ORLANDO, FLA. — A new two-man senior management team at Berstorff Corp. says the U.S. unit of Germany's Berstorff GmbH will be more tuned-in to global customers. "We really, truly want to become a more global company," said Peter Hunziker, vice president of sales and marketing.
Berstorff, in Florence, Ky., near Cincinnati, makes compounding extruders for the plastics, rubber and powder-coatings industries. The company also makes sheet lines.
Hunziker has worked at Bertstorff in North America for more than 20 years. Before being promoted to his new position, he was vice president of the company's rubber machinery division. He will be in charge of all sales, service and research and development.
The other top manager, Korbinian Kiesl, will serve as vice president and be responsible for engineering, manufacturing and administration. Kiesl served as head of finance at Berstorff's headquarters in Hanover, Germany, before making the move to Florence.
Kiesl said the U.S. unit wants to maintain closer ties to Hanover, to serve customers with factories spread around the world. "We have to focus more on our global approaches between Hanover and here," he said.
Interviewed May 9 at Berstorff's Antec booth in Orlando, Hunziker and Kiesl said they will run the U.S. unit together.
Nelson Hopcus, the former president of Berstorff in the United States, has left the company. Contacted after Antec, Hopcus, of Hebron, Ky., said he left Berstorff on good terms. He hopes to stay in the plastics industry and preferably remain in the machinery sector, he said.
While Berstorff is known for its Ultra Torque plastics compounding machinery, the company wants to become stronger in powder-coating machines, through its Compex line.
"We're relatively new in the powder-coatings market and we want to pursue this area," Hunziker said at Antec.
