Extrusion International 2-2020

18 Extrusion International 2/2020 INDUSTRY NEWS NewManaging Director ILLIG Maschinenbau has appointed Carsten Strenger to the position of Managing Director as of February 17, 2020. He has succeeded Karl Schäuble since April 1, 2020, who has held this position for more than 30 years. Strenger is respon- sible for production operations and business administration. Dr. Heinrich Sielemann is responsible for sales, service and development. The company thus be spearheaded by two managing directors, Carsten Strenger and Dr. Heinrich Siele- mann. With his extensive experience in international management of SMEs, Carsten Strenger is perfectly equipped for his new role at ILLIG. After attending the Technische Universität Kai- serslautern for engineering management, he held various senior management positions in machine and plant engi- neering companies, and also has experience at a recycling company. Strenger was most recently the managing director of an international machine manufacturing company in the ILLIG Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG www.illig-group.com packaging industry that supplied packaging equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. New double leadership: ILLIG will be managed by Dr. Heinrich Sielemann and Carsten Strenger from April 1, 2020 (Source: ILLIG) New CEO Thomas Hartkämper is the new CEO of Kautex Maschinen- bau. He is taking over from Dr. Olaf Weiland, who has had significant influence on the development of the Bonn-based company since 2005. Going forward, Hartkämper is responsi- ble for the areas of operations, research & development, and digitalization. Weiland, who is also a shareholder in Kautex Maschinenbau, is joining the advisory board, which is the controlling body of the company. Weiland brought Thomas Hartkämper into the company in October 2019 as the preferred candidate to be his successor and initially entrusted him with responsibility for operations. The former CEO had put a succession plan into place four years ago, working in consultation with all members of man- agement. His successor is an expert in change management and organizational development. Hartkämper champions a forward-looking approach to business operations, to ensure Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH www.kautex-group.com they are consistently aligned with customer requirements. Prior to joining Kautex, he had an active role for many years in managing various companies that operate internationally in mechanical engineering and plant engineering. He also has extensive experience in the plastics industry. Weiland himself is retiring from day-to-day operational business, for reasons of age. As a member of the advisory board, he will continue supporting the development of the company that he has guided for more than 15 years. Kautex Maschinenbau has seen massive sales growth under his lead- ership. With his keen sense of future market developments and his strategic skill, Weiland was able to drive forward the internationalization of the company and its transition from an automotive to a packaging-focused company at an early stage. Managing Partner Andreas Lichtenauer certainly sees Weiland in these terms and highlights “mutual trust in 15 years of cooperation, above all” as well as “continuity and fairness towards customers, employees, and partners” as the key to his success. “Weiland has not only enabled dramatic growth for many years. The fact that we ended the private equity phase two years ago and now belong to a majority shareholder, who invests in Kautex as a family business in the long term, is largely thanks to Olaf Weiland. He also took an active part in arranging his own successor for Kautex with the company’s best interests at heart”, continued Lichtenauer. Today, Kautex is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of extrusion blowmolding machines, with production sites in Germany and China as well as many international branches. Change at the top for Kautex Maschinenbau. Thomas Hartkämper (right in picture) takes over as CEO from Dr. Olaf Weiland (left) (© Kautex Maschinenbau)