"I'm giving myself five years to become number one." Jean-Michel Renaudeau will no longer reach this goal of overtaking international competitor and market leader Yushin Precision Equipment (Kyoto / Japan; www.ype.co.jp). The CEO of injection moulding robotics specialist Sepro Robotique (La Roche-sur-Yon / France; www.sepro-group.com) was unexpectedly dismissed by Sepro president, Eric Radat.

Renaudeau already left on 15 May 2019, and Radat thanked him in the usual way "for his efforts to increase sales and develop the group, as well as to form very successful strategic partnerships." However, the son of Paul Radat, who passed away in 2017, also said that they wanted to give the group a new impulse. "We have to evolve and become more efficient," he said. Automotive being Sepro's largest market segment, the downturn in this sector since 2018 likely has a role to play here – see Plasteurope.com of 09.04.2019.

Michel Maire, an external manager, will lead the company until a successor is found. The new management board that was just put in place in fall 2018 will remain in office for the time being. A Sepro spokesperson told Plasteurope.com it is "business as usual." Talks with CEO candidates are apparently not yet being held. The company will probably work as much as possible on this before the "K" trade fair (www.k-online.de).

According to recent information, Renaudeau holds between 13-15% of Sepro. The rest is owned by the Radat family, which is also one of the two major shareholders in the EUR 1.8 bn heating technology group Atlantic. However, the spokesperson did not confirm the share distributions.

Sepro has witnessed unprecedented sales growth under Renaudeau. The company quintupled revenues to EUR 130m in 2018 from EUR 25m in 2009. Renaudeau had been aiming for EUR 200m in 2022. Sepro's financial results did not grow as desired, although in 2018 Renaudeau said, "We are extremely solid." The French company does not cite earnings figures, but apparently its operating result for 2017 was well over EUR 12m.

The company also made extensive investments in the recent past – in 2018 alone, Sepro invested EUR 11m to boost manufacturing capacities in France and the US. Renaudeau had also announced that the company would continue to drive expansion, with commitments in India, Iran, Japan and South Korea. In the end, that may have been too much of a good thing for the family.