Sonnenschein appointed Heidelberg's new chairman

Martin Sonnenschein is the new chairman of the supervisory board of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg). He was appointed a member of the supervisory board at the end of November by the Mannheim Register Court and has taken over as chairman of the supervisory board on December 1, 2019.

Dr Martin Sonnenschein is the new chairman of the supervisory board of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen

‘The election as chairman of the supervisory board is an honor but rather a responsibility towards shareholders, customers and employees,’ said Martin Sonnenschein. ‘I wrote my thesis here 30 years ago. Today, Heidelberg is the global market and technology leader as a systems supplier to the printing industry. Now is the time to seize the opportunities offered by digitization, technological change and new customer requirements. The current economic situation is making it more difficult. The demands on expanding expertise, speed of change and innovation are high. Profitability must increase in order to have scope for the transformation that has begun and for new markets. With the Heidelberg spirit of the entire team, we will successfully shape these massive changes.’

‘Dr Martin Sonnenschein has many years of comprehensive industrial expertise in the areas of strategy and transformation that are important to Heidelberg. He has successfully implemented growth projects around the world that have focused not only on important strategic decisions but also on digitization and increasing profitability. Thanks to his management experience, he will play a valuable role in being a sparring partner for us,’ commented Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg.

Sonnenschein is currently a partner and managing director of the management consultancy A.T. Kearney responsible for some of the most important clients in industry. In recent years, he has successfully implemented a variety of large digital transformation programs and industrial growth and innovation projects around the world, focusing on operational improvements and new business models. Before joining A.T. Kearney, he held management positions at Daimler-Benz InterServices, E-Plus Mobilfunk and ThyssenKrupp.

The supervisory board of Heidelberg had already elected Sonnenschein as chairman of the supervisory board on October 28, 2019, subject to court appointment, after Dr Siegfried Jaschinski had decided to leave the Supervisory Board for personal reasons effective November 30, 2019. Sonnenschein has been appointed until the end of the next Annual General Meeting on July 23, 2020. There he will be proposed to the shareholders for election to the Supervisory Board.

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