Number of group managing directors increases from five to six // Peter Leibinger to drive expansion of new technology fields // Mathias Kammüller to become company’s Chief Digital Officer
The machine tool manufacturer and laser specialist TRUMPF will be expanding its Group Management effective July 1, 2017. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop (58) and Christian Schmitz (57) will be joining the company’s most important managing board. Both have been active in the company for many years. This means that in the future, the family company will be managed by three family members and three external managers.
Prokop, who has also been Chairman of the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW) since 2016, will be assuming responsibility for TRUMPF’s Machine Tools division, which until now has been headed by Mathias Kammüller. Schmitz will head the Laser Technology/Electronics division, for which Peter Leibinger will retain responsibility until June 30, 2017.
Peter Leibinger and Mathias Kammüller are to shift from operational responsibility for the divisions to responsibility for the company’s growth areas. Peter Leibinger will therefore drive the consistent development of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing or EUV. In addition to his existing responsibility for R+D in the TRUMPF Group, he will also assume responsibility for sales and service. Mathias Kammüller, who is also Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) in Baden-Württemberg, will become Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of the company. He will assume the central role in shaping the TRUMPF digital business models and will also be driving digital transformation within the company. He will retain responsibility for production, quality and purchasing.
Lars Grünert remains responsible for the company’s finances as Chief Financial Officer. In addition to her role as Chairwoman of the Managing Board, Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller will become Labor Director. This position had to be filled again following the departure of Gerhard Rübling, who ran HR for many years. Leibinger-Kammüller also held the position herself from 2005 to 2007.
For Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, this expansion of the Managing Board is a clear commitment toward providing the company with additional creative space for future issues, enabling it to continue playing a key role in the digital transformation of mechanical engineering: “Our primary focus so far has been on products and services. With the new organizational structure we are taking things a step further and reinforcing our digital interaction with our customers. That is the key message to the market.”
