 Pekka Lundmark |
Konecranes president & CEO Pekka Lundmark will relocate to Singapore in August for about a year to support the company's developing operations in emerging markets.
Ludemark says "a strong senior management attention" to emerging market requirements is vital to Konecranes' business success..
"A continuously growing share of growth in the world's industrial production and logistics investments takes place in emerging markets in general, and in Asia in particular ... My main objective with the relocation is to build a personal contact network among customers and other decision-makers in Asia, and better understand their thinking, plans and needs," he says.
Lundemark's temporary relocation will not impact on the group's operational structure, including the group headquarters in Hyvinkää, Finland, or Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, China.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 21% of Konecranes' net sales in 2011 and its relative share has tripled in the last 10 years.
Konecranes employs about 3,000 people in the region - 26% of the group's total personnel. In China and India, Konecranes operates seven plants, including joint ventures manufacturing hoists, industrial and port cranes, and forklifts.
Emerging markets generate about one-third of Konecranes' net sales and up to half its Business Area Equipment's revenues.
In 2011, group sales totalled EUR1.896 billion (USD2.506 billion). The group has 11,700 employees at 609 locations in 47 countries.