WEINHEM, Germany—Dieter Schaefer, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' chief operating officer, will retire on June 30, causing the firm to realign its management team.
The team will be restructured down to three members from four. Chief Technology Officer Theodore Duclos will take over Schaefer's responsibilities as COO and will direct the operations, lean, supply chain management and purchasing areas in addition to his current oversight of the firm's innovation management, process technology, product and material development, quality management and occupational health and safety operations.
CEO Claus Moehlenkamp will continue his responsibilities for strategy, sales, human resources and communication and Chief Financial Officer Ludger Neuwinger-Heimes will remain in charge of finance, information technology and mergers and acquisitions.
"We thank Dieter Schaefer for his extraordinarily successful work during his nearly 20 years at Freudenberg and look forward to his continued support," Moehlenkamp said in a statement. "The concepts of operational excellence and continuous improvement in manufacturing have been inseparably associated with him at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies."
The firm said that under Schaefer's leadership, it has significantly increased its performance capability and manufacturing efficiency through systematic use of both Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
Schaefer joined FST in 2001, working various leadership roles before eventually becoming a plant manager. In 2005, he was promoted to head of Freudenberg's special sealing products business area before taking over the largest area of the company, its Oil Seals Division.