Merck Group appoints head of global procurement

Friedheim Felten takes up role on 1 April

Friedhelm Felten is to become head of corporate procurement, taking over responsibility for the global purchasing activities of the Merck Group.

Taking up the role on 1 April, Felten succeeds Friedrich Schmitt, who has headed the function since 1997 and will be retiring at the end of July. Felten will report to Michael Becker, chief financial officer.

Corporate procurement is responsible for purchasing production materials such as pharmaceutical raw materials and chemicals, and for procuring technical components such as production and laboratory equipment as well as services such as pharmaceutical research and development. The 500 members of the global matrix organisation handle an annual purchasing volume of around b4.5bn.

Felten joined Merck in July 2009 as head of procurement for Services. He has many years of management experience in purchasing and in other functions at international companies, including DHL Global Forwarding in Singapore, DHL Logistics in London, and BASF AG in Ludwigshafen, as well as various BASF subsidiaries in Asia.

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