The French textile machinery manufacturers’ association, known as UCMTF, has elected a new President following the retirement of Bruno Ameline who has chaired the association since 2004. Hugues Schellenberg who has been on the board for 10 years, has been unanimously elected to succeed him. He is the CEO of Dollfus-Muller of Heimsbrunn in the French province of Alsace.

An engineer, Schellenberg got an MBA from Montpellier University in Southern France and as President of UCMTF, Schellenberg will represent the French association on the board of Cematex, the owner of the ITMA trade shows.

After his election, Schellenberg initiated a standing ovation to thank Bruno Ameline for his outstanding job during his 4 terms of tenure (16 years). “it is a great honour but a stressing responsibility to become the UCMTF President in such the uncertain environment our companies have to face worldwide due to the COVID pandemic. For the long run, I am very positive thanks to our state-of-the- art equipment, our services which are up to the best standards, our teams which are so professionals and motivated but right now our business is on a bumpy road,” Mr Schellenberg said.

As CEO of Dollfus-Muller, Schellenberg spends at least half of his time with customers that he visits worldwide, UCMTF commented. This is how he keeps a first-hand contact and a deep connection with the needs of the market in order to both manage his company on a day to day basis and design its long term strategy, the organisation said.

In addition to UCMTF, Schellenberg is very active in many national, regional and national associations, including the chairmanship of a trade association to improve the employment of underprivileged workers, UCMTF concluded.

UCMTF website