In an extraordinary meeting on 7 April 2022, the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe has approved the proposal to expand the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe from 1 May 2022. 

As Chief Operating Officer, Heike Denecke-Arnold will be responsible for the operational production areas and thus for the entire field from iron and steel production to the refining stages, as well as quality and logistics.

Increased Challenges

With its 20-30 strategy, thyssenkrupp Steel is focusing on the operational performance and strategic alignment of the steel division. In addition, the company is facing an unprecedented transformation: In order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2045, massive changes in the plant structure and plant operation are necessary. The successful establishment of climate-neutral production is of crucial importance for the future viability and competitiveness of thyssenkrupp Steel. Against this background, the Supervisory Board decided to expand the Management Board team for the steel segment to include the function of an operational Management Board member.

Responsibility for transformation and production will be shared in the future. From 1 May 2022, Heike Denecke-Arnold will be responsible for production from the liquid phase to finishing as well as for quality and logistics. The department becomes the driver of operational production performance in the company. The engineer, who holds a doctorate, has held various positions at thyssenkrupp since October 2016, most recently at Precision Steel in Hohenlimburg as CEO of thyssenkrupp Hohenlimburg GmbH. Due to her diverse experience in the group, Dr. Denecke-Arnold has broad expertise, both in the production area and on the strategy, customer and market side.

Focus on Strategy 20-30, Transformation and Innovation

In order to take into account the outstanding importance of the transformation, it is bundled in a separate department. Arnd Köfler will be responsible for optimising the production network as part of the 20-30 strategy and for the entire decarbonisation process in the steel division. In addition, there is the area of ​​innovation, which brings together the entire research and development work. On this basis, an integrated innovation and transformation department is being created at thyssenkrupp Steel. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board confirmed Markus Grolms as a member of the Management Board and reappointed him as Labor Director and Chief Human Resources Officer until 31 March 2028. A key focus in the coming years will be the support and management of the transformation from the labour department.