The Sulzer board of directors has appointed chief financial officer (CFO) Thomas Dittrich as interim CEO, with immediate effect.
Dittrich, 51, has served as Sulzer CFO since August 2014. He holds Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering as well as in Finance, Accounting and Business Administration.
The recruiting process for a new CEO is underway.
Pumps Equipment Division job cuts
Meanwhile, Sulzer is taking measures to streamline its Pumps Equipment Division’s manufacturing capacities in Brazil, the USA and China in response to the current challenging environment in the oil and gas market and the division’s new global manufacturing network.
About 410 employees have been affected by these restructuring measures.
In Brazil, Sulzer has decided to reduce its Jundiai pump manufacturing facility workforce by about 90, and to close its foundry in Jundiai, with the loss of around 60 jobs. 40 employees at the Curitiba site have also been laid off, due to the business slowdown in Brazil.
The workforce in the USA has been reduced by 100 in Portland and by around 20 in Brookshire, while China faced reductions of 80 employees in Dalian and about 20 in Suzhou.