UPDATED — Gerd Liebig, the former head marketing manager of Engel Holding GmbH, has been appointed managing director-chief sales officer at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH — marking his return to the Demag injection molding machinery business based in Schwaig, Germany.
Starting April 1 — after NPE 2015 — Liebig will take over the full responsibility of all worldwide sales, after sales and marketing activities of the business, which is owned by Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. in Japan. He will also lead the worldwide sales subsidiaries and representatives.
Liebig spent 15 years at Demag Plastics Group, which was acquired by Sumitomo in 2007, as marketing director and later chief strategic marketing officer. He joined Engel, the Austrian injection molding machinery maker, in 2006 as head of marketing — a role he left in November 2014.
Now Liebig has resurfaced at Sumitomo Demag, which since he left has become a plastics machinery manufacturer that combines Japanese and German expertise. Liebig fills the chief sales officer position at Sumitomo Demag that was previously held by Christian Renners, who left the company in November to pursue new professional challenges.
Sumitomo Demag said in a news release: “In the new position Gerd Liebig will work hand in hand with Dr. Tetsuya Okamura (CEO of Sumitomo Demag and senior vice president of Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. Japan) and Andreas Schramm (chief technical officer) and will thus continue to drive ahead with guiding Sumitomo Demag into a future position of global market leadership in the injection molding business.”
Sumitomo Demag has production facilities in Schwaig and Wiehe, Germany, and in Ningbo, China. The company also has a technology center in Strongsville, Ohio that handles sales, parts and service, and machinery rebuilding for the North American market.
Sumitomo Demag officials said that by mid-2015, annual production capacity at Ningbo will increase from the current rate of 650 machines to 1,000 injection molding machines.
Plastics News senior reporter Bill Bregar contributed to this report.