Glacier Garlock Bearings names new President

Glacier Garlock Bearings Names New President Glacier Garlock Bearings (USA, a division of EnPro Industries, USA) announced that Bernd Fischer has been named Division President of the company. He replaces Tom Piesch, who resigned abruptly. No explanation was given for Mr. Piesch's departure. Mr. Fischer had been Vice President / General Manager of GGB Americas and will continue to hold those posts until a replacement is named. As Division President, he will report to Mike Leslie, Glacier's Senior VP and COO. Formerly part of Goodrich, Glacier is the world's largest manufacturer of prelubricated and self-lubricating metal-polymer plain bearings. Glacier has production facilities in the United States, Germany, France, Slovakia and Brazil, along with 22 other operating units in 17 countries. Under Goodrich, the company was assembled from Garlock Bearings and Glacier Industrial Bearing, which it acquired from Dana in May 2001. Put together, Goodrich renamed the unit Glacier Garlock Bearings. In mid-2002, Goodrich spun off its manufacturing businesses as EnPro Industries; Glacier Garlock is the key manufacturing component of EnPro. Glacier recently acquired Saver North America, a key competitor. Bernd Fischer began his career at Glacier in 1993 as logistics manager, later as operations director and then GM of the production facility in Kilmarnock, Scotland. When Goodrich acquired Glacier, Mr. Fischer was named VP/GM of GGB Americas -- a post he continued to hold after the EnPro spinoff. "Bernd has proven himself to be an effective manager with a thorough understanding of his business and the markets in which it operates," said Mike Leslie. "GGB is a core business for EnPro and one in which we are committed to invest. Under Bernd's direction, we are confident that GGB will maintain its position as a market leader as it takes advantage of opportunities for geographical expansion and new product development." Mr. Leslie continued, "We also recognize Tom Piesch's contributions to our bearings business over the years. He dedicated many years to Glacier and subsequently was deeply involved in the integration of Glacier Industrial Bearings and Garlock Bearings. We wish him well in the future."