Change in leadership at Knapp

After 26 years in executive management, the Chief Executive Officer of KNAPP AG, DI Eduard Wünscher, is moving to the Supervisory Board. The new executive management team is comprised of three members of the Managing Board under the lead of current Managing Board member Gerald Hofer, MBA. The executive committee of the Supervisory Board - Dr. Herbert Knapp and Univ.-Prof. Günter Knapp - announced that DI Franz Mathi and Dr. Christian Grabner will be appointed as new members of the Managing Board.

Effective October 1, 2012,  DI Eduard Wünscher will be changing to the Supervisory Board of the company. Wünscher, who has been active on the executive management team for 26 years, with 25 years as Managing Director as well as being part of the Managing Board at KNAPP, will continue to assist the company in an advisory role in addition to his activities on the Supervisory Board. “Eduard Wünscher has significantly contributed to the successful development of KNAPP AG. His leadership has shaped the company and led us to where we are today: ranking at the top of the market”, says Dr. Herbert Knapp, chairperson of the KNAPP AG Supervisory Board.

During Wünscher’s leadership, KNAPP AG developed from a medium-sized business to a corporate group with a turnover of about 327 million euros (fiscal year 2011/2012). Wünscher on this change: “In the past years, through our combined efforts, we succeeded in making KNAPP a global player and became the world market leader in several industries. The time has now come for me to take on a new responsibility. I am handing over a successful business and am looking forward to my new role on the Supervisory Board!” In a meeting on August 1, 2012, the Supervisory Board prepared the ground for this transition. Herbert Knapp: “In the future, a team of three members of the Managing Board, with Gerald Hofer in the position of Chief Executive Officer and the new members of the Managing Board DI Franz Mathi and Dr. Christian Grabner, will take over the executive management of the company.”
 
Gerald Hofer, who successfully completed the master degree program for management at the Montanuniversität Leoben and joined the company in 1994, has had various management positions at KNAPP since 2001 and is part of the Managing Board since 2010. He emphasizes that he wants to continue on the successful course of the past years. Hofer: “In the last couple of years, we succeeded in positioning KNAPP on the world market as technologically leading supplier. This is only possible through constant innovation and continuous expansion in our field of expertise. The goal is to continue our organic growth in the next few years.” For the fiscal year 2012/13, management plans for an increase in turnover of about 10 percent.

With this change, two previously executive managers of KNAPP, Executive Vice Presidents Franz Mathi and Christian Grabner, take over functions on the Managing Board, which has been comprised of two individuals and increases to three. Mathi, with an electrical engineering background, joined the company in 1999 and has held various management positions at KNAPP since 2002. As COO, Mathi will be responsible for the areas of procurement, development and production. Business economist and electrical engineer Grabner was head of the company’s finance department since 2008 and was appointed as Executive Vice President in 2011. As CFO, Grabner will be responsible for the corporate group finances.

Herbert and Günter Knapp conclude: “We in particular want to thank Eduard Wünscher for the outstanding work he has done in the past. With the new Managing Board, the company is well prepared for the future. We have laid the basis for further years of success.”

KNAPP AG operates internationally in the field of warehouse automation and warehouse logistics software. The company with headquarters in Hart bei Graz has 2,100 employees worldwide.