Carl Brockmeyer will become CEO of the Distribution & Trading business unit at thyssenkrupp Materials Services on December 1, 2025. Carl Brockmeyer will take over from Detlef Schotten, who will retire from thyssenkrupp Materials Services in March 2026 after more than 30 years with the company, following a transition and handover period.

Ilse Henne, CEO of thyssenkrupp Materials Services: “With Carl Brockmeyer, we are gaining an experienced leader with broad industry experience for our distribution and trading business. His contacts with various customer industries that are important to us and his many years of international experience, particularly in North America, will help us continue our transformation from a pure materials distributor to a service provider. At the same time, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Detlef Schotten for his work for our company. He has not only accompanied the development of many areas of our company over decades, but has also had a profound impact on them – operationally, strategically, and culturally. On behalf of the entire Executive Board of thyssenkrupp Materials Services, I am very grateful to him for this.”

• AI-supported software called “smartsearch” analyzes customer inquiries and quickly finds the right products

• smartsearch is an add-on for “smart ORDER” that provides answers to open-ended inquiries

• Language models increase the success rate and offer support in searching for materials

thyssenkrupp Schulte, which is part of thyssenkrupp Materials Services, uses smartsearch, an in-house software solution that analyzes open-ended customer inquiries with the help of artificial intelligence and compares them with the product catalog. The aim is to achieve a higher degree of automation in quotations and orders to make processes more efficient for customers and sales. The AI software reads and analyzes customer requests, automatically searches the product catalog for the required product, and promptly generates a complete quotation.

• thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services piloted the all-electric Tesla Semi at one of its California logistics hubs as part of its sustainability initiatives.

• The truck was tested over 5,000 miles in winter conditions to evaluate efficiency, performance and transparency of logistics.

• As a Tesla logistics partner since 2015, the company plans to integrate electric trucks into its fleet to reduce transportation emissions.

thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services, a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions and part of thyssenkrupp Materials Services, recently completed a pilot of the all-electric Tesla Semi at one of its logistics hubs in California. The initiative, part of the company’s broader sustainability strategy, supports ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impact and increase logistics efficiency and transparency.

• The supply chain services division of thyssenkrupp Materials Services in the U.S. has been named one of the best 3PL providers in North America for 2025 by Armstrong & Associates and Transport Topics.

• The recognition ranks thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services #20 in Dry Warehousing and #33 in Dedicated Transportation.

• This rating underscores the market relevance of thyssenkrupp Materials Services in its growth market North America with thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Solutions’ more than 80 warehouse locations with 17 million square feet space and its various supply chain solutions.

thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services, part of the supply chain solutions unit of thyssenkrupp Materials Services – one of the world’s leading materials distribution and service providers – has been recognized as a Top 3PL (Third Party Logistics) provider for 2025 by both Armstrong & Associates, a renowned logistics market research institute, and Transport Topics, an industry newspaper. The dual recognition in the Dry Warehousing and Dedicated Transportation categories underlines thyssenkrupp Materials Services commitment to service excellence, operational innovation, and customer-focused logistics solutions that deliver measurable value across global supply chains. The Dry Warehousing category is ranked based on the square footage of warehouse space, while the Dedicated Transportation category is ranked based on the size of the truck fleet.

With the integration of the thyssenkrupp AG Technology Center India into the thyssenkrupp Materials Services segment, the group is merging its IT expertise in India. By combining resources and technical expertise, thyssenkrupp aims to drive operational efficiency and innovation development, key to supporting the company's growth and transformation. The technological expertise is being deepened by bringing together IT experts from different fields under one roof, and the quality of services for the entire group is being increased.

“This is an important step in strengthening our IT capabilities in India and further increasing our innovative strength. The combined expertise of our teams will enable us to respond more agilely to the requirements of our segments and our customers. Around three quarters of our customers at thyssenkrupp Materials Services want more digital solutions from their partners – and the India location plays a very important role for us in developing these solutions. For example, the digitalization of supply chains is an essential factor in increasing transparency and resilience in procurement,” explains Ilse Henne, CEO of thyssenkrupp Materials Services and the member of the thyssenkrupp AG Executive Board responsible for IT, during a visit to India.