Umicore Building Products Reorganizes

March 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Umicore Building Products, the manufacturer of VMZINC® architectural zinc, announces the reorganization of the corporation’s building products division subsidiaries under the common leadership of Commercial Director Frank Martinelli of Paris, France, who, in turn, reports to Senior Vice President Pierre Van de Bruaene, also of Paris, France.


Norbert Schneider, President of Umicore Building Products USA, will assume the responsibility of General Manager of Asia Pacific as well as the Americas. The subsidiaries in China, Japan, India, and Australia also will now report to him.


As support for Schneider, Umicore has appointed Michel Le Donge as Marketing Manager for the region. Schneider will continue to work out of the Raleigh, North Carolina, office, while Le Donge remains based in Paris.


“This reorganization enables us to service our markets even better, making us an even nimbler and more flexible organization,” said Senior Vice President Pierre Van de Bruaene, “It will allow us to continue building our leadership position through innovation and customer focus for the benefit of our customers and shareholders worldwide.”


“Norbert and Michel have extensive experience in building teams and markets,” said Commercial Director Franck Martinelli. “They will not just continue, they will expedite our growth in Asia, Australia, and the Americas through their drive and leadership.”


Norbert Schneider sees this reorganization as “a great challenge and a great honor. There are certainly differences between the individual markets, but I am sure there is more that unites us then what makes us different. I will do my best to provide the leadership necessary for the company and the team members to grow.”


Schneider, who has been President of UBP US for the past 12 years, added, “I am sure that the lessons I have learned over the past 12 years will pay dividends in this new assignment. I am happy that I have a strong leadership team with dedicated and talented individuals, such as our directors Laurent Heindryckx and Daniel Nicely here at UBP US, who allow me to delegate more of the operational and tactical work to them while at the same time taking on this new challenge.”


Michel Le Donge also expressed his excitement over the opportunity “to share my experiences in the Far East now with my colleagues in the additional markets. We not only have a huge amount of things to learn from each other, but VMZINC also has more innovative products and systems to launch in the near future and I look forward to bringing those to the markets.”


For more information on Umicore Building Products and VMZINC, visit http://www.vmzinc.com.


About Umicore Group: Umicore, originating from Belgian, is a world leader in metals and sophisticated materials. It works in fields where its expertise in materials sciences, chemistry and metallurgy can and does make a difference for products used in everyday life or cutting-edge industrial processes. Segments are: Recycling, Energy Materials, Catalysis, and Performance Materials. For more information visit http://www.umicore.com.

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About VMZINC: VMZINC® is the brand name of rolled zinc products manufactured and sold by the Umicore Group. VMZINC is available in a large variety or products covering the exterior building envelope, rainwater goods, ornamentals, and building interiors. For more information visit www.vmzinc-us.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.