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Actega announces new management appointments

Actega, a manufacturer of specialty coatings, inks, adhesives and sealing compounds for the print and packaging industry, has made some high-profile management appointments. These include the appointment of Jan Franz Allerkamp as head of global business line paper and board of Actega and the external hire ofStephan Plenz, an ex-Heidelberg board member, as interim general manager of Actega Metal Print.

Allerkamp, was previously the managing director of Actega Metal Print. He replaces Andreas Gipp, who, after having successfully established the paper and board business line, will become the third managing director (CCO) of Eckart, another division of the Altana group.

Allerkamp said, “After four-and-a-half years in my metal print role, I would like to take the chance for a new challenge. Although the paper and board business line was only founded two years ago, a lot has been achieved by the team. Andreas did a great job in setting up the structure and building a well-run organization and successful team. As a result, paper and board is a business on an upward trajectory. For instance, its barrier coatings initiative has huge potential and the folding carton market, with its mega trend toward increased sustainability, also represents major growth for us and for our customers.”

Thorsten Kröller, Actega chair, said, “With Stephan, we have gained someone with the right experience to seamlessly fill the Actega Metal Print role and to transition the EcoLeaf technology from a successful beta program to commercialization. I am also happy to keep Jan Franz in our division in another important leadership role for our paper and board business. Keeping and attracting the right industry experts plays an important role for us. In this way, we can further drive all of our important initiatives for more sustainability in our industry as these need people who understand the market in order to be successful.”

Commenting on his appointment, Plenz said, “I’m very excited to join Actega. EcoLeaf is such an important technology, poised to eliminate foil waste from the traditional metallization process – it will change the market forever. To achieve this, and following the beta phase, our next big step is to industrialize the solution. This is where I will use my experience of bringing technologies to market, to enable a smooth and successful series-ramp-up.”