Two long-time employees bid farewell to manroland: Gerhard Puppich and Franz Reich are retiring at the end of March 2010. They have contributed greatly to the success of the company thanks to their high level of expertise and experience as vice presidents for the assembly of newspaper presses and heatset commercial presses, respectively. Along with their teams, they have ensured that enormous printing systems were set up punctually at customer sites around the world.

Gerhard Puppich (63), Vice President for the assembly of newspaper presses, initially worked for Hoechst after completing his apprenticeship as a high voltage electrician. After receiving his degree in electrical engineering, he worked for Siemens for twelve years. In 1983, Puppich joined manroland as a senior group manager for electrical assembly. He was promoted to lead this department in 1986, and in 1989 he became Vice President for electrical manufacturing and field service for heatset commercial presses and newspaper presses. Beginning in 1997, he directed final assembly for newspaper presses.

He is succeeded by Dieter Betzmeier (49), who was previously responsible for project handling of large orders for newspaper presses. Betzmeier is a trained technical draftsman and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering (UAS). An Augsburger by birth, he is married with two children.

Franz Reich (64), Vice President for the assembly of heatset commercial presses, began his apprenticeship as a machinist at MAN 50 years ago. After his military service, Reich worked as a fitter for five years in the printing press department. He subsequently enrolled in technical college. For the next 20 years, he assumed responsibility for project assembly and for customer service for heatset commercial presses, ultimately serving as Vice President in the latter department. In 1994, he became Vice President for commissioning, and the following year he assumed the same position in final assembly of heatset commercial presses.

He is succeeded by Stefan Wasserbäch (45), who was previously responsible for project management for heatset commercial presses. Wasserbäch is a trained offset printer and has a degree in Industrial Engineering and Economics. Born in Esslingen, he is married with two children.