Oerlikon Textile Restructures Organization and Management, Moves to Shanghai

Economy

Oerlikon Textile Restructures Organization and Management, Moves to Shanghai

Clement Woon, will succeed Thomas Babacan as Segment CEO from Jan’ 2012

The Oerlikon Group is to restructure its Textile Segment to increase competitiveness and profitability. The three key elements of these proposed changes are consolidation of the five Textile machinery and components businesses into three Business Units (BUs), relocation of Textile's headquarters to Shanghai and increased R&D investment in both Germany and Asia to around CHF 80 million.

The restructuring would also bring in change organizational structure. Company sources said Clement Woon, an internationally experienced executive will succeed Thomas Babacan as Segment CEO on 1 January 2012. Oerlikon's CEO, Dr. Michael Buscher, said: "We have seen strong improvement in our Textile business, resulting in record margins. We are positioning the Textile Segment even closer to our largest customers, consistent with our strategy to further increase efficiency and profitability. I would like to thank Thomas Babacan for his dedication to Oerlikon and welcome Clement Woon to the company."

The changes support the company’s continued focus on operational discipline and are expected to lift the underlying performance of Oerlikon Textile to a new level, building on an already strong market position in Asia.

Oerlikon Textile would henceforth comprise of three key business units: A new Manmade Fibers BU will comprise Oerlikon Barmag and Oerlikon Neumag. The new Natural Fibers BU will consist of Oerlikon Schlafhorst and Oerlikon Saurer. The structure of the Textile Components BU remains unaffected by the realignment. However, the branding will remain same and not change but the company will shift of key Oerlikon Textile management to Shanghai. Oerlikon Textile Executives, including the CEO and CFO, will relocate to Shanghai in the first quarter of 2012. By end of 2012 more than 40 % of all Textile senior management positions will be based at Oerlikon's new office in Shanghai.

Oerlikon Textile would also increase its 2012 R&D investment in Germany to around CHF 60 million (worldwide to around CHF 80 million) and start ramping up R&D capacity in China. The German R&D organization will focus on the continued development of ground breaking innovations such as the recently launched Autocoro 8 from Oerlikon Schlafhorst. The Asian R&D capability will specialize in regional adaptation.

After successful contribution over many years, Thomas Babacan will hand over his management responsibilities as Segment CEO to Clement Woon (52, a citizen of Singapore) on 1 January 2012 and leave the company. Clement Woon, an executive with extensive international experience, particularly in Asia, has a strong background in both the technology and service industries. He will be Oerlikon's first Segment CEO based in Asia. The position of Oerlikon Group COO will be eliminated.

With a presence in this region for almost 50 years, Oerlikon Textile's sales in Asia will reach around 70 % of total sales in 2011. "To ensure the continuation of this success, we will manage the textile business directly out of its most important market and at the same time strengthen R&D capabilities, especially in Germany", said Group CEO Buscher. Nearly 45 % of Oerlikon Textile employees are based in Asia today, with that share rising to 50 % by the end of 2014. By the end of 2012 more than 40 % of Oerlikon Textile senior management positions will be based in Shanghai (up from 10 % at present). With this simplification of the organization, and a strong order book reaching into 2014, Oerlikon Textile is positioned to benefit from long-term trends in the textile industry.