Shaffer to leave Netstal, Sansoucy steps up

Machinery Inc. at the end of the year and be replaced by the company's current national sales manager, Michael Sansoucy. Reached at their offices in Devens, MA, the U.S. headquarters for the Swiss maker of injection molding machines, Sansoucy and Shaffer both stressed that the decision was mutual and reached on good terms, adding that Bernhard Merki, CEO of Netstal AG (Näfels, Switzerland) had sent a company-wide internal memo praising Shaffer for his excellent service to Netstal.

"In terms of my leaving, it was nothing less than 100% equitable and amicable," Shaffer said. Going forward, Shaffer said that he will remain in the plastics industry, working as an independent consultant, focusing on specific market segments. Shaffer noted that he had worked independently from 1983 to 1991.

Sansoucy has been with Netstal since February 2007, working as its national sales manager. Prior to that, he worked as the technical sales manager at injection molding machinery supplier Demag Ergotech and Demag Plastics Group, starting in 2000. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Sansoucy earned an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. Out of school, he worked for six years at injection molding company, The Tech Group.

Shaffer said that after a record 2008 for Netstal U.S.A., the company saw a contraction in business in 2009, but still gained market share. Thus far in 2010, he said business has improved over 2009 levels. Shaffer, himself formerly of Demag-Ergotech USA, took over Netstal's U.S. operations in January 2003 from Werner Christinger. —Tony Deligio