PU foam producer FoamPartner (Wolfhausen / Switzerland; www.foampartner.com) is implementing a new management structure following its merger with Otto Bock Kunststoff (Duderstadt / Germany; www.ottobock-kunststoff.de) in 2017, a move which has nearly doubled the Swiss group’s turnover – see Plasteurope.com of 24.07.2017. The reorganisation, which aims to strengthen customer orientation and enhance efficiency, took effect on 1 February 2018.

The business region heads, who are in charge of sales within their particular region with profit and loss responsibility, include Gregor Gaisböck for Europe, Victor Liu for Asia-Pacific and Olaf Vorwald for the Americas. They all sit on the global management committee along with Tobias Gruener, head of global operations and Erhard Bühler, chief financial officer.

Supporting the management committee is the management team, which includes, among others, the following global business unit heads: Michael Krause, Specialties; Klaus Hellmold, Automotive Rolls; Kay Kosar, Acoustic & Thermal Solutions; Rita Kollbrunner, Living & Care and Martin Gerstenberg, Systems.

The other members of the new management team are Heribert Perler, head of foam development & product engineering and Jens Hasenjäger, head of safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ).

Otto Bock Kunststoff’s CEO Jürgen Henze is supporting FoamPartner’s CEO Michael Riedel in an advisory capacity. Riedel took over as CEO on 1 January 2018 – see Plasteurope.com of 06.11.2017.

Commenting on the restructuring, Riedel said, “We are building on the strengths and expertise of Otto Bock Kunststoff and FoamPartner and will strive to realise the significant growth potential across all regions – in the Americas and Asia-Pacific in particular.” He added that over the next 18 months, the company will include all stakeholder groups in the change process.