Voestalpine has announced several key management changes. The company has appointed Franz Michael Androsch as head of Research and Development (R&D). Androsch succeeds newly appointed management board member Peter Schwab.

Androsch joined voestalpine in 1984 in a product and process development role. He later moved to the Quality Assurance Cold-rolled Strip/Processing department and was most recently head of R&D there. The company has also appointed Mathias Farthofer as head of Corporate Development.

Most recently, Farthofer headed the Strategy department at voestalpine's Steel division. He replaces Michael Eyett, who has been promoted to head a newly created corporate procurement department at the company, namely Corporate Purchasing. As chief procurement officer, Eyett will be responsible for voestalpine's strategic control of material and services purchasing.

Previously, he has served at key positions in the Mannesmann Group. The appointments of Androsch, Farthofer, and Eyett are effective from 1 October 2014.