[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The board of directors of ASG (www.asg-worldwide.com/), a leading global specialty-packaging manufacturer, announced today the company has been reorganized to provide increased regional focus and responsiveness to its customers. Effective immediately, ASG will now operate as three affiliated business units: ASG Americas, ASG Europe, and ASG Asia. The new structure is consistent with the company’s continuing efforts to simplify process, tighten its lean business model, and increase focus on its customers’ needs.

With this change, the board has named Welson Zhou CEO of ASG Asia. Mark Caines and Tony Garnish will remain CEOs of ASG Americas and ASG Europe, respectively. The three business unit CEOs will report directly to ASG’s board of directors.

As a result, the board is eliminating the role of president and CEO. The board expressed confidence the new, lean structure and the ongoing execution of ASG’s investment plan will drive customer growth opportunities and operational improvement. In addition, a continuing commitment to innovation and Spark! creative service center expansion will enable the ASG companies to present best-in-class packaging solutions while remaining highly reponsive to customer needs and service requirements.

ASG will continue to benefit from Mike Ukropina’s guidance in the short term as he concludes the leadership transition and completes certain projects. The board expressed its appreciation to Mr. Ukropina for his important role in creating a strong organization that increasingly is demonstrating its capabilities in packaging innovation and creative services across a wide range of home entertainment and consumer goods companies. His legacy is the exceptional management team and operating talent he has groomed, which will lead the ASG businesses effectively into the future.