Esko Announces Two Key Executive Appointments

Esko is pleased to announce two executive appointments. Udo Panenka is joining Esko as Senior Vice President Sales, and Jon Giardina is joining Esko as Vice President Americas. Both previously held executive roles at Danaher companies.

“We are delighted to have executives with this high competence level joining our management. They bring a wealth of expertise to position Esko for even greater success in achieving its global growth ambitions, and help retain its unique positioning to answer the increasingly evolving market needs,” states Carsten Knudsen, Esko President and CEO. “With Udo's strong sales, marketing and general management skills, we are confident he will accelerate the changes being implemented in our go to market organization benefitting our customers. As critical will be Jon's role in leading the Americas region. Esko has a state-of-the-art product portfolio that continues to expand to meet the many challenges faced by operations worldwide. Under the skilled leadership of these experienced managers, we look forward to helping our customers surmount these challenges while increasing profitability.”

Udo Panenka assumes worldwide sales, service and marketing responsibility
In his new role as Senior Vice President, Panenka has responsibility for the global Esko sales, service and marketing organization. He replaces Christian Korte, who is leaving Esko to pursue other career opportunities. Prior to joining Esko, Panenka was Vice President and General Manager for Kollmorgen’s Industrial Automation Business for Europe and India. Since joining Danaher in 2008, he has held a number of other executive positions within the company. Prior to Danaher, he held key sales, marketing and general management leadership positions with ABS Deutschland, RITZ Pumpenfabrik and New Haden Pumps. Panenka has a BA degree in Management from Berufsakademie located in Heidenheim, Germany.

Jon Giardina takes the lead for Esko Americas
As Vice President Americas, Giardina will lead the Esko organizations in North and Latin America. Most recently Giardina was Vice President & General Manager for Danaher’s Dynapar and West/PMA businesses. He joined Danaher in 2006 and has filled key sales, marketing and general management roles over the past eight years. Giardina has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, as well as a MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Giardina replaces Tony Wiley, who previously managed Esko’s business in the Americas.

About Esko (www.esko.com)
Esko is a global supplier of integrated solutions for the packaging and labels, sign and display, commercial printing and publishing industries. Esko products and services drive profitability in the packaging and printing supply chain by reducing time-to-market and raising productivity.

Portfolio
The Esko product portfolio supports and manages the packaging and print processes at brand owners, retailers, designers, packaging manufacturers and print service providers. For 9 out of 10 retail packages, Esko solutions are used in packaging management, artwork creation, structural design, prepress, 3D visualization, plate making, workflow automation, quality assurance, sample-making, palletization, supply chain collaboration and the production of signage and displays.

The Esko solutions consist of an extensive suite of software and two hardware product lines: CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers and Kongsberg digital cutting systems, complemented with professional services, training and consultancy.

Enfocus, with its suite of automation solutions and PDF quality control tools for printers, publishers, and graphic designers, is part of Esko.

Facts & numbers
Esko employs around 1300 people worldwide. Its direct sales and service organization covers Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Americas and the Asia Pacific, Japan and China regions and is complemented by a network of distribution partners in more than 50 countries.

Esko is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in five European countries, the United States, China and India. Esko is a Danaher company (www.danaher.com).

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