June 7, 2022
Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that Willem (Wim) Appelo will join Philips’ Executive Committee, effective July 18, 2022, and succeed Sophie Bechu as Chief Operations Officer per October 1, 2022. Mr. Appelo will report to Philips CEO Frans van Houten and work closely with Mrs. Bechu to ensure a seamless transition. Mrs. Bechu, who joined Philips in 2016, will step down from her role on October 1, 2022, after which she will work on project-based initiatives until she retires at the end of January, 2023.
Mr. Appelo (Dutch, 1964) will join Philips after having worked as interim Supply Chain Officer, and with private equity firms in the medical technology industry for the last year. Before that, he was Vice President Supply Chain Strategy, Innovation & Deployment at Johnson & Johnson, where he led the Enterprise Supply Chain Global Strategy and Innovation team across the company’s three operating segments: Pharma, Consumer Health, and Medical Devices. Prior to that, Mr. Appelo was Johnson & Johnson’s Vice President Supply Chain Medical Devices. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, he held various senior positions at Xerox Corporation, ultimately as President, Global Delivery and Technology Group, where he was responsible for Xerox’s then newly-created Global Supplies Business Group.
“I am very pleased that Wim Appelo will be joining Philips as our new Chief…
