Dr. Steven Althaus follows Renato Luck as CEO of the Grenzebach Group
After five successful years as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Grenzebach Group, Renato Luck has decided to leave the company in autumn for personal reasons. This change in the executive leadership of the Group was discussed and planned in advance with ownership. During his time with the company, Renato Luck strategically realigned the international group of companies and led it back to economic success.
Successful strategic realignment generates new growth
In recent years, Grenzebach has been able to strengthen its position as market and technology leader in its core business and has achieved significant successes in expanding strategic growth areas. In the Glass Division, the origin of the Grenzebach Group, the acquisition of CNUD EFCO GFT was an important step towards becoming an end-to-end supplier of float glass plants. The main focus was the possibility to offer customers comprehensive support and services. "As a result of the merger, we now have profound expertise in key processes and can supply our customers with best-in-class production lines and accompanying services," explains Renato Luck. Customers appreciate the wide-ranging consulting and support services in all life cycle phases of their plant. For new customers, this ability is often a decision criterion. In the Gypsum Business, Grenzebach has been able to penetrate the Chinese market with major orders for new plasterboard lines using its consulting services and ability to be a Total Solutions Provider. While these changes have strengthened the core business, Grenzebach has also successfully expanded its strategic growth areas.
Grenzebach's intralogistics solutions have already convinced renowned reference customers in various extremely demanding industries. Leading logistics, consumer electronics and automotive companies use automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for Automated Goods Transport or Goods-to-Person solutions. "If you can handle the complexity of an individualized automobile production or an e-commerce warehouse with your holistic automation solutions, you will also convince other industries," says Renato Luck. Other innovative Grenzebach technologies also meet their customer’s highest demands. The company is a pioneer in the industrialization of Friction Stir Welding (FSW), which is used primarily in the automotive industry. The Grenzebach solution not only provides a quality welded joint, but the information gathered from its digital solutions brings additional value to customers. For its digitalization initiatives Grenzebach can rely on the internally developed digitization platform SERICY. Thanks to its own IIoT platform, digital added value can be created for customers without having to pass on sensitive information and process know-how to external service providers. SERICY is also available to other machine and plant engineering companies for their developments. Additive Manufacturing is also a future market for Grenzebach. The company is already working with leading suppliers for industrial 3D printing of metal and plastic parts.
"Innovativeness and entrepreneurial spirit are our defining characteristics. We want to create beneficial added value for our customers with progressive, future-oriented products and services and use our core competencies to open up new, promising markets for us," says Renato Luck, summarizing Grenzebach's growth strategy.
Successes are also reflected in the economic result
While establishing new and expanding on existing business segments, Grenzebach has continued to focus on bring competitive solutions and pricing to its customers. These successes are also reflected in the financial results of the past fiscal years. Sales in 2018 reached historic records, and thanks to efforts to improve profitability, 2019 expectations were exceeded. "In the last few years, we have brought many new innovative products and services to the market that create true added value for our customers. The great successes achieved as a result are primarily the successes of our employees and form the basis for the further, positive development of the Grenzebach Group," explains Renato Luck.
The continuation of the success path is the declared goal
Sonja Grenzebach-Proeller, main shareholder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Grenzebach Group thanks Renato Luck for what he has achieved. "Without Mr. Luck, Grenzebach would not be where we are today. Thanks to his entrepreneurial foresight and tireless efforts, he has successfully led the Grenzebach Group to new sustainable growth. We will always be truly grateful to him for this extraordinary achievement. We deeply regret his decision and wish him all the best," says Sonja Grenzebach-Proeller. Renato Luck's successor is Dr. Steven Althaus, who has accompanied the development of the Grenzebach Group since 2015 through his membership in the Advisory Board. He will take over the role as Group CEO from Renato Luck in the next weeks. The common goal: a seamless transition. "Especially in the current global challenging situation, it is important to me to ensure a smooth transition," explains Renato Luck. "Our common goal is to continue on the road of success. I am looking forward to the new task and to actively shaping Grenzebach's further development. Renato Luck has achieved great things together with the Grenzebach team. Thanks to our strong competitive position and the outstanding results of recent years, we will emerge from the current corona crisis stronger than before. We will build on what we have already achieved, continue to make consistent anti-cyclical investments and further expand our strategies in the areas of digitalization and globalization," says Dr. Steven Althaus.
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