Bernard Biolchini was appointed as EVP. © Dematic

Dematic has responded to what it describes as increased demand with a new corporate organization for the EMEA region, which has been in place since 1 January. Bernard Biolchini has been appointed EVP.

"With the new organization, we are setting the course to make the most of the growth of our company and our workforce. Combined with our long experience and expertise, we will be in an even better position to serve the EMEA region and expand our position as one of the leading providers of intelligent automation technology," says Hasan Dandashly, President of Dematic and member of the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG.

The current and expected further growth will also have an impact on the corporate structure, which will be reorganized for the EMEA economic area and will now consist of eight regions, each headed by strong regional managers. "The new structure means we have experts on the ground who know the market challenges and conditions inside out," says Dandashly. "We now have 10,000 employees worldwide, including 4,100 in EMEA, and we are continuing to recruit specialists to meet the growth in the industry and especially in this region," emphasizes Dandashly. The Covid-19 situation has led to even greater demand for automation solutions than before. This enabled Dematic to achieve global sales growth of 34 percent in 2020. The EMEA region accounts for a large proportion of this. E-commerce and e-food continue to promise growth rates above market expectations.

The Dematic President appointed Bernard Biolchini as EVP for the entire region. "With his unparalleled industry knowledge and leadership qualities, Bernard Biolchini has everything it takes to lead Dematic-EMEA successfully into the future," says Dandashly.

Biolchini is a native French and Italian speaker, has worked in the logistics industry for seven years and has held several international management positions at Dematic. He returns from North America where he held the position of EVP and previously Managing Director for Dematic Southern Europe. Prior to joining Dematic, Biolchini was General Manager for Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. He was previously President of Invensys Controls Europe and Senior Sales Director at Hewlett-Packard Europe. He completed his Master of Business Administration at the renowned IAE Aix-en-Provence Business School. Biolchini, who has already taken up his new position, emphasizes: "Together with the expanded, highly motivated team, I look forward to creating synergy effects and generating further profitable growth in the EMEA super-region."

Biolchini heads a flexible matrix organization consisting of various European functions and eight Dematic markets. Half of the functional leaders come from within the company and the other half have been filled by external candidates:

Andrea Campora (SVP Commercial EMEA),
Alberto Rostagno (VP Customer Service EMEA),
Oliver Thomas (Senior Director Legal EMEA),
Nagy Bejjani (VP Finance EMEA),
Dino Caprioni (VP Human Resources EMEA)
and Markus Bacher (Senior Director Solution Development EMEA).

The European management positions are completed by a team of eight market managers. Dr. Jens Hardenacke, who was responsible for Dematic China for several years, will be responsible for the DACH region as SVP and Managing Director.