06/03/2024 – IWMA announcement
Role of IWMA President revived
IWMA is pleased to announce the appointment of the vastly-experienced Bernd Lohmüller, managing director of Maschinenfabrik Niehoff, to the revived role of IWMA President.
Bernd Lohmüller. © IWMA
For some years the IWMA has had one person acting both as chairman and nominal president – currently American-born Don Neville, the well-known managing director of RichardsApex Europe Ltd.
IWMA’s Executive Management committee has agreed to take the roles back to their origin as separate entities, with a chairman running day-to-day operations and a president acting as a figurehead and advising on strategic matters.
Don will continue as chairman until February 2025, with Bernd Lohmüller – currently a member of IWMA’s Executive Management Committee – taking on the formal role of president.
Bernd has been managing director of Niehoff for seven years, graduating from that of Chief Sales Officer and various roles going back to the late 1980s, when he first joined Niehoff at its Schwabach HQ. He was also MD of Niehoff´s subsidiary Niehoff Endex North America from 2000 – 2004. Though a long-term member of management, Bernd started out hands-on in the company as an engineer and holds several international patents.
Don Neville said: “I’m extremely happy that Bernd has agreed to become our first president in many years. As managing director of Niehoff, his reputation is stellar throughout the wire and cable world. “Working alongside the IWMA chairman, Bernd’s long-established and globally recognised industry presence will serve to elevate the visibility and recognition of the association among the world’s leading wire and cable manufacturers. “As an existing member of our executive management committee, he is well-positioned to contribute to the achievement of the association’s strategic objectives, such as increasing membership and membership-diversity, inter-association and strategic partner relationships as well as industry exhibitions.”
Bernd Lohmüller added: “I’ve been a member of IWMA’s management committee since 2005 and it will be my honour to join Don and his eventual successor in shaping the organisation’s future in the coming years. The organisation has a huge wealth of expertise and international reach; it can do a lot of good for the industry.”
