Effective 1 September 2017, the supervisory board of the RKW Group (Frankenthal / Germany; www.rkw-group.com) has appointed Reinhold Franke to the company's executive board. He takes over from Matthias Kaufmann, who left the films manufacturer on 31 August 2017 (see Plasteurope.com of 10.08.2017).

Like his two board colleagues, CEO Harald Biederbick and Manfred Bracher, Franke assumes responsibility for one of RKW's three divisions. Franke is the new head of the Packaging business, which produces films for consumer and industrial packaging at five sites in Europe and Asia. He is also responsible for group marketing, research and development, sustainability and new business development.

Franke studied business administration and began his career with German packaging manufacturer Haendler & Natermann. He also worked for German films and packaging producer Nordenia as head of sales in the Netherlands and the US. In 2012, as president and COO, he assumed responsibility for Nordenia USA Jackson. After Nordenia's takeover by Mondi (see Plasteurope.com of 12.07.2012), Franke moved to films manufacturer Verpa (Weidhausen / Germany; www.verpa.de) and was responsible for development of its US business.