A. Schulman (Akron, Ohio; www.aschulman.com) announced that Bernard Rzepka has been promoted to the role of executive vice president, COO, effective immediately. In this new position, Rzepka will implement corporate strategy and growth plans within the global operations organization. Accordingly, the global supply chain & chief procurement officer, chief marketing officer, and the three regional vice presidents and general managers will now report to Rzepka. Rzepka will report directly to chairman, president and CEO Joseph M. Gingo.

Rzepka most recently served as vice president and general manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) for A. Schulman. After spending five years at ICI Advanced Materials, he joined A. Schulman in 1992.

The US compounder and distributor also announced that Heinrich Lingnau will replace Rzepka as vice president and general manager, EMEA. Lingnau will also keep his current responsibilities as masterbatch solutions business unit leader for the short term. He joined A. Schulman in 1999 after working for 11 years at DuPont. He was a regional business leader in engineered plastics with A. Schulman before transitioning into various management-level positions within the company's European operations.

Additionally, the company announced today that the board of directors has negotiated an agreement with Gingo that, in the event of a transformational acquisition in the specialty chemical space such as the recently proposed Ferro acquisition (see Plasteurope.com of 07.03.2013), the board could exercise an option to extend Gingo's employment contract as CEO for up to two years.