Management

After completing his studies in Metallurgy and Materials Technology at RWTH Aachen University in 1992, Benedikt Ritterbach went to work in the cold rolling mill of what is now Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. While there, he held a number of different positions and obtained his doctorate with a thesis on quality management and optimization of thin sheet metal surfaces with the PRETEX^® process. As superintendent he was responsible for finishing operations, thereby serving as technical interface to the customer, starting from 1998. In 2002, he took over responsibility as plant manager for the complete cold rolling mill and surface finishing and reorganized both operations in a broad-based change process to today’s cold-rolled flat products department. In that capacity, he was also responsible for numerous investment and development projects.

In 2009, Benedikt Ritterbach was appointed General Manager of Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH and simultaneously Head of Research and Development of Salzgitter AG. With the two research locations in Salzgitter and Duisburg, he is responsible for steel research within Salzgitter AG and corresponding R&D services for outside customers. He reports directly to the CEO of Salzgitter AG.