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Philipp Ebbinghaus becomes member of the management board Wolfgang Höflich retires after 46 years with the company

Schwarzenbach a. d. Saale, Germany, December 9, 2022 – Changing of the guard at Sandler AG: As of January 1, 2023, Philipp Ebbinghaus, Chief Officer of both Finance and IT and CFO of the US subsidiary Sandler Nonwoven Corporation, will be a member of our management board. On December 31, 2022, his predecessor, board member Wolfgang Höflich will retire after 46 years with the company. Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler (Chief Executive Officer since 2007), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (board member since 2012), and Philipp Ebbinghaus will continue shaping the company as new management board.

Wolfgang Höflich spent almost his entire professional life at Sandler. He started in 1976 as an assistant to the site management and seven years later rose to the position of site manager with full power of attorney. “Wolfgang Höflich has helped shape 46 of the 143 years of our company history and our development into a state-of-the-art nonwovens manufacturer—an amazing legacy. Since 1995, he has been responsible for the Production Division, initially as head of production, and from 2010, as a member of the management board,” explains Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, CEO of Sandler AG.

Wolfgang Höflich’s responsibility for the Production Division has already been taken over by Stephan Hopster in July 2022. As of January 1, 2023, Mr. Hopster will be reporting directly to CEO Dr. Sandler.

Wolfgang Höflich: A huge thank you for almost 50 years of commitment to the company

On behalf of the family Sandler, would like to take this opportunity to thank Wolfgang Höflich most sincerely for his almost 50 years of dedicated service to our company. We wish him all the best for his upcoming retirement, especially good health, God’s blessing—and enough time to devote to his family and his hobbies, at last!” says Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler. The internationalisation of business in the 1980s; the global competition, especially since the 1990s; the exciting period after the German unification; and most recently the exceptional situation of the corona pandemic: Wolfgang Höflich has witnessed all these remarkable developments and events and has helped shape the production of nonwovens in Schwarzenbach for almost half a century.

Philipp Ebbinghaus: Appointment to the management board after ten successful years with the company

Philipp Ebbinghaus will join the management board on January 1, 2023, as an executive who, as Dr. Sandler points out, has very successfully filled responsible positions within the company over the past ten years. Philipp Ebbinghaus had been assigned challenging tasks by the management board since 2013. For example, he was tasked with setting up the new US location in Perry, Georgia, he was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of the German headquarters and the US subsidiary, and, since the middle of this year, he has also been Chief Information Officer.

After studying economics at the University of Hohenheim, Philipp Ebbinghaus worked as a controller at E. Breuninger GmbH & Co. in Stuttgart, Germany for three years before starting in the family business in 2013. “Philipp had to live with the fact that we kept a particularly close eye on how he was developing— after all, as my nephew, he is part of the owner family!

He can be proud of his successes so far, and he doesn’t shy away from difficult situations and challenges. I am particularly pleased that Philipp, regardless of his promotion, maintained respect for his colleagues, remained diligent and modest, and always regarded successes as team successes. He is characterised by strategic foresight and determination to achieve goals. He is not a yes-man, but also disagrees and fights for his ideas and teams. I think that’s good. It’s the only way to move forward!” says Dr. Sandler.

Philipp Ebbinghaus is very pleased about the trust placed in him: “As a long-standing manager, I consider the appointment to the management board of Sandler AG as an honour and as recognition of the work I have done so far. Regarding my responsibilities from January 2023 onwards, I am determined to stay ahead of the game, along with the team. As far as our family business is concerned, I am committed to the legacy of my ancestors. When I was a child, my grandfather often took me along with him to the company. I look forward to my role as a member of the management board and to working along with my colleagues—especially since I get along very well with my uncle, and also with Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who is already a member of the management board. My goal is to continue to actively shape future topics at Sandler, e.g., our commitment to sustainability or digitalisation—on the management board and with the entire Sandler team in Schwarzenbach and Perry.”

Philipp Ebbinghaus (right) will become a member of the management board on January 1, 2023; Wolfgang Höflich (second from left) will retire on December 31, 2022. CEO Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler (left) and Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (third form left) remain members of the management board.

Career paths at Sandler

Company profile

Sandler (headquarters: Schwarzenbach/Saale / Upper Franconia, founded 1879) is a high-tech manufacturer of nonwovens for use in construction/technical applications, filtration, home textiles, hygiene, transportation and wipes. In 2021, sales generated by the two sites in Germany and the USA amounted to EUR 365 million.