WAYNE, Pa. — TekniPlex, a global provider of materials science solutions and manufacturing technologies, has named veteran industrial executive Brian Kesseler as its new Chief Executive Officer, formalizing a major leadership transition as the company seeks to accelerate its expansion across international healthcare and consumer markets.
Kesseler, who previously served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Tenneco, officially assumed the top executive post on October 13, 2026. He succeeds Brenda Chamulak, who has stepped down from the role after guiding the business through pivotal development phases. The board-level appointment places an executive with more than three decades of global manufacturing, operational management, and industrial leadership at the helm of the Wayne, Pennsylvania-based enterprise.
The transition marks a strategic juncture for TekniPlex, which operates as a portfolio company of the private equity firm Genstar Capital. Backed by Genstar’s long-term investment mandate, TekniPlex has cultivated an expansive international platform focused on precision engineering, packaging, and materials science applications designed for stringent regulatory environments and competitive consumer goods sectors.
Kesseler steps into the chief executive role with an explicit focus on three operational priorities: reinforcing consistency across customer commitments and employee engagement, outpacing underlying market growth rates through strategic commercial execution, and driving operational discipline across the organization’s manufacturing footprint.
"TekniPlex has differentiated materials expertise, deep customer relationships and a global footprint that few in our space can match," Kesseler said in a statement addressing his appointment. "My focus is on delivering consistently for our customers and our people, growing faster than the underlying markets we serve, and driving operational excellence. I look forward to working with the team to get there."
The leadership succession received strong endorsement from Genstar Capital, which emphasized Kesseler’s track record in managing and expanding capital-intensive industrial organizations with complex international footprints.
"TekniPlex has real momentum across its business units, and Brian is the right leader to accelerate it," said Rob Rutledge, Managing Partner at Genstar Capital. "He has scaled large global manufacturing businesses, and he knows how to drive growth and innovation. We’re excited to partner with him as TekniPlex expands its leadership across the markets it serves. We thank Brenda for her contributions to the company and wish her well."
Kesseler arrives at TekniPlex with extensive experience navigating the intricacies of large-scale international production, integrated supply chains, and customer-aligned innovation. His professional background spans more than 30 years across diversified industrial manufacturing and automotive sectors, characterized by a progression through executive management, operational oversight, and divisional leadership.
Most recently, Kesseler led Tenneco, a major global manufacturer of automotive and industrial components, serving first as Chief Operating Officer and subsequently as Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure at Tenneco, he oversaw sprawling production systems and international teams, managing the operational challenges inherent to Tier-1 component manufacturing, industrial engineering, and global client integration.
Prior to his leadership at Tenneco, Kesseler built a comprehensive executive career over more than two decades at Johnson Controls. Throughout his 20-plus years with the company, he held a sequence of leadership posts with escalating responsibility, culminating in his appointment as President of the Power Solutions business. In that capacity, he directed extensive manufacturing networks and commercial operations, while also serving as a key member of Johnson Controls’ executive operating team, helping guide corporate-wide operational strategies and organizational initiatives.
Kesseler’s industrial career began in the manufacturing ranks of Ford Motor Company, where he gained firsthand exposure to production line fundamentals, quality control systems, and high-volume assembly operations. His technical and managerial foundation is supported by an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace University.
This combination of shop-floor experience, operating discipline, and executive governance aligns directly with the operational architecture of TekniPlex. As an integrated materials science organization, TekniPlex maintains a significant physical presence across the globe, operating 58 manufacturing facilities located throughout 12 countries. The company relies on a workforce of approximately 9,000 employees to support its research, development, engineering, and manufacturing activities worldwide.
The enterprise is positioned across two primary business pillars: healthcare and consumer products. Within the healthcare domain, TekniPlex develops and manufactures critical packaging, precision tubing, and specialized materials engineered for sensitive medical devices, drug delivery systems, and pharmaceutical packaging. These applications require high consistency, regulatory compliance, and rigorous quality standards to ensure product safety and clinical efficacy.
In the consumer products arena, TekniPlex provides customized packaging solutions and material components designed to enhance performance, improve functionality, and address evolving client requirements for barrier properties, durability, and processing efficiency. By balancing healthcare applications with consumer packaging markets, the company maintains a diversified business profile that serves multinational customer bases across North America, Europe, and other key industrial regions.
Kesseler’s immediate task will involve directing this international network to achieve operating efficiencies while identifying avenues for organic and structured expansion. Outperforming underlying market growth—a core tenet of Kesseler’s stated mission—demands that the company leverage its proprietary materials science capabilities to deepen relationships with existing corporate accounts while capturing new business in high-value segments like advanced drug delivery mechanisms and specialized medical components.
The broader materials science and specialized packaging sector has undergone significant structural evolution in recent years, driven by supply chain reorganizations, shifting regulatory demands in life sciences, and customer demands for more reliable component sourcing. Companies capable of offering globally integrated manufacturing alongside specialized engineering support have an opportunity to capture market share from more fragmented regional competitors. TekniPlex’s network of 58 sites offers geographic proximity to major life sciences and consumer goods hubs, presenting an operational base that Kesseler aims to optimize.
The departure of Chamulak marks the conclusion of an impactful chapter for the business, during which TekniPlex solidified its market footprint across healthcare and consumer end markets under Genstar’s sponsorship. In their public remarks, Genstar’s leadership expressed appreciation for Chamulak’s stewardship and highlighted her foundational contributions in preparing the company for its next phase of commercial and operational development.
With Kesseler now positioned at the top of the executive structure, TekniPlex is expected to focus on maximizing the output, integration, and innovation potential of its global manufacturing footprint. The strategic alliance between Kesseler’s operational background and Genstar Capital’s investment oversight signals a renewed push toward systematic execution, plant-level performance enhancement, and customer-focused product development.
TekniPlex has directed stakeholder inquiries regarding the leadership transition and corporate developments to Tatiana Peisach at [email protected]. Kesseler has officially assumed executive authority across all global business units and manufacturing operations.