The former SMS Group extrusion machinery subsidiaries Battenfeld Extrusion Group and Cincinnati Extrusion have been reorganised by private equity group Triton, which bought them early last year. From tomorrow Wolfgang Studener, long-standing managing director of Battenfeld Extrusionstechniks, will take over the management of both groups of companies. Responsibility for the individual companies will then fall to Rainer Kottmeier at Battenfeld who was previously general manager of the pipe product group and a member of management board, while the top management of Cincinnati Extrusion will remain with Walter Haeder.
The aim of the reorganisation is to streamline the operations of the two companies - pipe and profile equipment at Battenfeld and sheet equipment at Cincinnati - and protect them against the anticipated downturn in the extrusion equipment market forecast by Mr Studener a few months ago. The support functions of the two companies will be pooled with combined strategic purchasing, production, logistics and financial administration. Manufacture of components such as extruder screws and extrusion dies, which requires specific know-how, will remain where it is at the sites in Vienna, Bad Oeynhausen and McPherson, USA (American Maplan). However there will be a focus on reducing delivery times using tools such as Lean Six Sigma, which has been used successfully in Bad Oeynhausen and Vienna since the beginning of this year.
The two companies have a total workforce of more than 800 and had sales of Eur 230 million in 2007. |
