen Potrafke was born in 1961 in Bönnigheim (Baden‑Württemberg). He is married and has two children.
After his studies of industrial engineering and management at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, he started his career at AUDI AG in Neckarsulm in 1988. He was at first active in logistics planning, followed by a position as team leader within plant logistics in Neckarsulm, before moving in 1992 to Škoda in Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic), where he was in charge of logistics planning for three years.
Steffen Potrafke then returned to Neckarsulm and was responsible for the test center/finish section of manufacturing in vehicle assembly. In 1997, he was made head of plant logistics at the Audi facility in Neckarsulm. In 2005, Potrafke returned to assembly, where he was in charge of the production of the models Audi A4, A5 Cabriolet, A6 and A7. He then moved to the Audi headquarters in Ingolstadt in 2016, where he was responsible for production in the management of model series C/D for one and a half years.
Since January 1, 2018, Steffen Potrafke has been Head of Brand Logistics at AUDI AG. In this position, he manages the logistics processes of the Audi brand for all production sites. This includes program planning, logistics IT, pre‑series logistics, international logistics, transport logistics and logistical supply management. He is also responsible for the logistical planning of projects at Audi plants outside Germany.