PUMA hires former Head of Adidas procurement

Sports lifestyle company Puma recently acquired a top-tier employee from their rival sports apparel retailer, Adidas. Former head of global sourcing, Andy Koehler, became Puma’s new chief operating officer (COO) on Saturday, June 1st, and may prove useful as the company trails behind sports retail giants. With him comes extensive international experience spanning the sporting equipment and consumer goods industries. Puma’s new COO has expressed excitement in fulfilling the new role, which will focus primarily on logistics, IT, business operations and supply chain management. He will also work to revise brand strategy in an effort to compete more effectively with industry leaders Nike and Adidas. “I am eager to support reaching the business and growth targets with the next stage of the company’s development,” Mr Koehler said in a statement. “Puma has an enormous potential to tap both the sports performance and lifestyle markets with its design and innovation power as well as its unique brand heritage.” In addition to his experience at Adidas, Mr Koehler has previously worked as vice president of purchasing at an industrial and automotive products supplier, Johnson Controls Automotive. He graduated from the University of Karlsruhe with a masters degree in business administration and engineering. Mr Koehler will report to Puma’s new chief executive officer (CEO), Bjorn Gulden, who is scheduled to join the company on July 1st. Puma’s management shakeup stems from two major resignations which occurred approximately six months ago. CEO Franz Koch left the company in December 2012. Shortly thereafter, former COO Klaus Bauer resigned. Chairman of the administrative board, Jean-Francois Palus, is pleased about the new hire. He said Mr Koehler’s appointment to the influential role is “an important step in rebuilding and establishing a strong and effective senior management team under the leadership of Puma’s future CEO Bjorn Gulden. Andy Koehler brings international and industry experience in sourcing and supply chain management necessary to manage Puma’s operations through the company’s transformation period and consequently its next phase of growth”. Looking for procurement jobs? At Cast UK our team of expert consultants can help you find your ideal role.