Esko has announced that Mattias Byström will succeed Udo Panenka as president, effective January 1.

 

Panenka, who led Esko for three years and served Danaher, Esko’s parent company for 10 years, is leaving to pursue new opportunities.

 

“Under Udo’s leadership, Esko repositioned the flexo plate production business through innovation and moved to a new site in Itzehoe,” says Joakim Weidemanis, executive vice president of Danaher. “Udo also built up Esko’s business serving brand owners, including the acquisitions of MediaBeacon and BLUE, and initiated Esko’s software migration to software-as-a-service.”

 

Byström brings with him more than 20 years of general management experience. Most recently, he served as CEO of FlexLink, a global, $300-million factory automation solutions business with headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Byström has eight years of prior Danaher experience in different leadership roles in what was then known as Danaher Motion. This included leading the automated guided vehicle business, primarily a software systems enterprise. Earlier in his career, Byström co-founded and led two digital start-ups. 

 

“With his unique management and technology background, Mattias is ideally suited to lead Esko now,” Weidemanis said. “I am very happy to welcome him back to Danaher and excited to place him at the head of this important business that is simplifying the packaging value chain.”

 

Byström adds: “Esko has incredible potential because digitization, automation and connectivity have gained momentum in the packaging industry in the past few years. It is my priority to ensure that Esko delivers stronger innovation that is increasingly valuable to our customers.”