WIRE NEWS March 2017 | Page 4

New Managing Director of Sales and Marketing at FRIEDRICH KOCKS GmbH & Co KG .

GÜNTHER SCHNELL TAKES OVER FROM SERGIO FILIPPINI
From Left to Right - Ali Bindernagel ( Chairman ), Sergio Filippini ( Member of the Board ), Günther Schnell ( Managing Director Sales & Marketing ) and Rötger Teyke ( Managing Director Commercial )
With effect from 1st February , 2017 , Günther Schnell takes on the role of Managing Director Sales & Marketing at FRIEDRICH KOCKS GmbH & Co KG .
The 48-year-old takes over from Sergio Filippini , who leaves the company on 1st March , 2017 , to go into retirement . Mr . Filippini spent 16 years with KOCKS in a managerial capacity , five of which were spent heading the vital Sales & Marketing section at the German headquarters in Hilden .
The appointment of Günther Schnell ensures the addition of another expert to the company ’ s executive team . Mr . Schnell has considerable experience in the steel industry . Following his degree in Process Technology , he began his career in 1997 with VAI Technometal GmbH as a Project Manager Sales & Technology in the field of secondary metallurgy . In 2002 he joined FRIEDRICH KOCKS GmbH & Co KG for the first time , eventually taking on the position of General
Manager Sales / Chief Representative China . Then in 2010 he joined SMS group GmbH , where he headed successful Sales as General Manager for wire rod , bar and merchant bar mills .
“ I ’ m anticipating new challenges at KOCKS ,” said the new sales head , “ and I look forward to working with my former colleagues again ”. He went on , “ KOCKS is a unique brand with an outstanding and dedicated team of experts . The 3-roll technology of KOCKS has been setting standards in the long products industry for decades with regard to quality and reliability .”
Mr . Schnell added that as a privately owned , mid-size niche player , KOCKS should seek to stand out not only with an outstanding product , but also by putting the customer ’ s success at the heart of its activities and giving every single customer undivided attention , excellent service and quick response times . “ I ’ m looking forward to contributing to these ambitious goals ,” he said .
WN MARCH 2017 4