Lenze, a global leader and manufacturer of electrical and mechanical drives, motion control and automation technologies, is enlarging its board of directors by adding a fourth member to the current three. This decision firmly positions the company towards the implementation of its 2020+ growth strategy, which aims to fulfil Lenze’s strategic priorities and goals until 2020 and beyond.

The newly created domain of directorial responsibility – operations – will be filled by Jochen Heier, who will be Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective January 1, 2018. Heier’s most recent position was at Yanfeng Automotive Interiors, the world’s biggest automotive supplier of interiors. As vice president and general manager for Europe and South Africa, he was responsible for the management, strategic development and expansion of the business. Before that, Heier held managerial positions in a variety of companies, including Johnson Controls, Exide Technologies and Frauenthal Holding AG.

“We are excited to continue fulfilling our 2020+ growth strategy,” said Christian Wendler, CEO and chairman of the board of directors, Lenze. “Hiring Jochen means that Lenze has succeeded in appointing an internationally experienced manager with a wide range of competencies in production, supply chain, technology, internationalization and strategy implementation. In the newly created position, Jochen will be instrumental in continuing Lenze’s positive development in the area of operations.

“By further expanding our board of directors, we believe we are excellently equipped to master the steadily growing challenges in the machine and plant manufacturing industry and to fully take advantage of the opportunities that are now emerging. Our goal is to keep growing, not only nationally but also internationally, in our three core areas – mechatronics, automation systems and solutions, and digital services – and to set Lenze up in a sustainable way for the future,” continued Wendler.

The directorial responsibilities of Christian Wendler as CEO and chairman of the board; Dr. Yorck Schmidt as Chief Financial Officer; and Frank Maier as Chief Technology Officer remain unchanged.

Lenze premiered its 2020+ growth strategy in October as part of its press conference for the 2016/17 Annual Report. In order to implement the strategy in the coming years, the company has earmarked well over 100 million euros more than the existing level of investments for the future. A large part of this will be poured into the company’s core project, the Mechatronic Competence Campus (MCC) in the current 2017/18 financial year. This is the biggest investment in the company’s history so far, and the MCC will merge three production facilities into one ultra-modern plant with state-of-the-art logistics.

The Lenze 2020+ growth strategy is the goal-oriented continuation of what began several years ago – the clear orientation towards specific market segments – and it creates the foundation for stable and sustained growth in the core business. At the same time, it takes on the challenges of digitalization and, alongside the core business, it creates space for developing new, future-oriented areas of business.

Lenze’s portfolio is built on three pillars: the mechatronic products and packages; automation systems based on both hardware and software, which is the company’s core business; and future-oriented digital services.

Within this framework, Lenze focuses on five key industries: automotive, consumer goods, converting and printing, intralogistics and textile. The company’s goal is to establish itself as one of the top 5 suppliers in each of these focus industries.