Molchan Named Chief Information Officer for Freudenberg-NOK
PLYMOUTH, Mich., Dec. 14, 2004 -- Freudenberg-NOK has named George E. Molchan as chief information officer (CIO). The announcement was made by Ludger Neuwinger-Heimes, chief financial officer for the company.
As CIO, Molchan assumes strategic and operational responsibilities for the corporate information technology (IT) function. In this role, he is responsible for assessing the company's entire IT organization, as well as creating critical projects aimed at making Freudenberg-NOK more competitive. He will continue the process of modernizing the company's IT infrastructure and digitizing processes that have been put in place since the beginning of 2004.
Based at Freudenberg-NOK's headquarters in Plymouth, Molchan reports directly to Neuwinger-Heimes.
"Freudenberg-NOK's continued success relies on a strong, hard-working team with a goal of expanding the business through innovation and leadership," said Neuwinger-Heimes. "I am confident that, with George's vast knowledge and many years of experience in technology business planning and management, he will be a great asset to Freudenberg-NOK."
Molchan comes to Freudenberg-NOK with more than 18 years of experience in various groups and divisions at NCR Corp. Most recently, he served in a dual role as the IT director, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in Dayton, Ohio and the director of IT for the Retail Solutions Division (RSD) in Duluth, Ga. In these positions, he managed a team of global IT and business operations support professionals, responsible for the global ERP deployment of NCR's order management, invoicing, collections and service contracts functions. He also ran an internal IT service business for the RSD.
Previously, Molchan held director level positions in NCR's IT organization, supporting worldwide sales and marketing, sales process deployment and program management. Earlier, he was IT manager of NCR's Pacific Group, supporting the South East Asia and South Pacific regions. Molchan also held positions in finance and order and inventory management.
Molchan began his career at NCR in 1986 with the Worldwide Information Systems and Service division after receiving a bachelor of science degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
Founded in 1989, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership is a joint venture between Freudenberg & Co. of Germany and NOK Corp. of Japan.
Freudenberg-NOK is a leader in automotive sealing and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) products and is a supplier to all automakers producing in North America, as well as all major tier one chassis and drivetrain suppliers. The company's headquarters and technical center in Plymouth, Mich. houses the most extensive supplier-operated sealing and noise and vibration testing facility in North America.
Freudenberg-NOK offers its automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.
The company also offers an extensive portfolio of special precision seals for the aerospace, appliance, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets. For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK website at http://www.freudenberg-nok.com/ .
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041214/DETU017PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: Molchan currently resides in Novi, Mich.