Helmuth Ludwig named industry sector CEO

Siemens announced that Helmuth Ludwig has been appointed chief executive officer of the company’s Industry Sector in North America, effective Oct. 1, 2011. In this role, Ludwig will be responsible for all business activity and executive management of the Industry Sector business in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America.

As announced in 2010, the Industry Sector will sharpen its focus in several key industrial markets as well as expand its service offerings across the globe. The new industrial market focus will enable Industry to become closer to its customers and develop and deliver solutions tailored to the unique challenges within their businesses. Additionally, it will ensure that one organization is chartered with bringing all available Siemens expertise to the customer through its Customer Services, Drive Technologies, Industry Automation and Metals businesses.

"Helmuth brings with him more than 20 years of Siemens experience, having held a broad range of strategic leadership positions that have taken him around the globe including assignments in Argentina, and for the last four years, the United States," said Siegfried Russwurm, CEO, Industry Sector, Siemens AG. "He has shown a strong track record of success in both our industrial software and technology businesses and we are confident that industry expertise will provide customers not only a coordinated portfolio of products and solutions, but also the critical customer care they are demanding over the lifecycle of their projects." The following leadership team has been appointed to report directly to Helmuth Ludwig:

• Raj Batra, president, Industry Automation division-USA
• Doug Keith, president, Drive Technologies division-USA
• Jagganath Rao, president, Customer Services division-USA
• Tom Kopanski, senior vice president, Sales-USA
• Aashish Gupta, vice president, Metals Technologies-USA
• Michael Gross, Industry Sector Country Leader-Canada
• Alejandro Preinfalk, Industry Sector Country Leader-Mexico

"In North America we have a spectacular team of more than 15,000 employees focused on growing our business by partnering with customers to address their unique business challenges and helping them become more productive, flexible and sustainable," said Helmuth Ludwig, CEO of Siemens Industry Sector, North America. "Ultimately, by enriching our industry expertise, providing ongoing value added service and offering one face to the customer, we are well positioned to grow the business in a way that we previously could not."

After serving as general manager of Siemens’ first organization in Kazakhstan, Ludwig joined the Automation and Drives group and eventually became head of Siemens’ Energy and Industry division in Buenos Aires and then president of Systems and Software House. Ludwig later moved to the systems engineering business as president before being appointed president of Siemens PLM Software in 2007. In that role, he successfully led the organization’s integration of UGS Corp. into Siemens with its 50 legal entities and multiple facilities in 26 countries while working with its management team to develop long-term strategic direction. In the past year he was responsible for the global communications activities of the Industry sector’s Industry Automation division. He joined Siemens in 1990, working in corporate strategy developing regional strategies.

Ludwig holds a masters degree in industrial engineering from the University of Karlsruhe, an MBA from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. He is fluent in German, English and Spanish.

www.siemens.com 

Siemens Industry

– Edited by Chris Vavra, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com 

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