PITTSFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2002--GE Plastics, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) with headquarters here, today named Andre Horbach President, GE Plastics Europe. Horbach succeeds Charles E. Charlie Crew who was recently named President and Chief Executive Officer of LNP Engineering Plastics, a GE Plastics company. Horbach, was previously CEO of GE Bayer Silicones.
In his new role to be based in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands, Horbach will lead the GE Polymerland customer service, sales, and supply chain organization, as well as the industry leading gepolymerland.com e-business effort in Europe. He will also be responsible for the European operations of GE Structured Products and GE Polymerhapes. In total, GE Plastics has 13 production locations and over 3000 employees in Europe.
Commenting on the appointment, GE Plastics President and CEO, Yoshiaki Fujimori said, We are delighted to welcome Andre back to GE Plastics. He brings a wealth of diverse, global experience to his new role. His experience in managing business interests in Europe--in particular his terrific passion and understanding of our European customer base--will help our team to deliver value added growth to our customers throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Horbach, 39, began his career with GE in 1988 as a member of the Technical Leadership Program at GE Plastics. Since then, he has held a series of increasingly responsible positions, including Manager of the PPO(R) chemical plant, and later Manager of Manufacturing for Lexan(R), both in Bergen op Zoom. In 1998, Horbach was named to lead the European Noryl(R) and Ultem(R) businesses, and in 1999 moved to Leverkusen, Germany as CEO of GE Bayer Silicones, a joint venture between GE Silicones and Bayer. Horbach holds as Masters degree in chemical engineering from Technical University, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
GE Plastics is the world's leading producer of engineering thermoplastics, headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., with major production facilities worldwide. GE Plastics materials, including LEXAN(R) polycarbonate, are used in millions of applications such as CDs, automobile parts, computer housings, cookware, outdoor signage, cell phones, bullet resistant shielding and building materials. The company is also a global distributor of resins through GE Polymerland, and of sheet, film, rod and tube products through GE Polymershapes.
The company's Web site is located at www.geplastics.com
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CONTACT: GE Plastics
Pam Wickham, 413-448-7383
[email protected]
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