Change of management at Schunk and ceremonial farewell for Gerhard Federer
October 30, 2013
The Schunk Group, based in Heuchelheim, Germany, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year with a variety of events and festivals taking place all over the world. As part of the Group’s concluding anniversary celebration on October 17, CEO Gerhard Federer, who is retiring for health reasons at the end of October 2013, received a ceremonial farewell.
From left to right: Dr Heinz-Joachim Mäurer, Dr Arno
Roth, Peter Manolopoulos and Gerhard Federer
Gerhard Federer, who announced his resignation in April 2013, has worked as part of the board of management of the Schunk Group since 2003 and became the CEO in 2007. “It is extremely hard for me to leave Schunk, but dealing with significant health problems and leading a company with over 8,000 people just cannot be done together for a long period of time,” stated Federer.
Dr Arno Roth, who has been a member of the management board since 2007, has been announced as Federer’s successor and will begin his position on November 1, 2013. “I am excited to take on the great challenge of leading such an internationally active corporation. It will be an exciting and fulfilling task to get involved in even more different markets and cultures,” stated Dr Roth. Dr Roth will be the CEO for the Sinter Metals Division as well as being responsible for the areas of personnel, finances, strategy development, public relations work, and investment controlling on the corporate level.
Peter Manolopoulos will also start work on November 1 as Roth’s successor and will be responsible for the divisions of the Weiss Group and Sonosystems. Since 2002 Manolopoulos has held several leadership positions with the GEA Group AG, his last position there being the CEO of GEA Energietechnik GmbH. In 2011 he switched to Roth & Rau AG to work as part of the board of management for operative business.
The three-person management board is completed by Dr Heinz-Joachim Mäurer, who will continue to be responsible for the Materials Division, which produces carbon, graphite, carbon fiber-reinforced carbon, silicon carbide, aluminium oxide and quartz.
The Schunk Group includes over 60 trading companies and around 8,300 employees in 28 countries, and in 2012 Schunk Group generated consolidated sales of approx. €930 million. Schunk’s Sinter Metals division consists of Schunk Sintermetalltechnik GmbH in Heuchelheim, Germany, Schunk Sintermetalltechnik GmbH in Thale, Germany, and Schunk Sintermetal S.A. de C.V in Mexico.
