Klaus Bachstein has stepped down as the head of label machine manufacturers Gallus, after 15 years in the role, replaced by Christof Naider, officially starting at the beginning of the year.
Bachstein joined Gallus as director of marketing, business development and screen printing in 1995, subsequently taking over responsibility for service and sales. He has held the CEO position since June 2002.
The 15 year period saw an influx of changes, from the introduction of the Gallus RCS, the first completely servo-driven label printing press with maximum process flexibility, to the use of technical granite as the core module for the printing and converting units in the Gallus ECS 340, which went on to become the top-selling label printing press in its class.
More recently, Bachstein oversaw the development and introduction of the Gallus Labelmaster, a fully scalable machine platform with configuration flexibility, and the Gallus Labelfire, the first industrial digital label printing press with upstream and downstream finishing steps, which handles all process steps from the roll to the fully finished and die-cut label in one production cycle
Christof Naier joined Gallus in July 2012, first as Head of Sales, Marketing, and Service Label Business, moving to general manager, Label Business from July 2017.
Heidelberg took over Gallus Group in mid-2014. Gallus says business units and functions with synergy potential in the Heidelberg Group have been integrated since then, while still maintaining the Gallus brand. This includes market development by Heidelberg’s sales and service organiations; the development and production of joint technology platforms such as the inkjet unit; and the software of the Gallus Labelfire’s digital printing unit, and the use of Heidelberg service platforms to improve Gallus’s service
Gallus says Naier will continue to rigorously implement the growth strategy for Gallus initiated three years ago and work at full throttle to drive the expansion of the digital business. The administrative board of Gallus thanks Klaus Bachstein for his contributions to the development of the company and wishes him every success in his future endeavours.
