Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) today announced that it has named Willem Appelo as chief operations officer, effective October 1.
Appelo is slated to join the Amsterdam-based company’s executive committee on July 18. He will succeed Sophie Bechu as chief operations officer, who will continue to work on project-based initiatives until her retirement in January 2023.
Appelo previously worked as the interim supply chain officer and has worked with private equity firms in the medtech industry. Prior to that, he was the VP of supply chain strategy, innovation and development and VP of supply chain medical devices at Johnson & Johnson.
“I am very pleased that Wim Appelo will be joining Philips as our new Chief Operations Officer,” CEO Frans van Houten said in a news release. “Wim brings a wealth of relevant experience to Philips, adding in-depth knowledge and understanding of medical technology and informatics supply chain management, which will help Philips accelerate its journey to becoming a health technology solutions leader. I want to thank Sophie for her highly valuable contribution to Philips and her relentless focus and deep commitment to establishing Philips’ Integrated Supply Chain organization since joining in 2016. During that time, she successfully optimized our supplier base and manufacturing footprint, continually driving operational excellence with a customer-first mindset.”