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Dr. Jörn Fontius will join the executive management of the DIRKS Group from Emden, Lower Saxony, as Chief Operating Officer (COO) on October 1, 2026. In this role, he will be responsible for the areas of warehousing and automation. Bernhard Doesken, the current COO, will remain a member of the executive management and will focus on the company-wide rollout of an ERP system as well as the integration of new business.
Fontius brings extensive experience from the logistics industry. Most recently, he served as CEO of Beumer Maschinenfabrik in Beckum, a central manufacturing site of the Beumer Group. There, he was responsible for the business areas of Product Business and Logistics Systems. Since joining the Beumer Group in 2013, he has held various senior positions, including in the area of supply chain management. Prior to that, he worked at the Federal Association of Logistics (BVL) in Bremen from 2005, most recently as a member of the management board. His doctoral thesis at TU Berlin focused on „Megatrends and their Implications for Logistics.“
Engagement in the logistics industry
Dr. Fontius has been actively involved in BVL for years and has been a board member since 2023. Marcus Dirks, CEO of the DIRKS Group, commented positively on Fontius‘ appointment: „I know and appreciate Jörn Fontius from our work on the BVL board. He brings proven expertise and leadership skills in the areas of intralogistics and supply chain management and will drive our growth plans in warehousing and automation.“
Fontius himself commented on his new role, emphasizing the values of the DIRKS Group: „It stands for dynamism, entrepreneurial strength, and the values of a family business. I look forward to shaping the next growth steps together with the team and further strengthening the operational structures.“
In his new position, Fontius will lead the areas of warehousing for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), trade, and e-commerce, as well as automation. In this area, control and integration solutions for material flow systems in intralogistics will be developed, for example, for airports, parcel, or goods distribution centers.
The DIRKS Group currently employs around 4,500 people at 32 locations in Germany and internationally. The company was founded more than 90 years ago in Emden. The DIRKS Group’s portfolio includes logistics and warehousing, engineering and automation, production and supply, as well as sustainment and maintenance in various industries, including the automotive industry, shipbuilding, defense, as well as the consumer goods industry and trade.
