Formerly an employee at the Belgian digital press manufacturer, Deschuytere worked at Xeikon from 1999 to 2009, initially on research and development and later production, logistics, human resources and sales.

Deschuytere will succeed Wim Maes, who has been chief executive officer for the last three years and is leaving to take on a new role at an as yet undisclosed company.

Maes will retain some involvement with Xeikon, taking on the supervisory director role in the place of Wim Deblauwe, who is leaving to become vice president at the fencing solutions firm Betafence.

Maes said: "We want to carry on along the path we’ve been creating for the past few years. So Frank’s strong background in graphics makes him the favourite for both the shareholders and the company."

Deschuytere will take the position at a time when the company is concentrating on introducing its new Trillium technology to the market.

Trillium, which was announced at Drupa, is Xeikon’s next generation high-speed continuous feed digital press that uses a high viscosity toner (HVT). It allows for toner particles up to four times smaller than its dry equivalent.

Maes said Deschuytere would be the right person to oversee the launch of the new technology and the resulting growth of the company.

"He stayed in close contact with us, even while he was at OTN, so he knows our products well. He has also had a lot of experience with internal operations, which will be essential in the coming years."

After completing a master's degree in engineering science, Deschuytere moved to Xeikon in 1999, where he worked in developing technology for digital print.

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