On 30 June 2021, Heinz Nelissen will retire after 31 years of successful service to the Foseco and Vesuvius group of companies.

Heinz Nelissen was instrumental in the development and expansion of Foseco and Vesuvius, first as product manager for non-ferrous products, then for Foseco as sales manager of the foundry non-ferrous business unit. After two years of business development in Eastern Europe and the founding of Foseco Poland, he returned to Borken, Germany where he took over the ferrous division as business unit manager from 2002. In 2003 he was appointed Managing Director of Foseco GmbH in Germany. As Director Europe North for the foundry division, Heinz Nelissen was then mainly responsible for the management of the foundry division from 2005. He was instrumental in the successful development and production of the riser and filter range and was responsible for the integration of the coating business.

In agreement with the Vesuvius Group, Heinz Nelissen resigned from his position as Managing Director of Vesuvius GmbH at the beginning of this year, a position he held for 18 years. He will continue to work for the company as Area Director Northern Europe until 30 June 2021, after which he looks forward to retiring.

Heinz Nelissen

“In my 31 years in the foundry industry, I have met many great people, faced many challenges and implemented many ideas together with colleagues and customers. Important management tasks, such as the development of the European non-ferrous organisation and the high investments in the further automation of the Borken site, were successfully implemented. From a marketing perspective, it was a highlight for me to be appointed President of GIFA 2019. This was a recognition of the many years of efforts by Foseco and the Foseco employees to innovate, and at the same time an honour for me personally.”

His successor as managing director of Vesuvius GmbH for the foundry division is Rafael Carbonell. Rafael Carbonell holds a master’s degree in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University and an MBA from London Business School. After graduating, he spent 10 years in various management positions in the aluminium industry. For more than two years, he has been responsible for the strategic growth of the European foundry business at the Vesuvius Group as European Vice President EMEA Foundry. He will continue to perform this task in addition to his duties as Managing Director.

Close contact and partnership with customers remain Foseco’s most important concern. For this reason, Hannes Erger, Business Unit Manager for the iron and steel foundry business, has been appointed to the management team in Borken. Hannes Erger will remain the contact person for all matters concerning customers and sales and will support the management in sales decisions. He will also represent the iron and steel foundries business unit in public relations and association work.

There will be no changes in the non-ferrous division. Jens Ohm will remain responsible for this sector in his role as Sales Manager Northern Europe.