05/29/2019 08:29:00 CEST Manz AG has appointed the previous managing director of Manz Slovakia s.r.o. Jürgen Knie (49) as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the Managing Board effective July 1, 2019. In his new function, he will strengthen the existing management board team of CEO Martin Drasch and CFO Manfred Hochleitner, to jointly work on the next steps toward a sustainable profitable growth of Manz AG.
Prof. Dr. Heiko Aurenz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Manz AG, comments: “We are clearly delighted that we've found a suitable internal candidate for this management board position in Jürgen Knie. Mr. Knie knows Manz AG, with its technologies, industries, suppliers, and customers for nearly 10 years. So from our point of view, he fulfills the ideal prerequisites for the COO position.”
Mr. Knie is moving from Manz Slovakia to the company headquarters in Reutlingen, Germany. As managing director of Manz in Slovakia since 2010, Mr. Knie has been, among others, responsible for the development of the Contract Manufacturing segment and thus laid the foundation for the joint venture Talus Manufacturing at the Taiwan site. Until today, Mr. Knie is also a member of the board of Talus Manufacturing. In his new role as COO of Manz AG, Jürgen Knie will be responsible for the Contract Manufacturing and Service segments as well as Purchasing, Production, and Commissioning.
Martin Drasch, CEO of Manz AG: “Jürgen Knie has been working for a long time with our stakeholders in Slovakia and at Talus. As managing director of Manz Slovakia s.r.o., he has already been involved in shaping the changes in the Manz Group in recent years. He knows our processes as well as further potentials to increase our profitability. So we are happy that he will now support us on managing board level.”