Germany’s Sandler has named Philipp Ebbinghaus, the chief officer of finance and IT, and CFO of Sandler Nonwoven, as board member, effective January 1, 2023. On December 31, 2022, his predecessor, Wolfgang Hoflich will retire after 46 years. Christian Heinrich Sandler (CEO) and Ulrich Hornfeck, another board member, will continue in their roles.

Hoflich spent almost his entire professional life at Sandler. He started in 1976 as an assistant to the site management and seven years later rose to the position of site manager with full power of attorney. Hoflich’s responsibility for the production division has already been taken over by Stephan Hopster in July 2022. As of January 1, 2023, Hopster will be reporting directly to the CEO, the company said in a press release.

Ebbinghaus will join the management board on January 1, 2023, as an executive who has very successfully filled responsible positions within the company over the past ten years. Philipp Ebbinghaus had been assigned challenging tasks by the management board since 2013. For example, he was tasked with setting up the new US location in Perry, Georgia, he was appointed as chief financial officer of the German headquarters and the US subsidiary, and, since the middle of this year, he has also been chief information officer. After studying economics at the University of Hohenheim, Ebbinghaus worked as a controller at E. Breuninger in Stuttgart, Germany for three years before starting in the family business in 2013.

“Hoflich has helped shape 46 of the 143 years of our company history and our development into a state-of-the-art nonwovens manufacturer—an amazing legacy. Since 1995, he has been responsible for the production division, initially as head of production, and from 2010, as a member of the management board,” Christian Heinrich Sandler, CEO of Sandler, said.

“As a long-standing manager, I consider the appointment to the management board of Sandler as an honour and as recognition of the work I have done so far. Regarding my responsibilities from January 2023 onwards, I am determined to stay ahead of the game, along with the team. My goal is to continue to actively shape future topics at Sandler, for example, our commitment to sustainability or digitalisation—on the management board and with the entire Sandler team,” Ebbinghaus, said.