Waiblingen, 12/18/2019 | Company press release
STIHL expands and refocuses its Executive Board
- Concentration of strategy development in the hands of the Executive Board Chairman
- Martin Schwarz appointed as Executive Board Member for Manufacturing and Materials
- Further development of Executive Board organization as of January 1, 2020
- Adapting to growth and the need for transformation
At its meeting on December 17, the Supervisory Board of STIHL AG appointed Martin Schwarz (44) as Executive Board Member for Manufacturing and Materials as of January 1, 2020. Martin Schwarz joined the STIHL Group in 2012 as Head of Department for Technology, Special Machinery and Central and Factory Planning. He reports directly to Executive Board Chairman Dr. Bertram Kandziora, who will in future take over development and implementation of the corporate strategy in addition to his overall responsibility for business development. The Executive Board Chairman’s responsibilities therefore include strategy development, corporate development, strategic projects, digitalization, corporate communications, central quality management and internal auditing.
Executive Board Chairman Dr. Kandziora joined the STIHL Group in 2002 as the Executive Board Member for Manufacturing and Materials. He was appointed Board Spokesperson in 2003 and has additionally been Executive Board Chairman since 2005. Since he joined, the family-owned company has experienced strong growth. Revenue increased from 1.5 billion euros to 3.8 billion euros, the worldwide workforce grew by 10,000 to more than 17,000 today, and the number of STIHL companies worldwide has almost doubled.
The changing market environment, customer behavior and distribution channels create both opportunities and strategic challenges. The market relevant to STIHL is in a state of flux. The previously dominant gasoline-powered products are in large part being complemented and in some cases supplanted by cordless products. Accompanying this is a significant increase in the number of competitors and new distribution channels, including e-commerce. STIHL Advisory Board and Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Nikolas Stihl emphasizes: “With the new Executive Board organization, we are optimizing the areas of responsibility of the Executive Board portfolio. The Executive Board Chairman can now drive forward strategic topics and corporate development in a focused way. We are therefore taking account of growth in the STIHL Group and the increasing need for transformation.”
From January 1, 2020 the expanded STIHL AG Executive Board therefore comprises Executive Board Chairman Dr. Bertram Kandziora as well as Karl Angler (Finance and Information Systems), Anke Kleinschmit (Development), Norbert Pick (Marketing and Sales), Dr. Michael Prochaska (Human Resources and Legal Affairs) and Martin Schwarz (Manufacturing and Materials). “We greatly appreciate the work of our Executive Board Members and are delighted that we have been able to fill the Manufacturing and Materials post with an outstanding and specifically developed manager from within the company,” said Dr. Nikolas Stihl.
