HP Americas President Schell To Take Reins Of 3-D Print Business

Christoph Schell, president for the Americas business at HP, will take the reins of the company's burgeoning 3-D printing business as of Nov. 1 as longtime executive Stephen Nigro is set to retire, HP CEO Dion Weisler said Thursday.

Nigro has spent 37 years at HP, and currently serves as president of the company's 3-D printing business, which has evolved into a main focus of HP's strategy for future product growth.

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Schell, meanwhile, has spent 20 years at HP and his areas of oversight include HP's Americas channel.

Succeeding Schell in the role of president for HP's Americas business is Richard Bailey, currently president of the Asia-Pacific and Japan region at HP. Bailey’s appointment is also effective Nov. 1.

"Richard has been with HP for more than 12 years and has experience at the regional and worldwide level," HP said in a statement provided to CRN. "He's played a role in nearly every function across our business from strategy, sales and marketing, to customer support and supply chain to services and go-to-market delivery."

Nigro will retire in early 2019, Weisler said Thursday during a conference call for HP's fiscal third-quarter earnings.

"Stephen has had a tremendous career from pioneering our first inkjet printers, to leading teams across the U.S., to most recently turning a nascent 3-D printing opportunity into a business that has become the No. 1 commercial-grade plastics 3-D printing vendor--less than two years after product launch," Weisler said.

HP's Multi Jet Fusion 3-D printers are used for printing production-quality manufacturing parts, and use technology that HP honed in the inkjet market to control prints down to a finely detailed, precise level.

This year, HP plans to launch four new Jet Fusion 3-D printer models, which will be known as the 300 series and 500 series and will be focused on prototyping.

The company’s differentiated 3-D printing technology "will help enable HP to accelerate the fourth industrial revolution," Weisler said.

"I couldn't be more thankful for Steve's leadership, guidance and commitment to HP," he said.

Schell, Weisler said, "will focus on the next phase of scaling our 3-D printing business."

"He's a rigorous and balanced operational leader with outstanding experience transitioning customers and partners into new service-led business models," Weisler said. "Under his leadership, our Americas region has delivered impressive and consistent growth.”

In addition, Schell “has a passion for 3-D printing, and has played a key role in our earliest 3-D printing wins and partnerships,” Weisler said. “We expect the transition to be seamless."