BW SLT, Divisional Presidents, Packaging Platform team members and BW Corporate team members,

Divisional Presidents: Please share, as appropriate, with your span of care. This announcement will be distributed enterprise-wide (and machine translated) in the 1/24/24 oneBW newsletter.

I am excited to announce two organizational changes that will help Barry-Wehmiller continue to invest in our transformation at record levels and ensure a vibrant future for everyone touched by our business.

Effective February 15, Carol O’Neill will move into the newly created role of Chief Transformation Officer, and Rachana Creeth will be promoted into the position of Packaging Platform President.

Chief Transformation Officer

Although our transformation has been underway for some time, the accelerating pace of investment in new capabilities, coupled with the need to deliver near-term financial performance, represents tremendous opportunity for step-change performance as well as risk to both our performance and our culture. Not only do we need to ensure that the in-flight initiatives deliver the expected outcomes, we may also need to build additional capabilities in order to ensure our success. In her new role as Chief Transformation Officer, Carol O'Neill will partner with the Senior Leadership Team and me to ensure that we set, fund and align our organization around the priorities most critical to our success.

Carol is uniquely qualified for this position, having experience initiating and driving major strategic initiatives at BW during her 10 years here, most recently in the role of Group President-Packaging, and also at other large organizations prior to joining us. She excels at identifying opportunities to work differently, building platform capabilities and aligning historically separate organizations to serve common customers in new ways. Carol has consistently championed product innovation within the Packaging Platform, as well as innovation in the way we do business, advancing initiatives on Inclusion, Sustainability, Supply Chain, Digital Innovation, Shared Service Center, and Enterprise IT.

Carol understands that the pace of change and the priority we place on purposeful change management is of vital importance. I count on her bringing that lens to this new role, and helping us ensure we don’t sacrifice our unique culture as we build an even brighter future. Her initial focus will be to understand our ongoing initiatives in key areas—including Lifecycle Support, Digital Products & Services, and Amplify (BW’s ERP transformation initiative). She also will assume the leadership role for Supply Chain, Additive Manufacturing and Equipment Design Solutions (EDS). Additionally, Carol will work closely with each of the platforms and BW’s Director of Business and Strategy Planning and Execution Geoff Nykin as we refresh BW’s Strategic Plan.

We are investing at record levels in transformative initiatives to create a vibrant future for all those who are touched by this business. I believe this change is critical to commit the right leadership resources to ensure success, and I am incredibly grateful to Carol for agreeing to take on this challenge.

Packaging Platform President

Rachana Creeth joined BW in 2017 as the Vice President of Finance for the newly created Packaging Platform, bringing to her position foundational training and strong operational expertise gained at large, multinational companies, including General Electric and Johnson & Johnson, as well as experience implementing strategies and processes in smaller organizations. In April 2022, she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer for the platform. Rachana has been a critical partner to Carol in shaping and driving strategy, building high-performing finance and supply chain teams, and launching a Financial Shared Service Center in the UK.

In her new role, Rachana will work closely with a strong, well-established Packaging Platform leadership team to uphold our focus on people and performance in harmony, while making significant progress toward Packaging’s vision of becoming a $1-plus billion differentiated provider of packaging equipment.

Please join me in congratulating both Rachana and Carol on their new roles!

Kyle Chapman
President, Barry-Wehmiller