Sandvik Appoints New President for Kanthal
Sandvik Materials Technology has announced the appointment of Jonas Gustavsson as President of Kanthal, its specialist heating systems product area.
Jonas Gustavsson, 41, joined Sandvik in January 2008 as General Manager for Sandvik's Product Unit Tube in Sandviken, Sweden. Previously he was Vice President of Operations with Bombadier Recreational Products in Austria, where he had global responsibility for the engine supply chain. Prior to this he held a number of production management positions within ABB before moving to Bombadier in 2001. He has an MSc in mechanical engineering from Luleå Technical University.
With an extensive background in operations and production management, Jonas has spent a number of years actively working with 'lean' manufacturing and change programs. He is married with two young children and takes over as President of Kanthal on 15 May, 2009.
Kanthal is one of Sandvik Materials Technology's six product areas and is a world-leading manufacturer of electrical heating elements and alloys for generating, controlling, protecting against and measuring heat. These include heating elements, radiant tubes, gas burners, protective tubes, thermocouple components and bimetal strip.
Its products can be found in everyday items around the home, in cars and in some of the most demanding industrial manufacturing processes such as ceramics, chemicals, electronics, general appliances, glass, heat treatment, medical, non-ferrous, steel, aluminum, automotive and many more besides.
The company's extensive research and development capability formulates dedicated heating solutions to meet customer specific requirements.
Commenting on his appointment Jonas Gustavsson said, "Kanthal has an enviable reputation for its innovation and development of world leading heating technology. I am extremely excited to be joining the company which has an established global presence in the sector.
"In the short term there are many challenges in the market, as there are for all businesses in the current climate. At Kanthal we will continue to strengthen our market position even further, based on our advanced products and extensive application expertise. This allows us to offer customers significant product advantages and dedicated solutions, so that they can improve both their productivity and profitability."
Sandvik Materials Technology is a business area within the Sandvik Group and a world-leading manufacturer of high value-added products in advanced stainless materials, special alloys, metallic and ceramic resistance materials, as well as process plants. Annual sales in 2008 were around SEK 21,500 M with 9,300 employees. The product areas comprise: Tube, Strip, Wire, Kanthal, Process Systems and MedTech
