Effective from 1 October, Sonja Mechling, who is joining the company from Robert Bosch Smart Home, is taking over as the manufacturer’s chief marketing officer and will also become managing director of Heidelberg's Digital Unit, launched in April this year to "speed up" the company's e-commerce and digital marketing activities.

Mechling is an e-commerce specialist and has experience in building up new business units in Asia and around Europe.

As chief information officer (CIO), Stefan Heizmann will be Heidelberg’s new head of IT. He will join in mid-October from the Gühring Group, where he has also been in charge of IT.

As part of the Heidelberg team, he will use his experience in corporate IT, creating digital platforms, and developing new business models to implement the company’s digital transformation in the field of IT.

Mechling and Heizmann will both report to Heidelberg chief digital officer Ulrich Hermann, who said: “Sonja Mechling will make a major contribution, helping rapidly drive forward our plans to establish our digital sales channels and digitise our customer journey.

“[Stefan] Heizmann will put Heidelberg IT systems on course to become a digital business platform. This will allow us in the future to provide an end-to-end digital context for our customers, partners, employees, and equipment.”

Finally, Robert Franz, a sales manager with international experience joining from Rittal at the beginning of November, will oversee global sales at Heidelberg in the sales operations unit. Franz will be responsible for global sales operations and for refocusing the organisation at Heidelberg on digital omnichannel sales.

“As a result of our customer segmentation, a whole new role is being added to sales. In the future, the operational focus in sales will be on identifying the potential for generating added value with customers and realising this potential in solutions,” said Hermann.

“Under [Robert] Franz, particular attention will be focused on reorganising sales for offerings that are geared toward customer segments and new business models, integrating digital sales channels, and pursuing sales excellence and data analytics.”

Mechling will replace an interim head of Heidelberg's Digital Unit, who is leaving as planned, while Heizmann and Franz will replace two staff who vacated the same roles at the beginning of 2018.

Heidelberg chief executive Rainer Hundsdörfer said: “All three are going to be a driving force behind the company’s transformation. With their international experience in management positions, they’re going to make a major contribution to this period of expansion and growth.”