The Board of Directors of Feintool International Holding has appointed its long-standing Vice-Chairman, Alexander von Witzleben, to succeed company founder Fritz F. Boesch in the role of Chairman. Mr von Witzleben will assume his responsibilities as Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on 20 January 2009.
In addition, the Board of Directors has decided to optimize the organizational structure in the Automation segment. From the beginning of the new financial year (1 October 2008), the Automation Systems business area will be restructured with a view to meeting future market challenges more efficiently.
45-year-old Alexander von Witzleben comes from Weimar in Germany. From 1993 onwards he worked under Lothar Späth at Jenoptik AG in Jena, where he was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1996 and appointed Chairman in 2003.
In 1996, Mr von Witzleben took over the vacated seat of Lothar Späth on the Supervisory Board of Promera Jena Feinschneid- und Umformtechnik GmbH, a joint venture founded by Feintool and Jenoptik. In 1998 he became a member of the Board of Directors at Feintool, where he has held the function of Vice-Chairman since 2005.
On 1 July 2007 Mr von Witzleben accepted a position on the Board of Directors of Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, where he is responsible for four business areas with strong sales figures. He will continue to exercise this role up to 31 December 2008.
Alexander von Witzleben will assume his responsibilities as Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting of 20 January 2009. In addition, he serves as a Supervisory Board member at a number of other companies in Germany.
Optimizations in the Automation segment to be implemented
In the Feintool Automation segment currently led by CEO Joachim Kaufmann on an ad interim basis, the business area for automated assembly systems, Automation Systems, will be restructured and aligned more closely to customer requirements with effect from the beginning of the new financial year commencing 1 October 2008. The three existing companies (Feintool Automation in Aarberg and Berlin, IMA Automation in Amberg) will collaborate more closely and management structures will be optimized. The aim here is to consolidate and further expand the strong market position in Europe.
The Automation Systems business area will now operate solely under the well-positioned IMA Automation brand, and will be led by Peter Grosse and headquartered in Amberg, Germany. The companies in Aarberg and Berlin will be redesignated IMA Automation Aarberg and IMA Automation Berlin.
Both Sales and Key Account Management will be centrally coordinated, and will be responsible for capacity utilization at the three locations. Other operating functions within the business area will also be coordinated on a cross-location basis. This restructuring of the Automation Systems business area will entail the phasing out of six jobs in the Aarberg facility. The affected employees will either be offered positions in other facilities or offered socially acceptable solutions. In addition, any concerns raised by the social partners of all three companies will be taken into account in the implementation phase.
For further information, please contact:
Board of Directors: - Alexander von Witzleben, Vice-Chairman,
Group Head / Automation Segment - Joachim Kaufmann, CEO
Tel. +41 (0)32 387 51 11
Feintool is a leading technology and systems provider in fineblanking/forming and assembly automation. It is also a global supplier of metal and plastic components.
Feintool operates globally at the company's own facilities in Switzerland (head office in Lyss), Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States, Japan and China, where around 1900 employees are committed to customer satisfaction.
Feintool International Holding
Industriering 8, CH-3250 Lyss
Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 11
Fax +41 (0)32 387 57 81
Head of
Corporate Communications
Urs Feitknecht
Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 63
Fax +41 (0)32 387 54 16
Mobile +41 (0)79 204 41 13
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