Mikko Keto has officially taken up his position as Mining President and member of Group Executive Management at FLSmidth. The appointment, first announced in 2019, follows Manfred Schaffer’s decision to retire after more than six years as Mining President.
Keto joins FLSmidth from Metso, where he was President, Minerals Services and Pumps. His prior roles for Metso include Senior Vice President, Spare Parts; Senior Vice President of Performance Services business line; President of Automation Services; and Vice President of Flow Control Services. He also served as a member of the company’s Executive Team. Earlier in his career, Keto was Head of Sales for the Maintenance business unit at KONE Corporation, and held senior management and sales positions at Nokia Networks.
“This is an exciting time for Mikko to join FLSmidth. Our Mining business has been stable with strong order intake, even in the face of travel restrictions and the Covid-19 pandemic,” commented Group CEO, Thomas Schulz. “Mikko brings vast experience in developing and executing high-performance business strategies across the mining flowsheet. His many leadership roles in international business give him a deep understanding of how best to serve global customers within a matrixed organisational structure.”
Manfred Schaffer, who officially retired at the end of 2020, added: “Under Mikko’s leadership, FLSmidth will continue on our path of growing our Mining business and delivering exceptional financial performance. He will be a strong asset to FLSmidth, our Mining organisation and to our customers.”
Keto’s primary focus will be to continue maximising profitable business opportunities across the mining flowsheet, with an emphasis on sustainability, digitalization, service and aftermarket. He will lead the Mining organisation’s focus on delivering solutions and equipment that provide sustainable productivity and meet the changing needs of our mining customers.
Keto states: “I’m very proud to join FLSmidth at this particular moment. We are well-positioned to seek opportunities for profitable growth and deliver on MissionZero, which aims to enable our mining customers to move towards zero emissions and zero water and energy waste by 2030. It is a great honour to lead the Mining organisation and I look forward to collaborating with the talented FLSmidth employees in Group, Region and Industry functions to provide the very best in sustainable productivity to our global customers.”
