Company Announcement - Specialist drive engineering company c is proud to announce the appointment of a new branch manager at the company’s Port Elizabeth operation.

The company is proud to announce that Francois Sieberhagen will officially take up the role of PE branch manager on 1 March 2015, following the retirement of current branch manager, Dave Tate. Sieberhagen has been with Sew-Eurodrive since 2011, and is currently an electronic support engineer – a role which involves supporting the sales staff in selecting the correct products for clients, and subsequently providing after-sales and technical support to the clients.

Sieberhagen believes that the experience gained from this position places him in good stead for his new role. “Coming from a technical background, I will be able to transfer my knowledge and experience to the staff at the PE branch, which I believe will benefit the company. In the past, the servicing of electronics had to be carried out by staff from the Cape Town branch. We will now be able to service and grow the regional market more efficiently with my expertise,” he explains.

In addition to his position as electronic support engineer, Sieberhagen has also been responsible for the Training Application Support Centre (TASC). “The idea of TASC is to have one representative from each country who goes to Germany twice a year to get information on the latest products and updates to bring back to their country. I was the Sew-Eurodrive South Africa representative.”

Sieberhagen will be the youngest branch manager in the history of Sew-Eurodrive South Africa, at only 27. To prepare him for his new role, he is taking part in a mentorship programme, and will be getting support from various general managers during the transition to his new role.

“This is a new challenge and I am looking forward to it. I am a driven person and look forward to the success I will achieve in my new role. My goal for the PE branch is to transfer my knowledge to the local staff, and to make it a more technical branch, in line with the automotive industry, which is a large market in the area. There will also be a large focus on customer satisfaction,” he concludes.