Esko, Ghent, Belgium, has announced that Udo Panenka, SVP for Global Sales and Marketing, will succeed Carsten Knudsen as president, effective January 1, 2015. Knudsen will continue to support Esko and Danaher in an advisory role into the near future.

"Under Carsten’s leadership, Esko has built a loyal and growing customer group, created world class technology, and with a strong team, driven excellent growth and established itself as a leader in its served markets," said Joakim Weidemanis, VP and group executive for the Product Identification Platform, Danaher Corp.

Panenka joined Esko from Kollmorgen, another Danaher business, earlier this year, where he was VP and GM for Industrial Automation in Europe and India. Panenka joined Kollmorgen in 2008 and has served in several key leadership roles with increasing responsibility.

"We want to thank Carsten for his leadership and tremendous impact on the success of Esko," Weidemanis added.

Esko is a global supplier of integrated solutions for the packaging and labels, sign and display, commercial printing, and publishing industries. The company’s product portfolio supports and manages the packaging and print processes at brand owners, retailers, designers, packaging manufacturers, and print service providers.