Zumtobel Group Gears up LED Organisation for Dynamic Growth
With effect from the beginning of the 2008/09 financial year on 1 May, the Zumtobel Group will be concentrating its existing LED activities in a single unit, the new Zumtobel LED Division.
• New organisational structure from 2008/09 financial year
• Creation of an internal centre of competence for LEDs
• Roland Michal to head up new Zumtobel LED Division
With effect from the beginning of the 2008/09 financial year on 1 May, the Zumtobel Group will be concentrating its existing LED activities in a single unit, thereby creating a flexible and efficient platform for its planned dynamic growth in the LED sector. The new Zumtobel LED Division will bundle the activities of the existing LED start-ups Ledon Lighting (Lustenau), Lexedis Lighting (Jennersdorf) and TridonicAtco Optoelectronics (Jennersdorf), forming an expert unit within the Group with a firm command of all fundamental LED technologies. As well as constantly driving forward development in this field with a focus on applications, the new division will provide optimum support for the other Group brands, as well as marketing its capabilities in new fields of business and to new customers under the Ledon brand.
"Through our existing start-ups we have already been able to secure the highly dynamic expansion of our LED activities to a current level of annual sales of EUR 35 million. The new structures will enable us to focus even more closely on LEDs as the technology of the future and help us optimise the internal process integration of LED technology over the entire value chain. All of which will boost progress towards our medium-term goal of more than EUR 100 million in LED sales," said Zumtobel Group CEO Andreas Ludwig, commenting on the role of the new Zumtobel LED Division.
The Group's strategic focus in the LED sector is on high-performance white LED light sources for general-purpose lighting, as well as the use of LED technology in OEM and project business, as already implemented at the Stadion Center mall in Vienna and the BMW Museum in Munich. Under the Ledon brand, the new Zumtobel LED Division will also be opening up new fields of application for LED technology, such as furniture and showcase lighting, medical technology and light-controlled communication elements. The new division will be headed up by Roland Michal, who is succeeded as COO of TridonicAtco by Rüdiger Kofahl. At the beginning of April, the Zumtobel LED Division will be presenting its innovative portfolio under the Ledon brand at the international Light+Building fair in Frankfurt, Germany.
As the Zumtobel LED Division will initially be largely supporting the existing Zumtobel Lighting Division (Thorn/Zumtobel) and the Zumtobel Components Division (TridonicAtco), the revised organisational structure will have no impact on the Group's segment reporting until further notice.
About Zumtobel Group:
The Zumtobel Group, based in Dornbirn in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, is one of the few global players in the lighting industry. The Group, which started life as Elektrogeräte und Kunstharzpresswerk W. Zumtobel KG in 1950, today employs a workforce of almost 7,500 and in the 2006/07 financial year posted revenues of EUR 1,234.0 million. Under the leadership of its Management Board of Andreas J. Ludwig (CEO) and Thomas Spitzenpfeil (CFO), from 1 May 2008 the Group will comprise the following divisions: the Zumtobel Lighting Division deals with the luminaire business and includes the Thorn and Zumtobel brands. The Zumtobel Components Division (TridonicAtco) handles the lighting components business, while the Zumtobel LED Division supports the LED activities of the other Group brands, as well as opening up new customer segments through the Ledon brand. The financial year of the Zumtobel Group commences on 1 May and ends on 30 April.
