Lasers & Sources

Trumpf adds managing directors and shifts responsibilities

April 6, 2017

Digital transformation and developing new technologies are drivers behind management changes.

Effective July 1, Trumpf (Ditzingen, Germany) will be expanding its Group Management board by adding Heinz-Jürgen Prokop and Christian Schmitz as they assume operational responsibilities for the Machine Tools division and Laser Technology/Electronics division, respectively. Peter Leibinger, deputy chairman of the company, will move from leading the laser division to assuming responsibility for developing and expanding new technology fields such as additive manufacturing and EUV lithography.

This shift means that the family-owned company will be managed by three family members and three external managers. Both Prokop and Schmitz have been active in the company for many years. Prokop, who has been chairman of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW) since 2016, will assume responsibility for Trumpf's Machine Tools division, which has been headed by Mathias Kammüller. Schmitz joined Trumpf in 1999 and is a managing director of the laser division.

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.

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 following the departure of Gerhard Rübling, who ran HR for many years. Leibinger-Kammüller also held the position herself from 2005 to 2007.

For Leibinger-Kammüller, this expansion of the Managing Board is a clear commitment toward providing the company with additional creative space for the future, enabling it to continue playing a key role in the digital transformation of mechanical engineering. She says, "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."

Source: Trumpf

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.