Weissbach – The board of Konrad Hornschuch AG was surprised to learn Thursday that Rolf J. Gemmersdörfer, President and CEO of the Hornschuch Group, had passed away the previous evening in his adopted hometown of Bad Mergentheim. “The news shocked and devastated all of us”, said Dr. Hans-Hinrich Kruse, Chairman of the Board of Konrad Hornschuch AG. “We mourn for a man for whom closeness to the employees and Hornschuch was particularly important. This, together with his extraordinarily strategic foresight, his negotiating skill, and his highly committed personality shaped his dealings in the management of our company.” He gained lasting esteem within Hornschuch and well beyond with his great sense of responsibility and powerful charisma. His abundant merits can be seen in the success story of Konrad Hornschuch AG. He will remain an important part of the community, even in death.

A Success Story

Gemmersdörfer entered the company as the sole member of the board on August 1, 1998. Since mid-2003, he has been the chairman of the board, which consisted of two members. During his tenure at the global surface specialist, he presided over the management buyout and subsequent private equity financing with the participation of an expanded management team as the necessary basis for constant and sustainable growth, among other things. The turnover of the Hornschuch Group more than tripled during his years at the head of the company. The acquisitions of kek-Kaschierungen GmbH, Herbolzheim, O’Sullivan Films, Inc. with its headquarters in Virginia, USA, and ERA Beschichtung GmbH & Co. KG with its headquarters in Stolzenau in Lower Saxony were important milestones along the profitable course of growth and diversification within the scope of a long-term combination of “buy and build” with simultaneous organic growth. The company repositioned itself last year for the strategic management of all global Hornschuch activities. On October 1, 2013, Gemmersdörfer assumed the position of the President and CEO of Hornschuch Group GmbH. His successor as the chairman of the board and CEO of Konrad Hornschuch AG was his col-league, Dr. Hans-Hinrich Kruse.

In addition to his function at Hornschuch, Gemmersdörfer was active in numerous honorary offices, including as vice president and Senator h. c. of the Senat der Wirtschaft, on the board of the Wirtschafts- und Arbeitgeberverband Südwesttextil, and in the advisory board of the Bad Mergentheim campus of the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Mosbach. Gemmersdörfer repeatedly campaigned for the concept of the Duale Hochschule, a matter close to his heart, in particular. Because he considered the employees and the lived team spirit to be the primary key to success. For that reason, he wanted to introduce young talent to Hornschuch as soon as possible.

Life before Hornschuch

Gemmersdörfer loved and lived for brands. After completing his study of business economics, Gemmersdörfer joined Wella in 1976 as a product manager and was in charge of well-known hair care products there. In 1979, he moved to Richardson GmbH – better known under the name Wick Pharma. Here, he worked in various positions in marketing, sales, and key account management and played a major role in the acquisition of the renowned companies Pantene and Vidal Sasson. After Richardson was taken over by Procter & Gamble 1987, Gemmersdörfer took on a new challenge as the director of Marketing & International Sales at Attisholz / Hakle in Mainz and quickly helped the company to become profitable. From 1992 to 1994, he managed the largest division “household hygiene” with the well-known brand Tempo Taschentücher as the spokesman of the management of Vereinigte Papierwerke Schickedanz (VP) in Nuremberg. After the sale of the “household hygiene” division of the Vereinigte Papierwerke Schickedanz to Procter & Gamble, Gemmersdörfer assumed the position of general manager for Central Europe of the Gillette subsidiary Oral-B Laboratories GmbH with its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main in 1995, before switching to Hornschuch in 1998, where he worked to promote the umbrella brand strategy for

d-c-fix® and skai®.

In March, Rolf J. Gemmersdörfer, a passionate deep-sea fisherman, would have been 62 years old.

Hornschuch – a Brief Profile

In the Home Decoration business segment, Hornschuch produces and markets under the d-c-fix® brand design and functional films for the end user. Under the skai® industrial brand, the company sells films and coated substrate materials for the automotive, furniture, marine and construction industry. The Interior business segment produces high-quality furniture films for kitchens and bathrooms, as well as high-tech upholstery materials; Transportation manufactures special synthetics for vehicle interiors and Exterior innovative window, door and facade profile films. The HornschuchGroup, headquartered in Weissbach near Heilbronn, is the world leader in surface design. In addition to the five European sales companies, the group has three production plants: Hornschuch Stolzenau GmbH, kek-Kaschierungen GmbH in Herbolzheim and O'Sullivan Films, Inc., USA. With five distribution companies, the group operates in the major European centers which are important for the industry in terms of trendsetting and decision-making: Paris, Milan, Prague, London and Moscow. There are also representative offices in over 80 countries. Overall, the Hornschuch Group had a global turnover of 322.1 million Euros during the 2012 business year, with around 1,700 employees worldwide.

Source: Hornschuch