OTTOBOCK COMBINES R&D AND PRODUCTION
Friday, 20. May 2022

Ottobock combines R&D and Production

Arne Jörn to oversee both divisions as CTO/COO.

As part of the management realignment, the Management Board of the global healthtech company Ottobock has decided that COO Arne Jörn (52), in addition to Operations, from now on will also serve as the responsible CTO for the key area of Research and Development (R&D). He succeeds Dr. Andreas Goppelt.

”Together, we form a well-coordinated, effective team that will focus on raising the efficiency of our company to a new level. I look forward to working with Arne Jörn, Martin Böhm and Arne Kreitz on this exciting task,” says Oliver Jakobi, member of the Management Board and interim CEO of Ottobock.

Arne Jörn joined Ottobock in March 2018 and has since then successfully transformed the Operations division. In Bulgaria, he has established the tenth and at the same time largest production site, thus creating the basis for a new global production network.

“Over the past few years, Arne Jörn has set up Production efficiently, streamlined processes and optimized workflows. The next step is to set up the innovation pipeline in the same way and thus optimally link it to Operations processes. This will ensure overall efficiency,” says Marcus Brennecke, Member of the Management Board and Global Co-Head Private Equity at EQT.

Linking R&D and Production next step for Ottobock

As CTO with global responsibility for R&D, Dr. Andreas Goppelt has successfully merged the R&D structures in Germany and Austria, creating the basis for more efficient processes and accelerated development cycles. In addition, he has implemented the cross-functional connection of R&D to Operations. The next step for Ottobock is to optimally integrate R&D and Production, thus further accelerating the transition from innovation to market launch.

”In his role as CTO, Dr. Andreas Goppelt has successfully linked the company's most important research sites and successfully implemented necessary processes such as MDR,” says Professor Hans Georg Näder, owner and Chairman of the Management Board of Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA. ”His successful work has been instrumental in launching products such as the C-Brace in the US as well as the launch of the Exopulse Mollii Suit.” Under Andreas Goppelt's leadership, a large number of products have been supported by clinical evidence and thus have been brought into national and international reimbursement systems. Especially products launched in the past three years have achieved particularly high sales.

In addition to his role as Vice President Global Research, Dr. Bernhard Graimann will take over the management of the global R&D sites in Berlin/Königsee, Duderstadt, Salt Lake City and Vienna. He will report directly to Arne Jörn.