Hogan, who will officially start his new job on 1 November, described the global sales role as "my ideal job" and added that he would be responsible for "pulling together channel management, product management and product development under one roof and trying to give it more external focus".

"The danger with large organisations is that there's a danger that you can become too internally-focused maybe and not as nimble as you need to be in the marketplace. So my role is really to ensure that there is an absolute external focus on actively offering products that can demonstrate an ROI," he added.

"Particularly in western Europe and a lot of the developed world, we are into a very mature, consolidating marketplace [and] waiting for replacement business because a piece of kit has worn out is not really a way to maintain or grow market share.

"We need to be offering products that can give higher productivity or a value-added feature or a product line extension; we've got to be putting things out there that are going to put something on our customers' bottom line."

Hogan said that he hoped to spend no more than 50% of his time at Heidelberg's HQ and the rest on the road, conducting face-to-face meetings with customers and sales units.

"My role in the UK meant I was in daily contact with customers. In my new role there will be many additional pressures and I know I will have to work to keep in touch with the market and reality on the ground so that we continue to focus on the customer's real, not assumed, needs."

Heidelberg UK managing director Gerard Heanue said: "This is an excellent opportunity for Mark. His product knowledge combined with his marketing and sales prowess will be put to very good use. We are sad to lose Mark from our own management team but we are delighted he is staying within the group and that he has been promoted to this fantastic role."

PrintWeek understands that Heanue will take on the marketing elements of Hogan's former role, while Heidelberg UK sales director Jim Todd will drive the product management team in addition to the sales team. Heidelberg UK product manager for post press, Ian Trengrouse, will be responsible for the finishing portfolio.

Hogan started in post press in 1988, when he joined Harris Graphics in Slough, a company which was bough by Heidelberg in 1996. He then went to France as sales director for the Sheridan high-volume bindery equipment that was sold by Heidelberg, before joining Heidelberg UK in May of 2002 as business executive, post press.

He was promoted to marketing manager and later marketing director for Heidelberg UK prior to his latest promotion to the new global role.